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End of an Era


bluechipper

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This state tournament marked an end to one of the finest eras in Indiana wrestling. I’ve been around this sport since 2011, have done extensive research and questioning on past eras, and closely followed the sport since my exposure to it, and I must say it has been one heck of a ride. Seven years may not seem long compared to many, but it’s long enough for an entire sport to transcend its bounds and give birth to a whole new style of itself as well. We went from predominantly solid technique and power based offense with clean finishes to funk and high-risk wrestling. We’ve seen our sport almost eliminated from the Olympic Games, and we’ve seen a resurgence. Honestly, we experienced a revolution. This revolution started thanks to websites like IndianaMat who made it their mission to grow wrestling in our state and make it easy and fun for fans to be connected to the sport. We saw one four-time state champion exit while another one entered. We saw the fireworks, the drama, the duals, and much like Kevin Whitehead said, we watched each other grow up. 2015, though, is the year I want to highlight. We saw the best mesh we’d get from arguably four great classes. Brownsburg became a name. Mason Parris became a name. We saw perennial powerhouses Cathedral, EMD, Penn, and PM slug it out for the title of the best program in the state. We saw perhaps one of the best state tournaments ever with loaded 113, 120, 132, 138, 170, 182, 220, and 285 brackets. We saw history and I will forever be grateful I got to witness it. Keep going, Indiana!

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24 minutes ago, Jcjcjc said:

Why is it the end? 

I think Indiana wrestling is getting better and better. 

We graduate some guys, but the next “legends” are coming or possibly already here. 

I agree. We're losing two all-timers in Lee and Parris, plus numerous other high-end guys, but if you go back and look at the thread questioning whether we'll have far less clearly favored stars next year--I think the answer is no when you start to look a little deeper.

Moran, Curtis, Garcia, and Pokorney will all potentially be Top 10 nationally by the start of the season. Watts, Rooks, Viduya, Slivka, Mosconi, Rodgers, etc. just placed very high and will keep moving up the national ladder. Despite the shocking loss, Carson Brewer is probably one more decent out-of-state performance away from being in the national rankings discussion. Previously lesser-followed guys like Manzona, South, Mahan, Graves, and Allred are uber talents that will make incredible leaps still in their year or two left. And we haven't even mentioned Mendez! I think the offseason will be an interesting one and we'll see we're going to be right back where we are now--if not further along--by next year at this time.

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28 minutes ago, maligned said:

I agree. We're losing two all-timers in Lee and Parris, plus numerous other high-end guys, but if you go back and look at the thread questioning whether we'll have far less clearly favored stars next year--I think the answer is no when you start to look a little deeper.

Moran, Curtis, Garcia, and Pokorney will all potentially be Top 10 nationally by the start of the season. Watts, Rooks, Viduya, Slivka, Mosconi, Rodgers, etc. just placed very high and will keep moving up the national ladder. Despite the shocking loss, Carson Brewer is probably one more decent out-of-state performance away from being in the national rankings discussion. Previously lesser-followed guys like Manzona, South, Mahan, Graves, and Allred are uber talents that will make incredible leaps still in their year or two left. And we haven't even mentioned Mendez! I think the offseason will be an interesting one and we'll see we're going to be right back where we are now--if not further along--by next year at this time.

Willie told me last night that Slivka will be in the rankings once the seniors are removed. And Mosconi and Manzona are on their respective big boards and just outside the rankings so I expect them to be ranked next year as well. Seems like we may actually have more guys ranked next year then this super stud year. Also, I think everyone's sleeping on Curtis and Garcia a bit. They may not be as nationally dominant as Lee and Parris, but they're going into their senior year looking to be 3 timers just like Lee and Parris. 

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In all I think this was a good post but...

16 hours ago, bluechipper said:

This state tournament marked an end to one of the finest eras in Indiana wrestling

I can't agree with this statement. What era has ended?

 

16 hours ago, bluechipper said:

Seven years may not seem long compared to many, but it’s long enough for an entire sport to transcend its bounds and give birth to a whole new style of itself as well.

I also don't agree with this. Funk & high risk wrestling began before 2011.

 

16 hours ago, bluechipper said:

This revolution started thanks to websites like IndianaMat

I agree, but again IndianaMat has been around since before 2011.

 

I am not trying to disrespect you, but I can't agree that a new era/revolution started in 2011 &/or that this years State Tournament is in any way some sort of end to an era. The sport of wrestling has been evolving for many decades & will continue to evolve. Wrestlers have had & always will have different styles. Some wrestlers are straight forward hammer types while others have wide open/high pace styles, while others still are extremely funky. The best wrestlers are the ones that can incorporate all of these into their repertoire.

I do believe we have witnessed a tremendous increase in the quality, more specifically the depth of quality, of wrestlers in the past decade or so. But I don't think there is any reason to believe this trend is coming to any sort of end. I think that this is largely due to the increase of club & academy wrestling, which is certainly not going away.

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2 hours ago, Jcjcjc said:

How many state titles are coming back to wrestle? 

Asa, Pokorny (fargo champ), Rooks, etc...

Half the champs this year will be back next year plus two who won last year. 9 total guys who have won a state championship

Moran

Curtis

Watts

Viduya

Garcia

Rooks

Slivka

South

Pokorney

 

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I agree with the OP in that it feels like the end of an era with the loss of Parris, Brayton, Nick & Joe Lee, & Chad Red.  Those weren't the only ones, but that is a group of nationally elite wrestlers.  But then again, it probably felt like the end of an era when the end of careers of Tisrtsis, Maurer, Escobedo, Hernandez, etc. too.  

So it feels like it, but as others have argued, it really isn't.  

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Coming back
Garcia- Top 10 guy after the seniors clear out
Pokorney- Top 5 guy after the seniors clear out
Curtis- Probably top 15 if not higher
Moran- Top 10 guy if he continues to do well on the national scene

Then add in guys like Rooks, Viduya, South, and so on and we have a good national representation. Also add in freshman sensation Jesse Mendez who will be in the national rankings talk as soon as he is officially a high schooler.

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35 minutes ago, SWINfan said:

I agree with the OP in that it feels like the end of an era with the loss of Parris, Brayton, Nick & Joe Lee, & Chad Red.  Those weren't the only ones, but that is a group of nationally elite wrestlers.  But then again, it probably felt like the end of an era when the end of careers of Tisrtsis, Maurer, Escobedo, Hernandez, etc. too.  

So it feels like it, but as others have argued, it really isn't.  

This is what I was intending to say. I'm good friends with a number of wrestlers who have graduated or are seniors, so it was kind of weird seeing some of them end their careers this past weekend. The wrestlers made such a big impact and were pivotal in what I believe elevated Indiana to more national recognition. Not saying there wasn't any before, but I definitely think that more coaches are on the lookout for Indiana wrestlers. The trend will definitely continue with the bright stars of tomorrow. And regarding the comment of IndianaMat, I understand it existed before 2011, but my point was that Y2, Fabio, Reiser & Co. made it their mission to continue making the site better with their articles, previews, rankings, magazines, etc. They kept expanding and making the flow of information sweeter. It even won an award. In short, I'm appreciative of the IHSWCA, IndianaMat, the programs, coaches, and wrestlers for giving me lots of entertainment over the years. It's truly been a pleasure.

Edited by bluechipper
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