Disney Updates?

[Tom Erikson]

I really do try and stay away from the normal chatter on the boards. As the Junior Duals team leader over the past several years I have found it very difficult to put a Team together and one of the big factors is the Disney Duals. To be fair I totally support the Disney Duals and what it represents. It is a chance for High School teams to be 1. rewarded for all the extra effort they are giving to their Coaches and Programs 2. is wrestled in the style in which they will compete during their high school season. 3. be guarenteed matches (something Fargo cannot do). In realizing those facts i find it hard to fault those kids for making that choice.
To defend the Junior duals trip is easy as you are also guarenteed 6 to 7 matches, this year we had 8. You will at some point be challenged against elite level competition as well as somewhat less competition. I love this trip as an introduction to the "Big Leagues" or the next level type of wrestling, it helps you get a clear idea of what to expect when you do go to Fargo.  As a former college Coach it is what I like to see of kids who aspire to wrestle at the next level as it showed me that this kid is getting out of his comfort zone. I like to see kids challenge themselves and if that young man takes advantage of the camp and entire duals trip he will come away a much better prepared wrestler for next season. The list is endless of kids I have had on this trip who have gone on to be state placers the year following this trip.
As a person who supports wrestling in the State of Indiana I am excited to see kids competing over the summer months as it shows me they are engaged and want to improve the quality of their wrestling. When that happens everybody wins!
As the Team leader I am always looking for the best kids to attend the elite level events and in saying that I challenge you to help us do just that. Contact the ISWA and your local Coaches with ideas on how to make trips cheaper how to insure we do get our best kids out to these tournaments, in other words get involved.

Tom Erikson
Team Leader
Junior Duals

[RegionRoyalty]

RegionRoyalty (or whoever you are) - You said it yourself, "you are a fan".  I suggest you jump into the coaching ranks.  Go take over your own program and then you can have your boys compete wherever you would like to take them based on your philosophies.  Who ever said Fargo was the best bang for a kid's buck?  Or that Fargo is what every kid in a program is ready for?  Certainly you are entitled to your own "fan" opinion, but again, you said it yourself... maybe some of the "top teams" in Indiana have discovered that the AAU Scholastic Duals club event is what is best for their program.

Coach,

Do you consider your team to be one of the top teams in the state?!  If so, I ask you why you entered your team in the "JV Division"?

[Jimtown 138]

Coach,

Do you consider your team to be one of the top teams in the state?!  If so, I ask you why you entered your team in the "JV Division"?

So what do you suggest Indiana does to become one of the elite wrestling states?

[RegionRoyalty]

Send our best kids to Junior Duals, so Indiana gets more recognition as a state from college coaches, thereby more Indiana kids get to wrestle in college, thereby more former college wrestlers come back to coach in Indiana, raising the overall level of wrestling in the state.  In states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, there are former D-1 wrestlers coaching middle school programs.. Here in Indiana we are lucky if our varsity coach was a semi-state qualifier..

[Jimtown 138]

Send our best kids to Junior Duals, so Indiana gets more recognition as a state from college coaches, thereby more Indiana kids get to wrestle in college, thereby more former college wrestlers come back to coach in Indiana, raising the overall level of wrestling in the state.  In states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, there are former D-1 wrestlers coaching middle school programs.. Here in Indiana we are lucky if our varsity coach was a semi-state qualifier..

SMH...

[charger.dad]

It is quite disheartening as an Indiana wrestling fan that teams like Perry Meridian, Penn, and Yorktown choose to attend Disney Duals in lieu of encouraging their kids to go to Cadet and Junior Duals in preparation for Fargo.  Here we have 3 of the better teams in our state choosing to wrestle in some vacation-style folkstyle tournament with so many divisions and classifications that nearly their whole team posted perfect records against watered down competition.  At the same time, our joke of a Junior Duals team, which can't even fill out the full roster goes and gets pummeled for a week straight as the rest of the states like Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, etc. send their best kids to compete with the nation's best.  Our priorities as a state are out of line, and until our top programs choose to change the culture and the ISWA chooses to encourage our best kids to compete at Junior Duals, like Illinois does, we will continue to be a laughing stock at such prestigious tournaments such as Junior Duals.

that "joke of a junior duals team" obviously didn't have our best wrestlers.....otherwise they would have all been state champs.....but for the kids that did step up and go (one of which was my son who not only wrestled up in weight but joined the junior team as a cadet), you should be congratulating them on giving it their all and having the balls to face some of the best kids in the nation instead of calling them a joke.....not to classy bud.....but easy to do when you're sitting behind a computer screen......
 

[zachpierson]

In states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, there are former D-1 wrestlers coaching middle school programs.. Here in Indiana we are lucky if our varsity coach was a semi-state qualifier..

LOL let me guess, you never wrestled or coached??? there are some fine coaches that never even wrestled! Let alone wrestled D1. If you know how to get us to the next level, then step up and do something about it instead of complaining on a message board!!! Man i love all the couch potato fans/"coaches" who "know whats best" for indiana and our kids. STEP UP!!!!

[Coach McCormick]

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

[dad2cash]

I would also think Disney , although a vacation / wrestling experience, would be a great tool for high school coaches  to keep their team motivated to stay in the wrestling room and keep training in the summer .

[AJ]

the competition at Disney is not a joke... my brother wrestled in the All-Star division with a Michigan team and they faced great competition....
The Wrestling Factory (which had a lot of St Eds varsity wrestlers) and other states sent some top level wrestlers...

Disney and Junior/Cadet Duals are two different tournaments that offer different things.  I want Indiana to perform well as a state in all the duals.. those that are USA sanctioned and those that are not...