Leaderboard

http://www.thestarpress.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/02/09/fresh-start-dj-bell-grew-up-then-helped-rebuild-cowan-wrestling/320651002/

nice job as always Dingo ! ...and please please please no one else quote him

Translation - the rat needs someone to shovel his drive...

I'd say but don't want to tip the other wrestler off and get my guy pulverized....I'd feel bad !

Just a quick note. I didn't create this preview, although i would be proud to call it my own. It was submitted to me anonymously. No joke New Castle 2018: As usual New Castle has some brutal match ups of top dogs as early as the ticket round with ranked opponents galore. 106 Ranked wrestlers: #3 Logan Bailey Cathedral #5 Alex Cottey PM #14 Jacob Simone HSE #17 David Pierson WC #18 Harrison Hadley Lapel Potential matchups #14 Simone HSE vs #17 Pierson WC Ticket Round. This is a rematch from John Hurrle and North Mont Holiday Classic. All three matches have been close. Look for this to be a barn burner. #14 Simone HSE/ #17 Pierson WC versus #3 Logan Bailey Cath Semis. Bailey is the favorite but don’t overlook the winner of this ticket round matchup. #18 Hadley vs #5 Cottey semis. Cottey has been wrestling incredibly well on his freshman campaign, but a strong junior who has only lost to Bailey will not be an easy out for the freshman. #3 Bailey vs #5 Cottey Finals. Great rematch in the finals between two top 5 kids. 1st Round picks Simone over Slayton Pierson over Schneider Bailey over Hall White over Condo Cottey over the alternate Chundi over Jefferson Otto over Berry Hadley over Harreld Qualifiers in order: Bailey, Cottey, Pierson, Hadley Alpha dog: Logan Bailey 113 Ranked Wrestlers #3 Brayden lowery Roncalli #4 Andrew Black New Castle #7 Jevian Ross WC #10 Carson Eldred Westfield #13 Caleb Oliver #18 Parker Moseley NM Potential Matchups: #7 Ross vs #13 Oliver Ticket round. This is a rematch from December at the Cathedral duals. Both wrestlers have been on a tear lately with Oliver winning regionals and Ross giving Lowery a 9-8 regional finals match. #10 Eldred vs UR Kung PM Ticket round. Don’t ever overlook a hard nosed Perry kid in the ticket round. I expect this to be a great match. #4 Black vs #18 Moseley. Moseley has put together a great junior campaign, I doubt he wants it to end against the defending state runner up at his new school. Semis Ross/Oliver vs Eldred should be a another great matchup between top programs in the state. Semis #3 Lowery vs #4 Black This semi may be worth the price of admission on its own between two place winners from last year. 1st Round picks Oliver over Cecil Ross over Lonneman Eldred over Peters Kung over Sollars Black over Dorman Moseley over Dennison Lowery over Busby Harshbarger over Shafer Tickets punched in order: Lowery, Ross, Black, Eldred Alpha dogs Lowery/Black 120 Ranked wrestlers #2 Sam Fair PM #3 Brendan Mattingly Carmel #5 Lukasz Walendzak Cath #11 Grant Stapleton Lawrenceburg #14 Chase Wilkerson MV #15 Gavin Rose GFC 1st Round Matchups #2 Fair vs #14 Wilkerson ticket round. Great weight class with several top kids going home without a ticket. #5 Walendzak vs #15 Rose ticket round. Rose is battle tested and look for him to give the cathedral stud all he can handle. #2 Fair vs #11 Stapleton Semis. Stapleton is unbeaten on his junior campaign and looks to stave off a tough perry junior looking to return to the podium. #3 Mattingly vs #5 Walendzak Semis. Another top 5 matchup where the winner will likely see #2 Sammy Fair. Three kids in this weight that are ranked top 5 should lead to some great matches. 1st Round picks Stapleton over Goodwin Bryant over Wagner Fair over Alfrey Wilkerson over Lauy Walendzak over Lemieux Rose over Condo Mattingly over Brown Slivka over Owens Tickets punched Fair, Mattingly, Walendzak, Stapleton Alpha Dog Sammy Fair PM 126 Ranked Wrestlers #3 Alex Viduya Ron #5 Ethan Smiley BG #13 Trevor Ragle NC #15 Seth Johnson NM #16 Bryer Hall SD Potential Matchups #3 Viduya vs UR Holman Carmel. Holman is a scrappy 126 pounder with a MIC championship under his belt and only 3 losses on the season. Don’t look for the easy out for Viduya. #16 Hall vs UR Evans. Evans has wrestled at every tournament known to man, has taken some lumps but isn’t going to be an easy win for anyone. However, Hall has had one of the most impressive freshman campaigns of the semi state. Winner will see Huffman from Noblesville who has been in and out of the rankings #15 Johnson vs #5 Smiley. This quarter bracket was even tougher with #13 Ragle lurking in it, but with the injury to the one of the other tough freshman Phillips, these two medalists battle it out to punch a ticket. #13 Ragle vs Beatty. Ragle is looking to finish his career at Bankers Life. The sophomore Beatty is looking to get there. This should be a battle. Beatty has wins over both Seth Johnson and Andrew Wilson who will be waiting in the ticket round for the winner between these two. #3 Viduya vs #16 Hall Semis. Defending champ against super frosh who has only lost out of state. Johnson/Smiley vs Ragle/Beatty. This semi final could go a lot of ways. Beatty has beat Johnson but lost to Smiley. Ragle is touger than nails on top. I look for Smiley to come out of the heap, but can’t count out defending medalists and qualifiers. 