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Boycott Freestyle State


Sig40

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If you do not notify the public about a qualifier, how can it possibly be a qualifier?    Everyone should have an equal opportunity to qualify. 

 

Imagine if United World Wrestling published to everyone the only two Olympic qualifiers remaining were Mongolia and Turkey.    But then without public notice UWW held a privately approved secret qualifier in Las Vegas only for Mexico, Canada and USA.    The rest of the world would go ballistic.    And rightfully so.  

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DISCLAIMER - My name is Nick Hull, with Indiana Pride Wrestling Academy, and I am on the ISWA board. These opinions are mine, and mine alone, and in no way reflect that of the ISWA board or it's members. If you take this personal, then I am talking to you.  If you don't take this personal, then now you can see the other side of this nonsense...for the record.

 

Now, with that said, to those with valid arguments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism: this isn't for you.  To those on here with DESTRUCTIVE criticism and bask in this ignorance - that's your right.  But let's keep this in perspective:  Last year the ISWA allowed clubs to grant waivers to those families who legitimately had an issue qualifying, whether that be travel, ACT, injury, etc.  It was a last minute call to help families participate, but it backfired.  Not because it was a bad idea going out on a limb to help families, it backfired because of the gripers, complainers, and soap boxers who like controversy that chose to use this as another opportunity to take a big dump on a bunch of volunteers who do their best to help wrestling in Indiana grow.  But again, that's your right.  "Don't flip-flop" they say.  "Waiver-gate" they say.  "Stick to your guns ISWA" they say.  OK, so this year the ISWA is sticking to their guns, unfortunately at the expense of those families who need them now, and people are complaining still?!? Lol.  At some point, this goes through legitimate, to sad, to comical.  What specifically are we crying about now?  Doing what the "masses" asked for? "Sticking to our guns"?

 

To those families who LEGITIMATELTY cannot make the second qualfier because of whatever (injury is the biggest one in my book) and cannot receive a waiver - which sucks - thank the complainers who blew this out of proportion.  Thank the cranky, never-satisfied cries of those who could care less about your kid wrestling, or Indiana wrestling as a whole, but more than anything are focused on making the ISWA look bad.  Could the ISWA do better?  Well, of course!!  There are plenty of areas the ISWA could grow, strengthen, cut back in, etc.  But we are talking about VOLUNTEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Some of which who have dedicated their lives to the sport.  Meanwhile, it's sooooo easy and lame and honestly sad to sit on here and batch about it, as opposed to doing something about it - like come in and VOLUNTEER, reach out to your state rep, or just simply be positive!!  Take all of that know-how and expertise, since you have all the answers, and go enlighten the board, volunteer at a tournament, cut a check, of find ways to help instead of hurt!  The ISWA is open to everyone - still - and treats everyone with open arms.  Even if you drive all that way just to go rant, they'll listen, try to address it if they aren't already, and work to understand the issue and solutions.  Don't wanna hear it's too far.  Some travel hours to it, once a month let alone just once, because it's that deep.  If it was really that big of deal then you would too.  On the other hand, if it's not that big of a deal to you and you just find it entertaining to kick up dust - it's a poison.

 

Regarding the event Warren had last week, good job for them.  It was a great idea, thinking outside of the box to get another opportunity done, and followed all the rules: paid the sanction fee, weigh-in, skin checks, USAW#, offcials, and had a will to participate.  Even if we hadn't been invited I'd be looking to start one ourselves.  Hopefully, it does create more opportunities and ignites a fire to understand the severity of Indiana's lack of participation and success in the international styles.  This at least is the only good thing I see coming from this clamor - publicity for the international styles.  What was even more cool about this event for us was it was it allowed some who didn't plan on even wrestling freestyle to try it out.  We had 6 new h.s. kids who used this as not only their first freestyle event but as their first summer wrestling event period.  How can you truly get mad at it, or the ISWA, for ALLOWING the opportunity?  Because you weren't invited?  Because it wasn't on the schedule?  The ISWA didn't start or allow it to screw people.  It was an invite only, so it wasn't open to the public, kind of like an "Invitational", it was on a weekday as opposed to a weekend, and it was a last second thing from my understanding to give kids another opportunity to not only qualify but get more experience. Between the three programs, I'd say over 200 kids were there with their families, so it wasn't just a room full of 20 kids simply practicing.  

