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Evansville Mater Dei 2003


blueandgold

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This team was really that good? I’ve had several legendary coaches that have coached scary squads in their own right say that this team gave them nightmares and my eyes light up every time hearing about it. 24-1 with their only loss to St. Paris Graham and the IndyStar named them the greatest Indiana high school wrestling team of all-time, saying that they unofficially would’ve scored 158 points in the state tournament that year. Ten qualifiers, seven medalists, two thirds, five finalists, and four of those were champions... 
 

They were really that good? Any stories you may have, please share. What they were like at tournaments, practice, etc.

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2 hours ago, blueandgold said:

This team was really that good? I’ve had several legendary coaches that have coached scary squads in their own right say that this team gave them nightmares and my eyes light up every time hearing about it. 24-1 with their only loss to St. Paris Graham and the IndyStar named them the greatest Indiana high school wrestling team of all-time, saying that they unofficially would’ve scored 158 points in the state tournament that year. Ten qualifiers, seven medalists, two thirds, five finalists, and four of those were champions... 
 

They were really that good? Any stories you may have, please share. What they were like at tournaments, practice, etc.

Yes I know first hand..In 01-02 we wrestled that squad with all those studs and they beat us 66-3 at Team state when we placed 5th ..We were far from a slouch with 5 state qualifiers and 10 SSQ.. I ws lucky enough to have Mauer in the Dual.. That is still the record for the worst loss at team state.. and yes they were the best team I've ever seen hands down bar none. 

Edited by FCFIGHTER170
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16 minutes ago, PMFAN said:

How does that Lawerence North team in the 90's compare?

MD beat more than a few of those LN teams in the 90's. LN got some too but to this point I don't see too many Indiana high school teams beating that team. I wasn't around for the Bloomington/Bloomington North dynasty but I'd put my money on MD from 03.

Edited by Ahawkeye
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2 hours ago, SIACfan said:

Can anybody provide any details from that MD/Paris Graham match?

 

If I remember correctly it was a close dual with Maurer losing to Joe Dennis in a controversial match.

 

The Wildcats traveled to Columbus, Ohio on January 18 to compete in the National College Duals.  Mater Dei rolled over, Lisbon, 56-12 in the first round, and Cincinnati Lakota East, 58-13, in the second round.  Their last opponent, St. Paris Graham, was much more formidable.  The national polls had Mater Dei at 11th, while St. Paris Graham was ranked second.  St. Paris Graham was a buzz saw and defeated the ‘Cats, 39-15.  The loss broke Mater Dei’s 116-match winning streak and handed Mater Dei its second dual loss in 253 matches.

"If our streak mattered, we wouldn't have accepted this challenge,” said Mike Goebel.  “We never talk about that. We just saw this as a chance to wrestle a quality opponent, somebody who will make us better in the long run.”

St. Paris Graham was the real deal.  Standard-bearer Blake Maurer lost only the second match of his career, a 3-1 decision to Joe Dennis. 


"It was a great match," said Goebel. “He (Dennis) got a takedown with two seconds left. We didn't question it when we were there, but when we watched the tape, Blake was clearly out of bounds and Dennis' foot was on the line. The match should've gone overtime, I guess. But that doesn't necessarily change the outcome. The guy was a bear. Blake will learn from it, go on and get better."

"The guys came back to the room and decided they needed to work harder, and that's what they've done," said Goebel. "We didn't lose anything that really mattered, we just lost a match.  But even at that, if we win all four of our close matches, it's a tie. And if we get those and Craig Weinzapfel gets the pin at 145, which we thought he had, well, we could conceivably win."

Maurer faced an unfamiliar foe in his match with Dennis:  Nerves.

 

“To be totally honest, I was very nervous,” said Maurer.  “The match was at Ohio State.  I really wanted to go to Ohio State.  After my warm-up, I look in the stands and there is Russ Hellickson (Ohio State’s wrestling coach) setting next to my dad.  I’m like, ‘Holy crap, I need to get it done out here.’”

 

Mater Dei tallied wins from Matt Coughlin, Craig Weinzapfel, Sam Wildeman and Chaz Schwartz.  Schwartz won with an eight-second pin at heavyweight. The Wildcats were disappointed with their performance.

 

“The whole dual was about ‘What ifs?’” said Craig Weinzapfel.  “We had a bunch of one-point matches that went the wrong way.  To not do our best was a real let-down.”

 

In Paris St. Graham, Mater Dei found themselves sampling their own medicine.

 

“Everywhere we wrestled, people always talked about what good shape we were in,” said Craig Weinzapfel.  “That team (St. Paris Graham) was in incredible shape; incredibly strong.  It seemed like they had the mentality that they were going to go as hard as they could no matter what.”

 

“We were at the weigh-in,” said Wildeman.  “I’m looking at this guy, and he is around my size (160 pounds).  One of the guys on the team, said ‘No, that’s who Macke (125 pounds) has.  The guy was huge.  He was a man.”