1st Round picks Viduya over Replacement Holman over Seymour Hall over Evans Huffman over Toole Johnson over Ratcliffe Smiley over Rose Wilson over Brogan Ragle over Beatty Tickets Punched Viduya, Smiley, Hall, Ragle Alpha Dogs Rematch Viduya and Smiley 132 Ranked wrestlers: #3 Alex Mosconi Cath #4 Tyce Frejie #7 Carter Noehre #11 Jarred Rowlett #17 Elijah Phillips Potential matchups Poynter vs Peavler. This should be a battle for a 1v4 matchup. Peavler lost to Frejie in consols last week and is very capable. Winner has Wilkerson of MV waiting for them. #11 Rowlett vs #17 Phillips ticket round. The one loss senior looks to punch a ticket against the junior coming off wins over #12 Cottingham and #4 Frejie in last month. The big ticket round matchup. #3 Mosconi and #4 Frejie. Defending 7th and 8th place finishers from a year ago battle it out to see who can punch a ticket back to state. Rowlett/Phillips vs Mosconi/Frejie Semis. Obviously a great matchup with a finals against #7 Noehre leaves this weight loaded. 1st round picks Peavler over Poynter Wilkerson over Brown Noehre over Warren Bauer over Boggs Phillips over Sparks Rowlett over Rogers Mosconi over Hummel Frejie over Merkel Tickets punched Mosconi, Noehre, Rowlett, Wilkerson Alpha Dog Mosconi 138 Ranked wrestlers: #4 Zach Melloh Cath #7 Bailey Moore BG #11 Alex Strueder #14 Gary Kitko Nob #15 Brailen Harrington NC #16 Jesus Mancera LC Potential matchups Walton vs #14 Kitko should be a great 1v4 where Pendleton looks to advance 4 for 4 to the state tournament. Walton has had a stellar career he would love to finish at the Bank Keeney vs #11 Strueder is the same way. This weight will not be easy. Winners have each other to goto state here. Melloh vs Lowery PM. Lowery has been in the rankings this year and now has drawn the tough cathedral senior. Don’t forgot Melloh has a ticket round loss to an under the radar PM kid. #7 Moore vs #16 Mancera. Ticket round rematch from 2017. Mancera came away with that one, look for Moore to take the rubber match. Robinson vs Coleman is an intriguing 1v4 with the right to take on #15 Harrington. If Coleman, he has a triple OT loss to Harrington. Semis and Finals both should have ranked wrestlers. 1st round picks Walton over Kitko Strueder over Keeney Melloh over Walsh Lowery over Garcia Moore over Mangus Mancera over Puglsey Coleman over Robinson Harrington over Ragle Tickets punched Melloh, Harrington, Moore, Walton Alpha dog Melloh 145 Ranked wrestlers: #3 Jordan Slivka CAth #5 Antwaun Graves WC #8 Hayden Lohrey Shen #9 Jack Servies PM #10 Dakota Ball SM #14 Cooper Noehre Potential matchups #5 Graves vs #10 Ball Semis. Undefeated Ball against the WC Triple Crown winner. #14 Noehre vs #8 Lohrey ticket round. Cooper looks to punch his first ticket after knocking Servies to the consolations last week. Undefeated Lohrey will have his hands full. #3 Slivka vs #9 Servies. Can the Cathedral phenom get revenge for his teammate? Servies knocked off Elliot Rodgers in a controversial call at the dual which won it for PM. 1st round picks Graves over Sharp Dunasky over Otto Ball over Wright Leavell over Humbert Lohrey over Gibson Noehre over Lucas Slivka over Redd Servies over Gobeyn Tickets punched Slivka, Graves, Lohrey, Ball Alpha dog Slivka 152 Ranked wrestlers: #5 Kody Wagner ZV #7 Elliot Rodgers Cath #11 Dheontae Unseld LN #19 Aidan Warren PM Potential matchups #5 Wagner vs #11 Unseld. Unseld has impressive wins over both Rodgers and Warren this season. Don’t overlook him to steal this ticket from Wagner. Delph vs Scott. Both sectional qualifiers a year ago. Delph just celebrated his 100th win, first in Sheridan school history. Is it enough against a solid WC senior? #5 Wagner vs #7 Rodgers Finals. This weight is wide open for anyone to take. 1st Round picks Wagner over Moore Unseld over Rohrig Warren over Lowe Fensler over Roberts Miller over Browning Scott over Delph Rodgers over Clark Saez over Wills Tickets Punched Rodgers, Unseld, Warren, Scott Alpha Dog Rodgers 160 Ranked Wrestlers: #2 Jack Eiteljorge Car #9 Dru Berkebile Frankton #12 Brooks Davis #13 Tucker Coffman UC Potential matchups: Surprise regional champion Anthony Mosconi has wins and losses against a lot of the field. A fall over Berkebile puts him in a great spot to punch a ticket. Blake, a CO State Qualifier looks to make our state tournament. #13 Coffman won his regional and drew a brutal first round match with Drake Kendrex. The Mount Vernon junior has some great wins under his belt and looks to continue the season. #2 Eiteljorge vs Despain LN. Despain spent some time in the rankings and is a tough senior. Eiteljorge has issues in the ticket round his whole career. Can the LN senior prevent Jack from ever punching a ticket? #9 Berkebile vs #12 Davis. The premier ticket round at this weight. 