 

If it's that deep then you have two weeks.  Get with your club or academy, pay the sanction fee, invite some teams, get some officials, weigh-in, record participants and USAW#, and have at it.  IF you cant this year then put it on the books next year.  We need more of this anyway, along with Freestyle Duals, Beginner Freestyle and Greco tournaments, etc. There were several open weekends over the past month that could have used a tournament or two next year.

 

Lastly, it's still about quality AND quantity.  From a quality standpoint, what is the purpose in wrestling all of these national folkstyle tournaments and JUST wrestling freestyle @ state? To be a 12x ISWA Freestyle State Champion?!  Congratulations.  And then what? Do you possibly plan to go to Fargo, which is where the true best in the country are at? If you are serious about being one of the best in the country then you will plan to go to Fargo.  But, guess what????  Fargo is going to be a massive waist of money for you.  Do you know why?  Because there is a strong chance your son or daughter will get SPANKED!!!!!!  Why is that?  Because they didn't invest in Freestyle and Greco. Period. If you want your child to MAXIMIZE THEIR POTENTIAL in wrestling then you will invest in the international styles.  If wrestling is recreational for you, then keep investing in folkstyle.  Honestly, this is a black and white issue. There will be those who train Folkstyle all year, those who are seasonal, and those who will invest in Freestyle and Greco.  The results will take care of themselves on the back end - when it really counts.  Those who train folkstyle all year, along with those who are seasonal, may end up pretty good and have decent careers - but they will have never maximized their potential in wrestling. Wrestling, as you all know, is a lifestyle.  The programs, not even individuals, but the programs that consistently win, in high school and college, are those that train year-round and max out their training and participation in the international styles.  EMD? Perry? Warren? Iowa?  Oklahoma State?  Penn State?  Individually, it's even worse.   Either you choose to go to the qualifiers or don't.  It's that simple.

 

Again, these are my personal reflections. I've posted in other threads about my feelings of this requirement towards helping vs. hurting the state, so I won't even get into that.  If you choose to boycott freestyle state then that is your prerogative. For the record, the Warren event last week was the 3rd or 4th Freestyle tournament for most Indiana Pride kids, and they will be at Franklin this weekend too, not only to provide more participants at/for Franklin but to continue sharpening our skills in Freestyle and Greco. I know Indiana Pride will be at state in full effect trying to leg lace and gut everyone and their mama.  Who knows, we may even be able to stop a good gut wrench too. This way, when high school hits i know they will be even that much more ready for Fargo their freshman year, which means being one of the best in the state is not a goal but an expectation.  Hope is not a strategy.

Edited by Coach Hull
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Nick,

Since you basically directed your post at me, I'll answer your statements and questions.

 

First off last year's waivers were a joke.You didn't need anything other than an excuse, it wasn't verified if there were injuries or other sufficient reasons for not attending an event. Maybe if people weren't told over and over that they MUST get two events in, then the week of the event they said they'd allow waivers there wouldn't have been any uproar. Alas your ties to the ISWA has your views very slanted in that situation.

 

The Warren event was a joke and you know it. 200 kids wrestled there, hmmm, seems pretty shady that all got even one match in about two hours. There is no way you got 100 matches in on two mats over two hours. That's 25 matches an hour...or  less than 2.5 minutes PER match.  Even at 3 mats it's 3.6 minutes per match and that includes blood timeouts, out of bounds restarts, shaking hands, and EVERYTHING that goes into a match.  Just calling your bluff here...something doesn't add up!

