base

It's a shift in sports mentality. Personally I don't like it, although I do understand it. The focus now is getting to the top of the podium - as an individual or team. In the past, I feel as if other matches really counted (in-season tourneys, conference championship, county championship, local rivalry duals, etc) but more and more in both college and high school wrestling it is managing the participation to have the athlete at peak performance for the end of season run. As you mentioned, there is a side benefit of developing other kids on the roster. I know I am old fashioned but I'd like to see every healthy wrestler go out and wrestle at every opportunity. If they are injured, then that's another story. But healthy scratches -- just not for my liking

In general, I would say that it is an accomplishment. However, it depends on the wrestler, and also on the path they took to get there. 1. If the wrestler's sectional/regional is difficult, possibly loaded with people that have beat the wrestler during the season or highly skilled - then yes, making it to semi-state would be an accomplishment to them. 2. For many on here - if the wrestler is representing a small school and has to navigate through qualifying rounds against traditional powerhouse schools then yes, it would be an accomplishment 3. This forum tends to focus (and rightly so) on wrestlers that are "ranked" or have invested a lot of their time in offseason practices and tournaments. For each of those, however, there are dozens of young men and women who have put in the sweat during practices and haven't achieved many accolades. For all of those "worker bees" yes, absolutely qualifying for semistate in Indiana would be an accomplishment!

The most well-known case I can think of is 2013 State Champion Deondre Wilson from Warren Central. It was only his 3rd year of the sport when he achieved his undefeated season and championship. Amazing story!

120 lbs and 132 lbs both really catch my attention with a top 5-8 that are loaded. Those will be fun to watch at state, and matchups could wreak havoc with team standings

There are 16 teams listed on trackwrestling Western is out but some Warren team will be there TeamSeason TeamAbbrCount 1 Fort Wayne South Side , IN Fort Wayne South Side, INFWS0 2 Greencastle, IN Greencastle, ING14 3 Hanover Central , IN Hanover Central, INHC18 4 Harrison, IN Harrison (West Lafayette), INH0 5 Lapel, IN Lapel, INL8 6 Muncie Central , IN Muncie Central, INMC23 7 New Haven , IN New Haven, INNH21 8 Noblesville , IN Noblesville, INN0 9 North Central , IN North Central, INNC0 10 North Montgomery, IN North Montgomery, INNM1 11 North Putnam, IN North Putnam, INNP0 12 Pendleton Heights , IN Pendleton Heights, INPH0 13 Rensselaer Central, IN Rensselaer Central, INRC35 14 Rochester, IN Rochester Community, INR18 15 Warren Central , IN Warren Central, INWC14 16 West Vigo , IN West Vigo, INWV14

Can't help but feel Carroll was likely subliminally influenced to go there by the posts of IndianaMat's own @PistolPete

Ohio State will be tested right off the bat - Michigan State open this weekend Next Friday (Nov 11) versus #11 Virginia Tech At MSU, 133 is projected to have Byrd (ILL), Ragusin (MICH) and Foley (MSU) - so Mendez/Bouzakis will start to see where they may fit in to the Big10 pecking order!

That's a great win for Jesse. Will be very interesting to see if they try to include him this year and make their best run, or hold him back with most of the other incoming superclass (OSU #1 Recruiting Class 2022) and setup for several runs at a championship in coming years This is going to be a fun team to watch if Ryan can get these guys to gel together, continue to improve, and above all stay injury free!

OSU is going to be a really exciting team. Based on the talent you listed, they should be right up there competing with the perennial top dogs, Penn State and Iowa The wildcard in all this may be the NIL transfers and how the use of one-year starters evolves. Could we potentially see a "super team" ala the NBA in the next 10 years to someone with really deep pockets?

Fantastic preview of the event - Joe, make this young man a permanent author on the forum!

Yes, that was disappointing I was really excited to have him at Purdue and think he has a bright future. He had some big wins in 2 seasons as a Boiler

Hadn't heard details of why he was released from OSU, I only knew of the automobile accident he had been in, and his social media "persona"

See also DeSanto, Suriano, etc.... if he can win he's worth a shot for somebody!