1st round picks Mosconi over Noble Blake over Smith Kendrex over Coffman Ford over Groves Eiteljorge over Rebein Despain over Suding Davis over Gerdes Berkebile over Massey Tickets punched Eiteljorge, Kendrex, Berkebile, Mosconi Alpha dog Eiteljorge and his dog Bacon. 170 Ranked wrestlers: #1 Noah Warren PM #6 Cody Kleittheimer Fra #7 Brad Lowe #11 Elijah Mahan Ron Potential matchups or rematches from Perry Regional #1 Warren vs #6 Kleittheimer Semis #6 Kleittheimer vs Taylor. Both wrestlers have slim victories over Hauke of NC. Can the Perry Regional go 4 for 4 to state? #11 Mahan vs Hauke. Hauke is a tough senior with a ton of experience. Look for this to be a solid match up. #7 Lowe vs #11 Mahan. Unbelievable match at Perry, can it live up to the first round? First round picks: Warren over Jones Roehm over Reeves Kleittheimer over Taylor Farrell over Hunter Calderon over Sandhu Lowe over Wagner Bohman over Davis Mahan over Hauke Tickets punched Warren, Mahan, Lowe, Kleittheimer Alpha dog Warren 182 Ranked wrestlers: #3 Silas Allred Shen #9 KJ Roudebush Tipton #10 Sam Goebyn ZV #15 Jonah Rolfes Lawr #16 Daniel Below PM #18 Jalen Morgan Elwood #20 Logan Hart Car Potential matchups #18 Morgan vs #15 Rolfes. #16 Below vs #20 Hart. Battle between Schoettles kid and Pendowksi for a shot at state. #3 Allred vs #9 Roudebush. A potential place winner goes home early. Allred has been lights out this season with a tech fall over Mahan Roncalli earlier this season. 1st Round picks Morgan over Guhl Rolfes over Williams Below ovr Caldera Hart over Jackson Gobeyn over Combs Sterrett over Fries Allred over Mahoney Roudebush over Salazar Tickets punched Allred, Hart, Gobeyn, Morgan Alpha dog Allred 195 Ranked Wrestlers: #3 Thomas Penola ZV #6 Sam Hansen Ron #9Tremor Bynum PH #12 Austin Lane PM #14 David Delph Frankton #20 Luke Utterback SD Potential Matchups #3 Penola vs #12 Lane ticket round. Two potential placers in the first ticket round of 195. #9 Bynum vs Irick. Irick has plenty of experience and name ID to pull off the upset. #6 Hansen vs #20 Utterback 1s Round Picks Penola over Rohrig Lane over Pettiford Bacon over Bohman Delph over Cochard Bynum over Clevenger Irick over Berger Hansen over Adams Utterback over Knowling Tickets punched Penola, Hansen, Irick, Delph Alpha dog Penola 220 Ranked Wrestlers #1 Mason Parris Lawr 3 Jacob Mcclaine Leb #4 Kyle Cornwell Elwood #7 Landon Burton NP #12 Frank Hammond PM #13 Andy Guhl Cath #15 Crae Kunkleman HSE Potential Matchups #1 Parris vs #15 Kunkleman #1 Parris vs #13 Guhl #3 McClaine vs #12 Hammond #4 Cornwell vs #7 Burton This will be a battle between two strong 220s. 1st Round picks Cornwell over Adame Clouse over Van Beynen Burton over McCullough Webster over Rohn McClaine over Browning Hammond over Baker Parris over Kunkleman Guhl over Fears Tickets Punched Parris, Cornwell, McClaine, Burton Alpha dog Parris 285 Ranked wrestlers #8 Jacob Obst Cath #11 Darrione Gregory LC—Eliminated #13 DJ Koors Greensburg #20 Juggernaut Carmel Who knows how this weight will turn up…anyone can win it and anyone can punch a ticket. Not sure there is an alpha dog in the weight.. Potential matchups: Majors LN vs Adams NM. Majors has had a great season with a marion county title and is looking to keep it alive. Greene vs winner of Obst and Snipes. Greene clearly sandbagged the sectional with a 4th place finish followed by a regional championship. Can the BG athlete keep it going? Stone vs Juggernaut…not sure how Stone isn’t ranked as he is a tough kid with 3 losses. Juggernaut is going to have a war to punch a ticket. Which wins between a Stone and a Juggernaut? The bottom quarter bracket is anyones guess. Watts is a monster. However, he injury defaulted out of regionals. Fuller and PM kid are in the weeds waiting to see the winner of Koors and Watts. 1st Round picks Adams over Rodgers Majors over Wisner Greene over Shuey Obst over Snipes Stone over Joya Juggernaut over Harris Watts over Koors Rastrelli over Fuller Tickets punched Greene, Stone, Watts(If healthy), Majors Alpha dog??????