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Nick,

Why do you think that a kid has to participate in a freestyle tournament to be good at freestyle? Just bc my kid didn't wrestle in a freestyle tournament doesn't mean he doesn't train freestyle. Just bc the tournaments he wrestled in on the weekends during 'freestyle season' were folkstyle has no baring on wether or not my kid can compete at a very high level in freestyle. Wrestling the 25 matches against 15 different states the last few weekends definitely was better for him then 4-6 matches he would have got locally. And yes winning USA nationals and Ohio TOC is good for the state of Indiana. RWA does their part in training kids in the international styles, so don't worry come Fargo time.

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I really wish to be fair to the ISWA about this, but I am having a challenging time understanding.  Historically, ISWA hasn't had invitationals.  All local tournaments have been open.  One might limit the number of registrants or limit the number of teams.  But anyone who registered early enough and paid the fee could enter.  Maybe someone can correct if I am wrong, but I cannot recall a previous instance going back to the 1980s where ISWA offered a local event that was not open to all and made the info public beforehand.  

 

Was the Warren event listed on Track and can others view the matches and entrants?  I ask not to be mean, but to simply show that anyone can see the other iswa tournaments and duals for this spring on Track.  

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I really wish to be fair to the ISWA about this, but I am having a challenging time understanding.  Historically, ISWA hasn't had invitationals.  All local tournaments have been open.  One might limit the number of registrants or limit the number of teams.  But anyone who registered early enough and paid the fee could enter.  Maybe someone can correct if I am wrong, but I cannot recall a previous instance going back to the 1980s where ISWA offered a local event that was not open to all and made the info public beforehand.  

 

Was the Warren event listed on Track and can others view the matches and entrants?  I ask not to be mean, but to simply show that anyone can see the other iswa tournaments and duals for this spring on Track.  

Carmel has hosted freestyle dual events the past 2 years.  These would be considered invitationals because an individual cannot not sign up without a team that is entered.  Last year, it counted as a qualifier for state.  Penn had one this year, as well, that is also counting.  

 

Some of the southern clubs have had Greco duals for many years.  They were never used or needed as qualifiers, but they did exist before this year and were never listed on the ISWA schedule.  And trackwrestling isn't required for open events, either.

 

The 3 clubs that did this probably didn't have many wrestlers who haven't already qualified.  Those clubs go to a lot of events.  If they set this up for the wrestlers to get more experience and ended up also being a qualifier, then it would just be a bonus for a few kids.  If they did this to be another qualifier, then they found a creative way around the rules as written.  I understand why people would be upset, but progress and change have to start somewhere.  It would be great if more of these type of events pop up next year.  Now that the ISWA is aware of them, guidelines and requirements can be put in place for what can be considered a qualifier (weigh-ins, officials, # of matches, etc.).

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Carmel duals are advertised on the ISWA website. My guess is if I had a kid not on a team they could contact Ed and he'd help them find a team. Plus at Carmel you aren't limited to an hour of wrestling and you get 4-6 matches in.  That's a big difference than a 1 hour time slot for each age group like at Warren.

 

The Warren triple dual was advertised as a qualifier and yes it was a creative way around the rules. Nothing like teaching kids that while there are rules, always look for ways around them.

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Actually, Y2, I wasn't directed at you or anyone specifically. I haven't been on in a while so I just looked through the general spirit and content of the comments themselves. I knew I would hit some emotions with my last post, but so what.  It's weapons free for everyone else who calls the ISWA every name under the sun.  You know I have respect for you Y2, regardless of our differences, but this site is a great platform.  But the ISWA is a dedicated organization and they do work very, very hard VOLUNTEERING for the state.  Some ISWA members, along with the VAST majority of people I know, don't get on here and post because of some of the foolishness.  I heard you say before there are 5,000 members with Indianamat, but very, very, very few of those post...because of this same reason.  This is your site, and you are king.  No beef here. It is free for people to voice their opinion so this is mine.  But for the record, no, it was not directed at you.   

 

Now in response, and to my understanding, an email was sent out from the ISWA to the clubs to allow waivers at their discretion.  I got that email for IPWA and used the waiver at my discretion. Several kids who I know for a fact chose not go to the tournaments for bogus reasons, asked for a waiver, and I told them flat out no, and actually I said NOPE. However, we had a kid who had been hurt for a few months who had just gotten cleared, had one tournament in, and wanted to wrestle at Freestyle state.  The kid is a competitor, I know the family pretty well and they are good people, and ultimately decided it was ok for him to wrestle. He got the waiver.  Very simple on this end.  

