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Wonder why Zionsville 195- Thomas Penola isn’t ranked after his fantastic run at Super 32 ?

Congrats to the teams too. Well-deserved honor for Portage and Brownsburg!

It feels like saying "you can get hurt walking across the street" or "you can get hurt in any sport" doesn't quite live up to what is really happening in football. I feel like with wrestling being 1 on 1 and having a referee only watching 2 kids at a time, it is astronomically safer than football. I feel a kid can defend himself against 1 other person and the ref can actually stop things before they get out of hand. I believe football is 4 to 22 for refs to kids with no chance of stopping a potentially dangerous situation. Whether its a running back who is getting hit high and low by multiple tacklers or a lineman who is engaged while his teammate gets knocked over on their leg, there is a lot that goes on that a kid cannot possibly protect themselves against. Not to mention how many tackles include someone grabbing a leg and rolling.

Congrats to the Indiana kids that made National Rankings. Hard work pays off. Flow http://www.flowrestling.org/ranking/3338-106/2017-11-08/106#.WgSSbGiPJhE Intermat http://intermatwrestle.com/rankings/high_school

Congrats to Asa! I’ve been around this kid for a long time and been in his corner for many great matches. This kids lives and breathes wrestling 24/7/365. I assure you that he views this a a start. I know that he is proud, but..... not satisfied. Go get it champ!!!!

Man, I loved lots of sports and I'm trying to expose my two girls to lots of different things at their young age--but the evidence for eventually making a choice if you have next-level goals is just so hard to ignore. The age of specialization and year-round competition from an early age didn't exist before the 1990s. It picked up steam and reached a tipping point in the late 1990s that gave birth in the early 2000s to an ongoing golden age of individual wrestling in Indiana. Number of 4-time state champs from 1953-2003: 1 Number of 4-timers from 2004-2017: 5 3 or 4-timers by decade: 1960s--2, 1970s--2, 1980s--2, 1990s--2, 2000s--7, 2010s not including '18 & '19 grads--5 If you want to do something special in a skill, there's simply no substitute for time invested in that specific skill. All the research points to it--from music to sports to computer programming. This is just to say, I get your dilemma as a father. You want your son to do the things he enjoys and have diverse experiences, but it's hard to ignore the potential at his disposal and the limited time he has to maximize it. And one more anecdote to add to those of others above: My brother was a starting linebacker as a sophomore for a good 5A football program and loved the sport possibly more than any other. But he was a very gifted pitcher in baseball and became the ace of a good team that sophomore season. So gifted, in fact, that he decided to give up football and play baseball year-round. He made big leaps in his development, eventually becoming a first team all-stater and a pro prospect. He didn't reach all his goals after high school, but he got most of his college paid for, played professionally a couple seasons, and came to love the sport of baseball much more than any other AFTER he went deeper into it following that sophomore year. He always says it was worth the risk and he never regrets not playing the junior and senior years of high school football--even though all his buddies came an eyelash from state his junior year and spent time ranked #1 his senior year.

Agreed. That would parallel with a football coach not taking into account a players future on the mat, or a Team competing for a State Championship. I'm thankful neither of those are major issues that Im aware of at Shenandoah. It's ultimately a student-athletes choice. Although I'm sure there's at least at little of that going on inside each perspective Coach if I'm honest. They're human, in most cases care about their kids and want to win as much as their players do.

On a side note: one thing that ticks me off are those wrestling coaches who wish for their school's varsity football team to lose in the playoffs so that they can get their wrestlers back. I've always viewed that as selfish and out of good character.

Most Likely because Super 32 didnt have as much depth at that weight at least according to Willie. Penola didn't beat any ranked guys and lost to the only one did wrestle. Could probably justify it if he beat some one in the high teens. That is what helped Asa break in was being in the meat grinder that was 126 as well as his win over a ranked opponent. That being said those last 5 spots are always the hardest to rank because a lot of kids could battle for them. Penola's time will come in there if he keeps it up kid was everywhere this year i could see him and Davison having a battle at Bankers Life unless they meet earlier.

My son played football his freshman year and then stopped to focus on wrestling. His decision did not involve the "injury issue" being described here, but I think the decision making process used is applicable. 1st point: coming into wrestling season a bit physically 'beaten up' (just wear and tear) made the start of wrestling tougher. 2nd point: our football team was always ramping up for the play-offs when my son was ready to get on the mat. In the end, point 2 won out. Our philosophy is bee 100% committed. So if the football team is making a deep run, you can't be wishing the season would end so you can start wrestling. If football were after wrestling season, I believe my son would play football and wrestle. If your son feels 100% committed during football, I'd say play football. If he finds himself wishing the season would end when the "football players" are wanting to win more than ever... don't play. We just had a kid break his thumb in wrestling practice yesterday... probably done for the season. Nothing to do with football...

I think if someone is taking wrestling very seriously, they should consider dropping football. injuries suck and should be avoided at all cost. If you play football to get in shape, you need to remember you aren't limited to football, you could workout on your own, run, stretch, anything active will help. Football is cool and all, but it may not be the best for some people, especially smaller people.

Go to our web page and look for updates on Girls State. IHSGW.net. There you can register your girls and get up to date info on locations and times.

I'll help him with that

My son stopped playing football but still has had issues staying healthy. Let’s face it... these top level kids are tough active kids. Regardless if they play football or tic tac toe.... they are going balls out. That’s the nature of wrestlers. They have little fear and push the limits of their physical ability. If he wasn’t playing football, he would be doing something else bad a$$. Basically, what I’m saying... is it all comes down to dumb luck.