Let's dive into the data a little bit - first, here are the dual meet standings from Big 10 this past season (2021-2022): Penn State 8-0 Iowa 7-1 Michigan 7-1 Wisconsin 6-2 Ohio State 5-3 Michigan State 4-4 Purdue 4-4 Northwestern 4-4 Rutgers 3-5 Nebraska 3-5 Minnesota 3-5 Illinois 1-7 Indiana 1-7 Maryland 0-8 I am going to classify Penn State, Iowa and Michigan as "ELITE". I think Ohio State will join this group in the next year or two based on their recruiting class. These are teams that will only likely lose to each other. Wisconsin was up there with only 2 losses this year but guess what - they didn't wrestle against either Michigan or Penn State. Let's look at losses by the other teams / with losing margin, and discard losses versus the 3 Elite teams: Wisconsin - Nebraska (10) Ohio State - only losses were to Elite 3 Michigan State - Ohio State (13), Northwestern (8) Purdue - Michigan State (1), Wisconsin (11), Northwestern (5) Northwestern - Wisconsin (4), Minnesota (22), Nebraska (11) Rutgers - Wisconsin (5), Michigan State (3), Ohio State (5) Nebraska - Purdue (3), Minnesota (6) Minnesota - Wisconsin (6), Purdue (4), Ohio State (10) Illinois - Rutgers (8), Purdue (12), Northwestern (13), Minnesota (10), Wisconsin (22), Nebraska (12) Indiana - Rutgers (12), Michigan State (2), Purdue (1), Illinois (33), Ohio State (31) Maryland - Indiana (14), Ohio State (35), Wisconsin (35), Michigan State (23), Northwestern (22), Rutgers (18) What I take away from this is that the Big10's lower teams are all capable of winning, but are sometimes also hit by a tough schedule and some very narrow losses. Indiana had a couple of close losses early on - then once Washington went out of the lineup they seemed to fold in the later part of their season. Nebraska went 3-5 but could have easily been 5-3. Several of Purdue's wins were close (by 3, 4, 1) I don't know what the answer is for IU - but I don't think they are far off from a shot at the middle of the Big10 depending on their schedule. As for wrestlers leaving - it could be blamed on coaching staff, but there are so many other factors (academics, social/personal, results versus expectations) that could also lead to these young people deciding there may be greener pastures elsewhere.

I think you have to give the current coaching staff a little time to fully establish their program/style and for their recruiting efforts to ramp up. Indiana HS wrestling continues to improve and provide more college-level wrestlers that are available locally. Because of this increase in depth everywhere, I look at college wrestling to transition to something more like NCAA basketball. Many talented players are going with mid-major schools that are a better fit for them socially and academically. IU is in a catch-22 I will agree there. Until they can establish themselves as a winning school with a proven history of developing wrestlers and sending some on to later success (olympics, etc) they may not be seriously considered by the elite recruits. Adding Chad Red Jr to their local RTC is a great move, in my opinion. The coaching staff is very young - but should be hitting their stride now and sorting out roles/responsibilities. There's no easy path in the Big10, but as we saw last year the entire college wrestling environment may be changing where teams are sitting out their best during dual meets and saving them up for a run at the NCAA tournament.

The answer is always "Lateral Drop" ask any Uncle Rico wrestling veteran at your local watering hole

Congratulations - but 285? He better start eating some Hungry Man salisbury steak dinners as snacks between meals!

Is this rule for ISWA youth or ?? I think it will likely go as expected. Honorable people will honor it. Self-centered trophy seekers will exploit it