 

Now, to the kids, parents and coaches who took advantage of the waivers for bogus reasons, and you know who you are, shame on you.  Those are the people who should get the brunt of this negativity, not the ISWA. I know for a fact they were at the tournament working vigorously verifying tournament qualifications, so it was a big and important operation.  Folks cry about it is as if there were some big conspiracy by the ISWA.  Sorry, just something good that got blown way out of proportion and turned into something bad.  Even still, that was last year.  Adjustments were made, and people are still crying about it?  Scheduling wise, everyone knew last year, so I can't think of any reason not to get your two tournaments in that are worth not getting your two tournaments in: folkstyle nationals tournaments, prom, ACT, spring sports, etc etc etc. We have kids who got some mat time in and still went to ACT.  We have some kids who skipped NUWAY nationals for a local tournament.  A Family vacation I get, and we have kids who are playing soccer and baseball who aren't wrestling at state.  Injuries are a more complex issue, and I feel for those kids and families, but it's largely a choice and folks are free to choose what they want.

 

As far as the Warren event, wrestlers were paired into groups of 4, then everyone wrestled set periods, win or lose, and rotated throughout people and groups.  It was definitely a lot going on and definitely nothing I had seen before, but every one left with several matches, parents and kids were happy, there were head officials, trainers, coaches, and kids wanting to compete in freestyle had a chance to do just that. Not sure if this was going to be an annual thing or what, but it was pretty cool for the parents and wrestlers because it served it's purpose.  I'm certain Coach Tonte can send folks the official format if they want to do something similar, tweak it, or whatever as I'm certain he will do the same if he has it next year.

 

And to answer additional questions I kind of see, yes, no waivers is due to the uproar I would imagine...at least with my vote.  Why wouldn't it be?  We are still complaining about the ISWA fixing the issue from last year?  Isn't that why people complain and fight for their rights?  To change something?  So their voices are heard? Which in this case is the same, lame conversation about last year's waivers?!?! (In my Allen Iverson "practice" voice)  Yes, get over it.  No waivers.  Boom.  People know where I stand on this: Indiana does not train and compete in Freestyle and Greco even close to enough.  It reflects in what we focus on at Indiana Pride, my posts on here, and at national tournaments when I am in the corner almost helplessly watching Indiana kids get scorched against the best in the country because they are outclassed in these styles.

 

No, there is no love over here for me on this issue. Either you will make it happen or not. 

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As far as the Warren event, wrestlers were paired into groups of 4, then everyone wrestled set periods, win or lose, and rotated throughout people and groups.  It was definitely a lot going on and definitely nothing I had seen before, but every one left with several matches, parents and kids were happy, there were head officials, trainers, coaches, and kids wanting to compete in freestyle had a chance to do just that. Not sure if this was going to be an annual thing or what, but it was pretty cool for the parents and wrestlers because it served it's purpose.  I'm certain Coach Tonte can send folks the official format if they want to do something similar, tweak it, or whatever as I'm certain he will do the same if he has it next year.

 

I run a pretty efficient tournament, so I'm still calling a bluff here.

 

Things you stated

-200 kids

-Groups of 4

 

Things also stated by others

-2 hours long

 

If there are 200 kids in groups of 4 that means we have 50 groups. 

If everyone wrestles eachother each group gets 6 matches, for a total of 300 matches.

300 live matches in two hours....that has to be a WORLD RECORD! I don't even get that at the IHPO running 12 mats!

 

If you ran X mats, this is how much time is allotted per match

10 mats- 4 minutes

8 mats- 3.2 minutes

6 mats- 2.4 minutes

4 mats- 1.6 minutes

2 mats- .8 minutes

That time includes any stoppage for shaking hands, blood, injury, out of bounds, rules explanations, etc.

