aoberlin

After the state finals I thought they gave up on wrestling over there.

Since this new area is becoming a booming wrestling section of the state I have decided to take a visit to the Caprino @Y2CJ41 home on Sat for an "un-official" visit for a potential landing spot for a future hammer.  Reporting no names but this kid has been previously Frepan/Seymour trained

Congratulations to Chase Leech Congratulations to from Garrett for signing with Indiana. Projected to wrestle 165, 174.
View full signing

Ramos did a clinic for The Fort last year. Good stuff and a good dude. Highly recommend.

Ramos did a clinic for The Fort last year. Good stuff and a good dude. Highly recommend.

Garrett RTC -enter door 3 
start time 6-730
What's needed-USA Card
What to expect-Improve your wrestling skillset and wrestle some hammers
Who is welcome-Boys and Girls  grades 6-12

In case you missed it on X or the college thread: Christian Mejia from Elkhart Memorial, Derek Blubaugh from Bloomington South, and Shawn Streck from Merrillville all picked up D2 national titles last night.
 
Mejia had finished 5th twice before, was seeded only 3rd, and was in his final year of eligibility. 
 
Blubaugh had twice been national runner-up to his finals opponent, and had lost to him 5-0 two weeks ago, but finally got over the hump.
 
Streck picked up his second consecutive title. 
 
Congrats, guys!!
 
 

Almost tagged you several times, but I knew...you'd find your way....

Stood in the corner this past weekend at ISWA for one of our 7 year old club kids. The kid is pretty talented! Well this kid has apparently been doing some private lessons for quite some time with an older coach (who is not affiliated with our club) 
 
while standing in the corner with this guy, I heard him say things to this 7 year old, after losing a match that he was winning, like, “how the hell are you gonna turn around and blow it for us like that, that’s embarrassing”
 
as well as getting just overly angry at the kid mid match for things like giving up a take down or an escape etc. 
 
this kid has been having issues controlling his emotions during matches like this and I finally had to sit the mom down and tell her that the reason he is struggling with controlling his emotions is because of this other coach, if the adult can’t control his emotions and makes him feel overwhelmed then the kid will never learn to control them either. 

If we want to dig even deeper into this point: I think our whole culture teaches us that being happy is the meaning of life. Which is all well and good. But the way happiness is defined nowadays has evolved into this: "obsessively chase what you think should be yours so you can be happy for you." That's a counterfeit happiness--it's a rigid individualism and potentially narcissism. True happiness doesn't happen on an island. It happens in relationships and in respect of community. Relationships involve self-sacrifice--the opposite of "get mine for me." As a parent, I'm trying to learn better how to teach "chase your dreams" in a way that also involves celebrating others' successes. It's tough to do!!

Just over the last 3ish years over $100,000 and a 2nd mortgage to insure the $130,000 I still owe on the business loan. And countless hours.
 
But my wife and I got to go to dinner with Kenny Monday!

Before the business an unknown amount of time and money.

Just over the last 3ish years over $100,000 and a 2nd mortgage to insure the $130,000 I still owe on the business loan. And countless hours.
 
But my wife and I got to go to dinner with Kenny Monday!

Before the business an unknown amount of time and money.

Sam Riesen vs. Andy Oberlin

I'll start. 
Carroll Regional a nominate @GenHeavyHandz and @nkraus

I'll start. 
Carroll Regional a nominate @GenHeavyHandz and @nkraus

I'll start. 
Carroll Regional a nominate @GenHeavyHandz and @nkraus

After all that, you named a Regional Rep 🤔

I'll start. 
Carroll Regional a nominate @GenHeavyHandz and @nkraus

I'll start. 
Carroll Regional a nominate @GenHeavyHandz and @nkraus

How does that generate conversation? I am assuming they want some smack talkers.

First of all, it is great that we can finally have this conversation in a civil and open-minded way. That wasn't the case ten years ago.
 
Second, my concern for the other sports is because if a kid wants to be able to play baseball (or ____ sport), they should have a baseball team to play on. This is not a reference to wrestlers playing baseball. This is a reference to any arbitrary Culver Community student. If we small school coaches push too hard and make our kids choose, then other students will suffer due to lack of options.
 
Finally, you are absolutely right that big schools also face challenges. You are doing as much right as anyone that I am aware of, and not just for your wrestlers. You have taken on the challenge of making an entire area more competitive, and that is outstanding. Hopefully we can all continue to truly work toward functioning as one wrestling community.

I can only speak for Adams Central, but the culture isn't just wrestling. The culture goes throughout the athletic department and in the classroom. I feel all 3 sports seasons try to work together to share the athletes & there has been a huge focus on the weight training end of being multiple sport athletes. There are a few wrestlers that wrestle year round, but more 2-3 sport athletes on the roster. The goal seems to be focusing on the team state duals, competing with the normal wrestling powers at sectional & regional in team standings, and then hopefully a few state qualifiers. If those qualifiers are just wrestling all year, then hopefully state placers. Though this year was abnormal with no qualifiers, it has worked out for the most part. 3 straight runner up finishes in football, 2 straight team state dual runner ups, won the conference team duals & individual tournament this year, and solid years in spring sports. Plus the prior 25 or so straight years of having a state qualifier in wrestling before this season. 

This isn't just a small school problem. It's a kid and what are their goals problem. They will always find something else they can be doing other than grinding if they truly aren't bought in. Not saying small schools don't have challenges because they do. But I will also say they have some benefits. 

You make really good points, and you aren't wrong. Coming from a big school, the mindset of the coaches is to get the athletes to focus almost solely on their sport. The baseball coach doesn't care to have their player wrestle.  In a small school, there is a good chance you are friends with all the coaches and know them by name when you see them. I would imagine you have talks about each of the athletes and the their strengths and weaknesses. You share the athlete. I don't think that happens at big schools too much so there are some advantages you have if the kids do multiple sports. Not saying it wouldn't be better if they totally focused on wrestling but at least there is that. I also truly believe that, for the bigger boys, wrestling is a huge asset to football. I think if you are 165ish and above and your main sport is football but you still get some offseason and mat time when you can you can still be very successful. I do hear you when you say even your mid weights and smaller wrestlers play football, since it is a small school, so that can be tough, but it can also make them tougher. One of my best wrestlers is football first and wrestling second and I am okay with that. Currently, he is one of a few of my wrestlers with a real competitor mindset but he has been that way since sharks in minnows as a little kid.
 
My stance is that either we class the state or we add more qualifiers and have wrestle backs. Our wrestlers deserve more opportunities because of how hard they now have to work now.  I also really do see the advantage of classing for a small school and helping drive the numbers up. One of the reasons I would like to coach at a smaller school would be to get invited to Team State and be a part of that. Doing that at a 4A school while you are still trying to build a culture is a challenge. So don't get me wrong I don't disagree with you. I will keep saying it's not rainbow and butterflies in big school land. We all have battles we are fighting. Keep up the good fight.