RegionRoyalty

2004 was a successful year. The Region had 5 champions and 5 runner-ups Jose Escobedo- Griffith, Angel Escobedo-Griffith, Andrae Hernandez- Griffith, Darren Elkins- Portage, and Alex Tsirtsis- Griffith took home titles. McGill, Sessa, Oria, English, and Larimore were Runner-Ups

It looks like the Region got 5 champions in 2006. Javier Salas- Merrillville, Eric McGill- Munster, Andrew Howe- Hanover Central, Chad Biddle- Portage, Dexter Larimore- Merrillville 3 more from Mishawaka (Harper, Hinton, and Day) gave the Merrillville Semi-State (now EC Semi-State) 8 champions.

I'm as big a Region fan as you will find outside of Da Rat. I don't see how you get to 4, much less 6. I'd set the Over/Under at 2.5 and take the Under.

100% true. I would not count Perry, Warren, Portage, Chesterton, Brownsburg, Avon, Mater Dei, etc. among the part-time coaches. You see their coaches at all the ISWA and Youth events all year round. Sadly, however, these guys are more the exception than the norm. And it is no surprise that they are the ones who have the successful programs. That's the point I'm trying to make. For kids who aren't fortunate enough to have a coach who puts in this level of time and effort year round, their Academy coach probably has spent more time with them and knows them better. The above schools and a handful of others would be the exception.

Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but in a lot of instances, this is exactly the opposite of what is true. The high school coach is with the athlete from November to February for his 4 years of high school. The Academy coach has been with that athlete year-round since he was 6 or 7 years old.

I don't consider myself to be a hater. I'm actually a fan of Asa and think he wrestles a fun to watch, aggressive style. 1.5% weight loss per week to get to 113 would put your max at 114.7 in a 1-week period. 114.7 and 133 are not ALIKE. They are not SIMILAR. They are not ALMOST THE SAME, or any other word you'd like to use to describe two things that are similar. "Like" is not the key word here, because 133 and 114.7 are not ALIKE. Exaggeration about the amount of weight you cut is not "cool". It hurts our sport. I'm sure most kids lose more than 1.5% in a week, probably even in a practice. It doesn't need to be published or exaggerated. It's not cool, especially when you're an athlete who a lot of peers and young wrestlers look up to. I just think that when Mr. Faulkens comes to a coaches dinner in the Region and lectures 50 coaches about adhering to the weight management plan, and then a couple weeks later an article is published about a state champion (one of the faces of the sport at the high school level in our state) cutting 20 pounds in a week, it's not a good look. Just my two cents...

Sounds like Mr. Faulkens may need to pay a visit to the Orioles to discuss their adherence to the weight management protocol...

I believe the complete list can be found in the Roncalli email distribution list called "Prospects"

Looking forward to the future 125 lb. Region rivalry between Army and Navy with Cummings and Moran.

If it's the Indiana version of the Hodge trophy for seniors only (most dominant p4p season of the seniors), give it to Andrew Davison or Evan Ellis, the only two without a loss this year If it's a culmination award over 4 years for the senior with the best career, give it to Colton Cummings, the only 2x state champion in this senior class.

Why does it matter what year in high school you won a state title? Only 1 senior in this whole senior class was a 2x state champion, that was Colton Cummings. If you asked the question "whose career would you most like to have?", I'd bet most people would say the one that ended with 2 state titles. Not the one that had 3 losses in the state semifinals and only one title. Not the one that had a ticket round loss, a loss on Friday night, and only one title. Not the one that had 3 state placements and only one trip to the finals and no titles.

Hard to vote against Colton Cummings. The ONLY 2x state champion in this senior class and had as dominant a 2 year run as I've seen his sophomore and junior years. Great student and community member headed to West Point. Had the national success as well (2nd at USA Folkstyle Nationals). An injury derailed his title hopes this season but IMO he had the best career of any of this years seniors.

BEST MATCH OF THE SEASON!

Kris Rumph... Not many quicker in the state than this kid when he decides to pull the trigger and attack the legs

Unfortunate that Carroll (Fort Wayne) is effectively going to be stealing a spot from a more deserving team for no other reason than geography. They wouldn't even be in consideration for a wild card spot if the top 10 automatically qualified, as they are more than 15 points from the 10th team on the list.