 

If we say there are 100 kids and 150 total matches here are the numbers

10 mats- 8 minutes

8 mats- 6.4 minutes

6 mats- 4.8 minutes

4 mats- 3.2 minutes

2 mats- 1.6 minutes

 

 

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My recollection was both Carmel and Penn duals were advertised in the book and on the web.  Any team could register a roster for Carmel and Penn if they contacted the tournament director and paid the fee.  It was open to all if you signed up your team early enough.  At least from my view, both events were not invitationals.  The Penn duals were on Track, but Carmel wasn't.  Most importantly, there was zero mystery around Carmel and Penn duals.  Everyone was well aware of both events as a qualifier.

 

Personally, I don't want anyone to boycott fs state.  But I get all the frustration because people who followed the rules are once again feeling undercut.  I said it last year and I will say it this again year.  This just comes down to basic fairness. Going around the rules creates inequality and that only fuels the exact negativity we all would like to avoid.  

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It's not hard, just get rid of rule. No reason to argue about it. The rule is not doing what it was designed to do. All it's doing is making the State Tournament worse than it already was. Last year it was a ghost town at Freestyle state. I am not bad mouthing the ISWA as I understand the intentions were good but the reality is the qualification system did not work and is simply causing more problems than the positives that it brings.

Edited by swain358
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Nick,

Why do you think that a kid has to participate in a freestyle tournament to be good at freestyle? Just bc my kid didn't wrestle in a freestyle tournament doesn't mean he doesn't train freestyle. Just bc the tournaments he wrestled in on the weekends during 'freestyle season' were folkstyle has no baring on wether or not my kid can compete at a very high level in freestyle. Wrestling the 25 matches against 15 different states the last few weekends definitely was better for him then 4-6 matches he would have got locally. And yes winning USA nationals and Ohio TOC is good for the state of Indiana. RWA does their part in training kids in the international styles, so don't worry come Fargo time.

@Sig

 

I do NOT think a kid has to participate at Freestyle state to be good at Freestyle.  We all can name a dozen kids off the top of our head that don't wrestle at state who would undoubtedly win, especially from RWA.  But again, the majority of the state don't train at RWA so they do not have access to this training.  The majority of the kids who are out here still wrestling may not even have a club that trains in these styles, let alone the caliber of RWA.  But it is very simple, you train to compete.  I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume 90% of our ISWA state champions don't All-American at Fargo. That's being graciuos of course, but I'm talking about training and competing as much as possible.  So we train freestyle during the week and wrestle folkstyle on the weekend?  That's not getting the best out of the training, and no different than training folkstyle all week and wrestling freestyle on the weekend.  It doesn't make any sense.  This means folkstyle weekly, with the exception of a day or so, go to as many folkstyle national tournaments and possible, and then show up at Freestyle state to just win a medal because everyone else is not that good?  And this is exactly what people do.  So for the individual and for the sake of this argument, good for them.  But as a state, why does the rest of the state suck in comparison to the top 5% of the state, let alone country, in these styles? Because there aren't enough opportunities.  Not enough local tournaments?  How do fix that? Get more kids participating.  How do we do that?  Hope?  No, they require you to go two whole local tournaments.  Just TWO!!  And that is a disgrace as well.  I can see the dilemma if 5 is required and there are only 6 weeks....but 2 (two) tournaments comes down to a choice.  The two tournaments are required to make sure kids get better versed in the internationals styles, so schools can have faith in hosting one without losing money now that they have a shot at participants, and participants have opportunities to compete.  And winning those tournaments is good for the state of Indiana, and the kid individually, for their school, confidence, etc.   But who are we comparing ourselves to?  It's not the top states in the country, that's for sure.  I have a kid who just won a NUWAY national championship, but the top collegiate programs in the country don't care.  They care much much more on how you'll do in Fargo, UWW Trials, etc. So, if this is where they are, then I will position myself to have a great showing when that time comes for me. But that is me, and RWA, and a few others, but the large majority don't focus or compete in these styles collectively...and that is the problem.