You got a point there Region Rat. I got an idea. Travel and breathing some oil refinery air just gets us southerners late in the match. How about a swap every other year. So every odd year, lets host it at the best facility in the semi state, Mackey arena. Ill go down the street, and ask my buddy Matt Painter to schedule game out of town that weekend. We dont have Taco El Real, but we got TacoRico. Triple XXX could have a special. Ill talk to DT Kirby best sports bar to take care of you. Iwas talking to him today about East Chicago SS and he said he lived a few years as a kid in the sunny side of East Chicago. He makes the best Italian Beef in the state. Anyway everybodys hub caps would be safer, and we got this factory in town that makes Corn Syrup. It doesnt smell as good ole Oil refinery emissions, but you might like the smell. Maybe with some home mat advantage, the Logansport might buy a few more tickets.

Appreciate the kind words...The Garrett Wrestling Club is very inexpensive. Inexpensive, as in....have your Card. Last year we had 3-5 clinicians throughout the summer. Coach Poppe and myself also attended a few clinics and brought back the stuff we liked to Garrett and continued to drill it. We drill 85-90% of the time in my estimation with live situations and some iron man type(FS/Greco, and Folkstyle) live goes. I wrestled in college and had a decently successful career due to being gifted some great instruction from Greg Wagner, Mike Ester, Dan Callahan, John Sheets, Nathan DeVaux, and Anthony Lapsley. Our philosophy is that you're going to get better by having good drill and great partners. Having a million clinicians is great, but where is the consistency? Last year we consistently had Garrett, Carroll, Prairie Heights, Central Noble, Angola, Dekalb, FWCS, and other schools in the room. A large number of the kids who were in our room are wrestling this weekend. I am going to assume wrestling with each other this past spring and summer did not hurt their chances.