I was disappointed in all of the Medical Forfeits yesterday - 2 in the championship matches alone. I understand the strategy and all, but the sport of wrestling has always been anti-gamesmanship. That is a real bummer that Chad Red seemed to be under the weather - I thought he had been wrestling really well lately and I was hoping for a good run in this tournament. Mason Parris has definitely gotten bigger since last season, but that has not translated into success against top tier heavyweights. His signature move the fireman's carry (or whatever you call it) has been neutralized when going against Kerkvliet. Mason just can't quite get to the deep shot. Like the announcers said, he is a victim of timing - he's an incredible athlete and wrestler who just happens to be crossing paths at the same time with one of the best US heavyweight athletes/wrestlers to ever do the sport. I hope he can manage to get on the opposite side of the bracket at NCAAs and make a run to the finals! Purdue had a few guys show up and do okay. I had higher hopes for Schroeder, Coleman and Neijenhuis. Love the progress that Penola has made and the fight he shows every match. IU didn't have a great showing. They had some tough early round matchups against high seeds and that hurt some of their guys early. Really bummed that Washington isn't at his peak due to injury (which I think was hurt more during dual against Purdue with a questionable move by Lyon). Both in-state schools are struggling to compete against the amazing skill level across the conference - Purdue is faring better at the moment, but I don't think they are too far ahead of IU talent-wise. I'd love to see them consistently around the 5/6/7 place finisher rather than 10 through 14th. One last note - the Transfer Portal is a real game changer. In addition to recruiting the best talent, the top dogs are now also able to fill in perceived weaknesses in the lineup with these free agents. I sort of hate it - I'm happy for some of the young men to be able to move to a team that's a better fit for them. But I hate it for the guys that have been grinding it out in Big 10 wrestling for years, only to be replaced in the lineup by a free agent. Iowa gets Eierman. Penn State brings in Hildebrandt and Gabe Dean. Michigan has Suriano. Transfer Portal and lots of in-season avoidance to rest guys for postseason. It's a new dynamic i suppose

Thinking a little outside the box - what if the small school series trailed the state series and held their tourneys on Sunday. No wrestlers would participate on Saturday AND Sunday in the same week. Maybe there could be some flexibility of what schools would go to which DISTRICTS tournaments based on number of participants, and how many would advance.

Don't know so I'm asking here - are there potentially more knee (or other injuries) in freestyle with beginners using the moves? I'm thinking about leg laces torqueing the knees, or bow and arrow type moves Personally, I love watching freestyle at the higher levels. I think recent adjustments to rules has made it into a more watchable sport

Christian Carroll vs Royce Deckard III - Carroll used raw strength to grab Deckard, lift him onto his shoulders, take about 12 steps then set him down to the mat straight to his back. Note that Carroll didn't lock his hands like a bear hug, and he did not slam Deckard down to the mat, it was a controlled lift, walk towards the edge, turn back around towards the middle then set him down. Brute strength that shocked one of the announcers. I'll say - the matside guys were mostly really good and entertaining. Yes, you can tell they are locals - one of the guys was obviously a Brownsburg guy because he had a lot of inside info on their guys and a few other things he said. They are not polished announcers, they are younger guys around the scene that get excited and also give some good insight on the wrestlers. Personally, I liked listening to them and I like the excitement when something big is happening (contrast to the mat where the audio was off and it was just silence!) Yeah, he probably shouldn't have said Jesus Christ - but he didn't say Holy S*it! or Oh My God! so it could have just been something else. So Joe - who were the announcers on each of the mats? I'm curious as to the lineup we had. I thought one of them on Mat 1 sounded like you - but I forgot that you were coaching for FW Carroll.

Congratulations to all of these young men and women! Balancing academics and athletics is not always easy - so congratulations on being recognized for your talent and hard work

Playing devil's advocate here. Google tells me that Cascade has an enrollment of around 450 students +/- Quinn - it is absolutely amazing what you've done and I have nothing but praise. This example is not an attack in any way to the job you are doing. But - small schools in general... all of us here are very wrestling-focused. In my opinion, what Quinn is doing is exactly the right strategy - provide free opportunities, quality coaching, build the youth program and build bonds among the wrestlers/parents as early as possible. However - the flip side to all of these opportunities, RTCs, Open rooms and a growing wrestling program is that other programs/sports within the school (who have drawn from that same small pool of potential athletes) are going to go downhill. That's the conundrum at small schools - but at the same time it's their charm. An athlete *can* be a three-sports letter winner. Most of these small school programs are saying they want to have state winners via a classed system and that will "grow the sport". Not arguing that it might within some schools (like large schools - will likely be those with coaches who take steps like Quinn and small school powerhouses will be developed). My argument is that maybe they *shouldn't* focus on one sport - small schools should embrace what they are and have their focus be developing more three-sport athletes. There will still be those generational athletes that come along that shine within any system. In my opinion their programs should work together and realize that turning a small pool of athletes into one-sport participants may be great for a single sport, but not necessarily what is always best for the school or the kids. Just my opinion

I think I understand that you're shaking your head because there haven't been academy-type opportunities in NE Indiana But what is your opinion on the Ben Davis / Brownsburg situation. Both large enrollment. Same vicinity with "access" to academies. Very different participation and outcomes