Edited by Coach Hull
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If ISWA really listens to the people then the solution is easy, get rid of the qualifications. Problem solved. Obviously wait until next year, but seriously get rid of the qualifications. #centralregionals

Sadly the damage of the last two years will take it's toll on freestyle in our state no matter what they do.

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@ Y2 -

 

All of that made my head hurt, yes your tourney is good, but I'm not your numbers guy.  I'm the guy coaching kids here and there at tournaments, floating around, shaking hands and kissing babies. I'm one of the guys who train and coach some of Indiana's best, locally AND nationally, at Flo, in Iowa, in Oklahoma, in Texas, at the Cadet World Team Trials, at Junior World Team Trials, at University Nationals and at Fargo. I see the our performance, or lack thereof, first hand....and my heart hurts for our kids.  They wrestle hard, but still are just outclassed the lot of them.  Still, for local events like "Warren-gate", I prefer to watch and observe our performance at tournaments and matches, especially with 40+ kids in attendance, I can't coach them all and we have great staff and parents. I don't like "joystick" coaching on the mat anyway because if I have to - it's too late.  We rehearse our routine in the room and go perform this routine when it's time to compete - regardless of who we wrestle.  As far as the breakdown, I'm not sure.  I know that all of our kids got multiple matches, no one got hurt, coaches and parents were present coaching them up, they had fun, it was in and out, and it counted as a qualifier for our kids...most of which who didn't even need it for us.  I didn't design the event, didn't know how it was going to go down, didn't know the format, or how many matches each kid would get.  We got INVITED and we showed up.  This wasn't a money maker.  There were no medals or award stands.  We wrestled as many matches as possible in the time provided.  It was different but served it's purpose: more freestyle and greco mat time with more competition. What do you envision happened? We just took a bunch of names down and gave kids freebies?  No, these kids wrestled!  They wrestled hard, they got a lot of matches in, and the kids and the parents appreciated it.  That's what I know.  I also know that now this is an option for others who want to do something similar.  Awesome!!!

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It could be both.  200 kids was a guesstimate and Warren's room is as big as many college rooms.  But when Central Regionals was here, that was a shame too.  No need for a qualifier in that, but Wisconsin had as many if not more kids than Indiana, wrestling at a national even in our own backyard.  Why?  Simple answer is freestyle and greco aren't that big of a deal for the masses here in Indiana.  People forget the qualifiers came into effect because participation in these styles had already declined over the course of the decade so badly that something drastic needed to be done.  The ISWA didnt have qualifiers then, so why did the numbers drop?  National Folkstyle events. Double whammy: much less money/participants cycling through Indiana and more kids getting smoked at Fargo...if they even go.  This is entertaining.  Get your qualifiers in.  That's it. If you are really serious as an average wrestler then you wrestle in one every weekend if you can, qualifier or not.  But to each his own.  Like I said, my posts have been in defense of the ISWA because a lot of this nonsense comes from it being left unchecked.  Check.  Say what you will.  I'll be the bad guy. At least those who are indifferent know the other side.  I've gotten over 20 text messages today already thanking me for saying it....and none of them are ISWA board members.  Pretty prominent coaches actually.  But whatever, I've said my bit for the record.  I have one private session and two practices to run tonight so I'm out.  Good luck and best wishes to everyone, regardless of what you choose to do.  Even though we may disagree, it's all love from Coach Hull.  As an ISWA board member I'd love to set up a time for a google hangout, send in your questions, comments, concerns,  etc. I may not be the best qualified but I can at least provide some real time insight. We may even do something crazy and work together to at least get a better understanding of the issues?  If not me, maybe someone else?  Y2?

Edited by Coach Hull
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Although I am no longer a member of the board... I was at the time when the two tournament rule was made. Hindsight is always 20/20. The rule was put into place with good intentions. Now if we had more of you guys at the meetings on a Sunday (most likely when the colts were on), to tell us what to do.... Then whole situation could have been avoided.

With all of that said (and all that has been said over and over on this board). FREESTYLE AND GRECO ARE DYING HERE!!!