This is how they are determining how bad it will snow in the Fort now.

Alright Ladies and Gentleman, It's time for the Mudflap's favorite post of the year. Back in the old Merrillville Semi-State days we used to experience lots of overcrowding issues. We had dirty Region mill workers sitting right on top of toothless Logansport Regional farmers in their overalls. It was chaos. Our old friend HOWDOG offered up the most genius solution to the overcrowding issue. If the Logansport Regional teams would leave the bus running so they could quickly vacate the premises after their rude welcoming to Region wrestling, we could clear the place out and have more spacious accommodations for the Region Rat crowd to enjoy the rest of the day. Thus, "Who Should Keep the Bus Running?" was born. While the accommodations at East Chicago Central are more spacious, the question is still valid. Who should keep the bus running? What is the best record that is going home without a ticket? Will Hall of Famer Tommy Miller punch a ticket and look to improve upon his 2-13 coaching record on Friday night in 32 seasons or will he be a spectator from the Good 'Ole Boys table at Bankers Life? So many unanswered questions. I will set the OVER/UNDER for Logansport Regional State Qualifiers at 5.5 and take the UNDER. 3 Raiders, 1 Frontiers-men, and 1 BC Bison punch tickets. Tacos appear to be on the menu for OnTheRise219.

As we approach what has to be one of the toughest days in all of sports in Indiana, let' aal ttke aa moment to recognize the efforts of the Coaches, Assistants, parents, and most of all the competitors who allow us the opportunity to witness their journeys. Ladies and Gentleman, It is Wrestling Semi State Time!

I'm a sucker I'm at the Tropicana!

I get it. I never wrestled. Am a huge fan of the sport because of my son Baxter, the Hartz Bros and Castle Wrestling Club, Coach Harmon and Castle HS, Rob and Matt Deterd, and Maurer Coughlin and their club. Love all of those guys. My name’s Doug Annakin. And you guys are.......?

I used Y2's data table with all schools split 1A-3A. If I know where the split it, it would be easy to change it to a 2 class table though

It's DA BOMB!!!

