Coach Erikson, Charger.dad and Zachpierson,
I want to thank all of you for your positive perspectives on this matter. I agree that USA Wrestling offers many fine opportunities for wrestlers of all ages. I, and my son, left the Disney Duals early last year to head to Utah for the SB nationals which was a wonderful event put on by USA Wrestling. It really comes down to choices and options depending on: 1) time of the year, 2) money and 3) program philosophies. For those wrestlers who choose to participate in the Cadet/Junior Duals or Fargo, I am sure they get a wonderful experience. Those aren't the only games in town anymore though. The AAU Scholastic Duals offer a team atmosphere for wrestlers of all abilities to participate. Yorktown has an enrollment of 780 students. Not all of our wrestlers are ready for competition like the Junior Duals or Fargo. The Disney Duals offers all of our kids (varsity and JV) the opportunity to participate in a folkstyle event as a team. We leave 7 days before the event each year and have a team camp with 2-3 other Florida high schools who are also competing at the Disney Duals. Again, this is a chance for our coaches to work with all of our wrestlers on their strengths and weaknesses. I must give credit to Perry Meridian as we have modeled our pre-AAU Scholastic Duals camp after Perry Meridian as they used to travel to the Naples area for a pre-event camp. In recent years there have been other Indiana high schools such as Ben Davis, Franklin and Westfield that have traveled as a team to Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia for summertime team events. I think this is awesome, and I would not dare question these coaches' decision for how they manage their programs. Rather I applaud those coaches and parents who support their wrestler and/or teams in whatever summertime wrestling experience they choose to participate in.
Coach McCormick