Enough belly aching, and more solutions. By the post on this thread, we have a group of guys that are passionate about freestyle. I would love to hear ideas that the ISWA can put into place to help save these dying styles. Ok... I get it. The two tournament thing is bad. But... What can we ALL do to bring freestyle back??? If we get rid of the two tournament rule, it will go back to slowly dying. What can we all do to get it going again?

We at Avon Wrestling Club have been kicking around the idea of week night tourneys next year. Although, many think that this years week night tourneys are not legit, I think that they could be an awesome way to get kids loving freestyle again. Please..... Let's here some ideas.

Edited by Mattyb
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-nick

No one cares about NUWAY national championship not just colleges. But you are out of your mind if you don't think coaches aren't taking notice at events like USA Nationals and Ohio TOC. As well as when Indiana was an OT match away from competing for a National title at the heartland duals. Why does ISWA sponsor these events if they are taking away from freestyle?

 

Also we attempted to get our 2 qualifiers in just so he could compete on schoolboy national team, but Penn moved their tournament. We are done competing on ISWA national teams until they start supporting their own wrestlers.

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What BS.....And so we are not confused I'm referring to most of what you are saying Coach Hull. 

 

1st.  The beef about the wavers was that they were a last minute thing. This was after many people traveled all over getting 2 tournaments in or decided there was no way so they didn't even try.  People didn't have to have proof of the events they were saying why they missed.  Which to me would be 2 areas. 1 Injury and 2 competing in National Events. Things like SAT's, spring break or other non-wrestling choices are that choices.  No different than kids that miss practice during Christmas Break.

 

2nd. ISWA is anything but transparent.  Get ahead of these type of situations! No one seems to know what is going on until after things happen or right before they do happen.  Not sure if this is because of lack of communication on ISWA's part or that people don't go to the ISWA site daily/weekly to check for changes.  I know I only go onto the ISWA website 3-4 times a year.  Ideas: Create an emailing list, not all kids are part of a registered club that take part in ISWA tournaments. (Made this suggestion last year).  We (unaffiliated wrestlers) make up a good portion of the ISWA wrestlers.  Believe we have placed in the top 10 over the last 10 years (this is speculation, but probably pretty close).

 

3rd. ISWA is a business.  Let me repeat this a BUSINESS!  If you want success you cannot run it like the US Government.  You should be letting all your club members and someone designated for the non-club group vote some of these issues in.  You may have had 20 people message you saying how great your dictatorship is going, but I could quadruple that in people that disagree with you.  Put a survey up on this board easy enough to find that point out. 

 

4th.  ISWA would rather have some of Indiana's better wrestlers not participate in Freestyle state, because they don't do it everyday.   But this chunk of kids would probably beat the kids you are taking to Fargo.  Sounds like your pride has the better of you sir.  You are saying you would rather take kids less qualified to Fargo, because the other kids focused on National events during freestyle.  That was ISWA at Iowa for Nationals handing my son a shirt (correct).  But it doesn't count toward one of your events.  That's crazy.

 

5th  ISWA keeps saying how important freestyle is to development.  Get the hell out of folkstyle than!  I know that won't happen, but if kids don't have a choice they will do freestyle.  Parents don't have money to run their kids all over the nation looking for folkstyle events.  So instead of have all these little kid folkstyle events change them to freestyle, than in 5-8 years you have a group of international gut wrench defending, lace ankle stopping, arm spin throwing, crouch lift slinging animals!

 

6th. Most of us on here are the ground pounders.  We put 40 plus hours in at work, than 40 plus hours in on the mat. Not counting all the time taking calls, making arrangements and trying to better the sport in our prospective areas.  You and ISWA call the shots from the biggest part of the state.  It's not hard for you guys to find close tournaments, make it to meetings and have an abundance of kids in one area.  Hell some of your school sizes are bigger than most of the cities and towns around Indiana.  We "bastard" programs have to find kids around our areas that 1 are still competing off season and 2 close to size and talent. This alone creates 1 hour drives 1 direction during the week.  For example: Warsaw to Jimtown, Warsaw to Carrol, Warsaw to Indiana Tech (all about 2 hours out of a night driving, not including wrestling time). 

 

Daniel Hatch

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