 

“Graham won all of the close matches,” said Maurer.  “Their conditioning was better than ours.  We had our opportunities; we just didn’t get it done.”

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2 hours ago, hook and half said:

 

The Wildcats traveled to Columbus, Ohio on January 18 to compete in the National College Duals.  Mater Dei rolled over, Lisbon, 56-12 in the first round, and Cincinnati Lakota East, 58-13, in the second round.  Their last opponent, St. Paris Graham, was much more formidable.  The national polls had Mater Dei at 11th, while St. Paris Graham was ranked second.  St. Paris Graham was a buzz saw and defeated the ‘Cats, 39-15.  The loss broke Mater Dei’s 116-match winning streak and handed Mater Dei its second dual loss in 253 matches.

"If our streak mattered, we wouldn't have accepted this challenge,” said Mike Goebel.  “We never talk about that. We just saw this as a chance to wrestle a quality opponent, somebody who will make us better in the long run.”

St. Paris Graham was the real deal.  Standard-bearer Blake Maurer lost only the second match of his career, a 3-1 decision to Joe Dennis. 


"It was a great match," said Goebel. “He (Dennis) got a takedown with two seconds left. We didn't question it when we were there, but when we watched the tape, Blake was clearly out of bounds and Dennis' foot was on the line. The match should've gone overtime, I guess. But that doesn't necessarily change the outcome. The guy was a bear. Blake will learn from it, go on and get better."

"The guys came back to the room and decided they needed to work harder, and that's what they've done," said Goebel. "We didn't lose anything that really mattered, we just lost a match.  But even at that, if we win all four of our close matches, it's a tie. And if we get those and Craig Weinzapfel gets the pin at 145, which we thought he had, well, we could conceivably win."

Maurer faced an unfamiliar foe in his match with Dennis:  Nerves.

 

“To be totally honest, I was very nervous,” said Maurer.  “The match was at Ohio State.  I really wanted to go to Ohio State.  After my warm-up, I look in the stands and there is Russ Hellickson (Ohio State’s wrestling coach) setting next to my dad.  I’m like, ‘Holy crap, I need to get it done out here.’”

 

Mater Dei tallied wins from Matt Coughlin, Craig Weinzapfel, Sam Wildeman and Chaz Schwartz.  Schwartz won with an eight-second pin at heavyweight. The Wildcats were disappointed with their performance.

 

“The whole dual was about ‘What ifs?’” said Craig Weinzapfel.  “We had a bunch of one-point matches that went the wrong way.  To not do our best was a real let-down.”

 

In Paris St. Graham, Mater Dei found themselves sampling their own medicine.

 

“Everywhere we wrestled, people always talked about what good shape we were in,” said Craig Weinzapfel.  “That team (St. Paris Graham) was in incredible shape; incredibly strong.  It seemed like they had the mentality that they were going to go as hard as they could no matter what.”

 

“We were at the weigh-in,” said Wildeman.  “I’m looking at this guy, and he is around my size (160 pounds).  One of the guys on the team, said ‘No, that’s who Macke (125 pounds) has.  The guy was huge.  He was a man.”

 

“Graham won all of the close matches,” said Maurer.  “Their conditioning was better than ours.  We had our opportunities; we just didn’t get it done.”

The 125 pounder was dustin schlatter lol 

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21 hours ago, PMFAN said:

How does that Lawerence North team in the 90's compare?

 

Speaking of Lawrence North, what has happened to that program?

 

They were one of the top programs in the state for a long time & have seemingly disappeared in the last decade or more. Did they lose their coach & haven't been the same since?

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1 hour ago, SIACfan said:

 

Speaking of Lawrence North, what has happened to that program?

 

They were one of the top programs in the state for a long time & have seemingly disappeared in the last decade or more. Did they lose their coach & haven't been the same since?

Things went downhill after Coach Svarkopf and Deckard left

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4 hours ago, PhillyFanMD said:

Things went downhill after Coach Svarkopf and Deckard left

That’s a crazy statement to say considering the two years following the 03 Mater Dei team, Lawrence North did win team state, beat MD in the process both years

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2 hours ago, jpt189 said:

That’s a crazy statement to say considering the two years following the 03 Mater Dei team, Lawrence North did win team state, beat MD in the process both years

Correction, portage beat MD in ‘04 then lost to LN in the semis. Give us some credit for being the first team ever to beat MD in the team state dual format lmao

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14 minutes ago, RaiderColfax said:

Correction, portage beat MD in ‘04 then lost to LN in the semis. Give us some credit for being the first team ever to beat MD in the team state dual format lmao

Hesseltine was a stud on that squad and another great 1 that never won it all.

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3 hours ago, RaiderColfax said:

Correction, portage beat MD in ‘04 then lost to LN in the semis. Give us some credit for being the first team ever to beat MD in the team state dual format lmao

You are correct, I apologize. Funny, I was at that event in 04 watching and still forgot who beat MD that year :) 

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