Well I must be computer illiterate today because I can't seem to update the original thread title or content. Here are the updated numbers after counting all weights. Total qualifiers for each class (224 total qualifiers) 3A: 70 2A: 100 1A: 54 152 3A - 5 2A - 8 1A - 3 160 3A - 4 2A - 9 1A - 3 170 3A - 6 2A - 5 1A - 5 182 3A - 5 2A - 7 1A - 4 195 3A - 4 2A - 11 1A - 1 220 3A - 5 2A - 6 1A - 5 285 3A - 4 2A - 9 1A - 3

the ECSS will be able to get thru all the weights in the ticket round without a controversial season changing/ending call!!! Fingers crossed.

School size doesn't matter in an individual tournament though. Just have to work hard and you are fine.

Easily made it from Chesterton to Merrillville this morning for work, smooth sailing around 50mph on good ole Route 30. I wouldn't get your panties in a bunch about the weather just yet!

106: Bailey, Cottey, Hadley, Simone 113: Black, Eldred, Lowery, Oliver 120: Fair, Walendzak, Mattingly, Stapleton 126: Hall, Smiley, Viduya, Ragle 132: Noehre, Mosconi, Phillips, Wilkerson 138: Melloh, Moore, Walton, Coleman 145: Lohrey, Groves, Servies, Ball 152: Wagner, Browning, Rodgers, Warren 160: Eiteljorge, Coffman, Berkebile, Mosconi 170: Warren, Mahan, Lowe, Klettheimer 182: Allred, Below, Morgan, Gobeyn 195: Penola, Hansen, Irick, Bohman 220: Parris, Cornwell, McClaine, Burton 285: Obst, Fuller, Adams, Williams Picked a few upsets along the way. Should be a great day of wrestling!

Great preview! I disagree in some areas, but that's cool. Good luck to everybody this weekend! Just a little more to those 8 with HSE on their singlets.

I went to the Big 10s at Mackey several years ago (2011?). Good place to watch some wrestling!

I think the guy that made this haves it away with his Eiteljorgeand bacon line. Grandapple was it you? Regardless whoever done it they done a good job..

Very descriptive.

I think Indiana might just be putting together the best middle school national team in the country. Excited for Sunday!!

See you in the A.M...I learned my lesson at the casino I seriously dId nothing and they said I could be recording activities and booted me.. so akward to be hollering at y'all then get accused of recording the tables..SERIOUSLY? Y'all are recording ME and I'm just RESPONDING to my fellow brethren.. and mattb don't get me jumped in Evansville this is my first trip to EVANSVILLE from New Castle lol

Whomping Trolls....

Curious to know the total enrollments for the schools at each semi state. Does the success of each semi state correspond with the size of the tallent pool?

Winning Percentage by weight (highest in bold / lowest underlined) WinPct EC FW NC EV TOTAL 106 80.3% 81.6% 82.7% 79.8% 81.1% 113 80.2% 82.3% 81.0% 80.0% 80.9% 120 79.0% 79.1% 80.4% 80.9% 79.8% 126 80.4% 81.2% 82.2% 82.7% 81.6% 132 74.0% 82.1% 79.0% 81.7% 79.3% 138 79.9% 82.6% 80.3% 78.5% 80.3% 145 81.2% 83.5% 82.7% 78.2% 81.4% 152 78.9% 79.9% 80.8% 82.4% 80.5% 160 77.7% 80.3% 78.7% 79.5% 79.1% 170 78.7% 84.1% 79.5% 81.2% 80.9% 182 84.8% 80.7% 83.4% 77.8% 81.6% 195 82.9% 80.9% 82.1% 78.0% 81.0% 220 78.6% 77.2% 85.5% 78.6% 80.0% 285 81.5% 79.0% 78.9% 79.0% 79.6% TOTAL 79.9% 81.0% 81.2% 79.9%

I would be shocked if it was cancelled. The snow is supposed to stop at 6 today and while the roads aren't the best, I am sure they will be cleared up enough by Sunday.

Number of Wins by weight class by semistate (highest values in bold / lowest underlined) EC FW NC EV TOTAL 106 490 498 512 474 1974 113 458 485 534 481 1958 120 485 480 503 473 1941 126 465 491 484 482 1922 132 433 526 445 470 1874 138 477 492 477 472 1918 145 463 492 515 478 1948 152 461 492 491 495 1939 160 480 486 458 486 1910 170 429 507 474 488 1898 182 481 506 477 458 1922 195 485 503 533 468 1989 220 436 468 488 431 1823 285 467 470 442 485 1864 TOTAL 6510 6896 6833 6641

Plus the room needed on the floor for wrestling is larger (4 mats) than for other indoor sports, which greatly reduces the amount of seats that are available for spectators at large wrestling events like semi-states.

I haven't attended basketball semi-states in the past several years, but when I did they used to be held at venues like Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indy and Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, etc. I don't know what they do anymore.

That could be arranged lol

My kind of place.. don't have to worry about a shady worker committing fraud with a debit card ?..I don't even own a debit card actually.. thanks for the heads up though mane..Hopefully see ya there..well then again I might have to wear a shirt that says "Poster formerly known as FCFIGHTER170" cuz that 170 is more like 220 now HAHAHA .. porked up..if I see anybody with a Indiana Mat shirt I'm gonna say what's up to em..I'll be rocking a pristine Black T shirt with vintage prime Michael Tyson on it.. if you see he don't be a stranger my internet forum friends.

Triple B did research?? Who knew....

Can't wait bud... not being corny but this time of the year is thr only thing that makes me feel like a kid the night before Christmas...Can't hardly sleep.. my nerves and excitment are through the roof..I get more nervous watching kids that I've helped than when I fought or wrestled in front of huge crowds. Myself. .Just knowing all the hard work and sacrifice will either make my wrestlers dream come true or im gonna watch the agony of defeat and it gets me fired up...I know that emptiness of losing in the ticket round and to this day it still haunts me...It's honestly why I fought so many mma fights because I was trying to feel that void of of wrestling and get over my ticket round blues lol

Purdue would never let us in, but Mackey would be the best place to hold the semi state. Not a bad seat and tons of room. East Chicago is too far from everyone involved. They have a ton of room, but lets's face it, unless you hang on the railing of one small side of the gym, the view sux. Travel would suck for the region boys to come all the way to Lafayette though. I do think that this amazing tournament needs a better venue. Sorry ECC, you guys run a good tournament, I am just not a fan of the gym. Just my opinion.

The Scholar has a great idea. Mackey Arena would be awesome! Hey! Let’s not forget about Bruno’s, the best pizza place in town.

Hell yea.. ima post on here during event and we should say hello..I'll be rooting on my wrestler Trizton carson and Carson brewer when it's not a conflict off interest lol..I got a feeling triz is gonna take care of business in the 1st round then shock everybody when he takes on more than likely Fuller.. the only common opponent they've had in last 6 months is Below.. you can't use wrestling math cuz styles make matches.. that said Below beat fuller 8-3 in November.Trizton beat Below 5-0 this summer.. gonna be fun but I'mma be a nervous wreck.

Spoken like a true country boy BlueBolt. I've lived in downtown Evv three different times, including currently since Oct. 2014. It's as safe as any part of the Evansville area as long as you know where you are going and aren't out wandering the streets alone late night. It's a much safer downtown now than it ever has been (again lived there '92-5, '98-99 and '14-present). We have an IU medical school opening up downtown soon to add to the population, so it will only keep getting better. I live less than a mile from the Ford Center and have walked to and from many times without issue. What we really need is "Hook's Evansville SS preview", but places in or near downtown Eville to check out: www.HayniesCorner.com (less than 1 mile away): Evansville Brew House, Waltons (big place with decent food and also has prohibition style speakeasy Fidel's upstairs); Sauced (good italian); Dapper Pig (gastropub); Mo's House (bar with great cocktails). Main Street: Comfort (great place opened in 2017 on 3rd and Main. Back Stage (across from Ford Center) good bar cheap beer and should have live music Friday night (I know they do on Sat. night. Zuki as mentioned already. The Peephole is a great dive bar on 2nd and Main. Cafe Arazu 5th and Main. Bruburger mentioned already 3rd and Sycamore one block off Main St. Other downtown: Madelines on 2nd and Oak - good upscale food. Franklin Street (about 1.5 miles away from Ford Center): GerstHaus mentioned already, but also Smittys Italian Steakhouse, Pistons (high octane bar), Franklin Street Tavern, Franklin Street Pizza, Sportsmans Billiards are all good. Matty B: Tropicana opened their land based casino in October 2017. It's MUCH nicer than the old boat. Also, Cavanaughs is still on the boat side of the street and is run by Tropicana. I has a great steak there a couple weeks ago. Prices are at good streak house prices though. It's okay to leave Warrick County BlueBolt and experience new things.

Da extra travel for da southern teams can add to da fatigue. Plus not being used to da heavy air is another factor. I really feel sorry fa do southherns. Da good news there are some good lunch specials at el taco real.

Just started here in Cedartuckey. Good thing I stocked up on da Busch lite.

That is a fine Purdue and Castle education.

This is a very valid point, especially with this "want it now" generation. I'll never forget my oldest son's first wrestling tournament in the 6th grade. His first match he got pinned in 25 seconds and his second match he lost 17-2 and he didn't earn either of his two points. I remember telling myself, dang, maybe this sport isn't for him as he was always successful in baseball and football. Then one of our coaches calmed me down and said focus on development vs. results. Fast forward a year later and now I'm heavily involved with our club. I decided that I would make it my personal mission to set reasonable expectations for parents new to wrestling in all the parent meetings I held for our club. Let's be honest, kids recover from losses much easier than we think. By the end of the day, my son was laughing on his xbox with all his friends, while I was deeply contemplating why I got him into the sport to begin with. I believe the key to growth in the sport is to get involved in other sports (especially in small towns), go help coach pop warner or baseball and grab those committed parents/kids and bring them into the sport. Then the next step is the most crucial. YOU MUST DISCUSS REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS WITH PARENTS NEW TO THE SPORT. Here are some things we cover in our club for new parents: 1. Expect to lose matches and probably a lot of them, especially if you start at an older age (I know I'll get roasted by some, but truth is very few come out of the gates winning everything). 2. Set aside your ego for the development of your wrestler - Demand not wins vs losses, but instead fight and aggressiveness. 3. Get involved - volunteer your time, come help coach during practices even if you know nothing about the sport, become a sponge, get copper certificed, etc. 4. Mat time - get your son to as many tournaments as possible, regardless of the outcomes. Keep encouraging him to compete. 5. Remember, wrestling is and always will be deeper than wins and losses, if you remain focused on this one point, your son/daughter can't lose. I know that all seems mushy, but this is the generation we live in. Instead of complaining about "soft" kids, how about we take their strengths and develop them.

Actually, it’s leaning as far away as it can from Kentucky

@Raven27 @170 Mooresville top 4 can repeat like last year and send all 4 at EV SS

That is true. No sport does. Other sports don't have weight classes either though. We are the sport "everyone" can do. I'm glad those small seniors have a place to wrestle, without the small underclassman all of them would have to bump up and be the tiny kid. My 98lbs soaking weight wrestler, even if on JV wrestling, wrestling kids that weigh 115 would not be very encouraging to him. Im trying to keep him convinced now that wrestling off-season at 100lbs will be much more fun for him - i hope. I don't disagree with what you all are saying. I agree that it is mostly an underclassman weight class. It is what it is. Just as 220 and HWT have lots of seniors. Im just saying I like that an undersized freshman, or even a senior, has a weight class for them. For the same reason I am a fan of class wrestling - the small school can't help being small - i am a fan for keeping a weight class for the small kid - he can't help being small either.

Practice #2 is this Saturday from 9:00-12:00! Hope to see you there!

How about a shout out for Elkhart? Lowest amount of forfeits each of the last four years in a row!

I blame the 2 piece suit... we should go back to mandatory singlets for all....