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I am sharing this. Please take a moment and read this.


buttler73

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Hello my friends! 

I’m reaching out today after processing last weekend with such a heavy heart💔
The series of events that I personally witnessed and heard about that took place during state weekend has kept me up at night. Truly and deeply. Before I share my concerns, I want to preface this upfront. I have ALWAYS been a HUGE supporter of IHSAA sports, obviously especially wrestling. I have  participated with my two older children for multiple state runs and of course observation as a spectator for many years. That being said, I have some very strong concerns about many things I witnessed this past weekend. I don’t have a dog in the hunt anymore, but I love Indiana wrestling with all of my heart and soul! I personally feel that some changes MUST be made to grow and persevere our sport before it’s too late. I don’t want to share all of my thoughts yet because I DONT want my opinion of how our tournament is ran to shift your opinion in any way.
 I’m asking anyone and everyone that has ANYTHING to do with wrestling ( youth to Highschool, wrestlers, coaches, referees, family and friends ) to please share all the things that you loved about this past weekend and all the things that you didn’t love about our state tournament this year and recent years past. In order to be fair, I think that is the best way to approach this. I have listened to countless parents, coaches, wrestlers and spectators voice their opinion’s over the last few days and it’s time to put it all on paper and organize our thoughts. 
  Would you please consider emailing me your personal thoughts so I can put them into one place and share it with the powers that be in a respectful and proactive way. 
    If you choose to be anonymous, just tell me in the email and I will of course respect that to the fullest. 
  If we don’t speak out, nothing will change… WE have to make our sport a priority for future generations! Here is only one example I’m willing to share (at this time) out of many that I personally witnessed… 

My son’s name is Matthew Koontz 145lb, our school
Is Perry Meridian… Matthew finished 4th this year…this is  him on the podium… do you see his name? From the 3-8 place winners the names are incorrect. 😔 I don’t even have words for that. 💔
  I’m asking you to Please take 5 minutes and share with me your state experience good and bad from start to finish…. Together we can make a difference for everyone involved and the future of Indiana wrestling! ❤️
ONLY TOGETHER! 

I need your help reaching EVERYONE.. please forward this to all your peeps! 💙
I look forward to your response by Sunday February 27th 

Jonikoontziu@gmail.com

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1 hour ago, busstogate said:

I saw the mistakes on a few of the classes and smdh.  

They do crap like this every year in every sport. South Adams went to state in football two years ago and they had our head coaches name completely wrong. It truly is amazing the apathy shown at these events. How hard is it to proofread or double check?

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15 minutes ago, piscis1956 said:

Yeah, we were at home watching on TV and when they showed the 145 lb class we noticed immediately that 3rd thru 8th placers were those from a different weight class.  And we thought, “Oh no, all those parents are going to be pretty unhappy.”  So sad.

😖

 

But hey, these are the guys that say one true champ is the only answer, wrestlebacks are unnecessary

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I am glad that this topic was brought up on the forum. This was the first time since 1994 that I did not attend or coach in the State Finals, I got to see a true fans prospective sitting on my coach streaming on multiple computers and listening to commentators. There were many things I was happy to see and hear but saddened at other things as well. I will start with the things that made me upset as a fan:

 

Disappointing:

1. Some of the commentary during matches. A prime example is when a commentator saw a big lift and return to the mat and his exact words "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ I have never seen such raw strength." 

2. As a commentator you don't have to agree with the officiating but to second guess a call of an official and blatantly disagree with that call is wrong. 

3. When discussing officials and talking about their background please have the knowledge before talking about them. Example: In the 106lb finals Mr. Henry Wilk who has been a part of Indiana wrestling for almost 60 years was called Henry Wills and a long time coach at Mishawaka. Coach Wilk was a State Champion at Mishawaka and a long time head Coach At Penn High School. 

4. The big board with wrong names and weight classes. These young men and women have worked extremely hard their entire lives and they deserve the proper recognition for their accomplishments. 

5. Camera work! I don't know if the support staff for cameras are volunteers or paid but please follow the match, many times you would be looking at nothing in the middle of the mat while the action was going on elsewhere. You never see that with football or basketball state championships. 

 

Positives:

1. Some knowledgeable commentators very well done. 

2. Waiting on all matches to be finished in a weight class to move on. 

3. Interviews with Champions!!!!!!!!

4. The podium back.

 

As a former assistant coach at Penn for 15 years I would be willing to volunteer my services to commentate  for the State Finals. But I would do my research on kids, coaches, and officials, before I ever step foot to the microphone. IHSAA please call me and I would pay my own way to be able to do this. 

 

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1 hour ago, crosstownrivals said:

I am glad that this topic was brought up on the forum. This was the first time since 1994 that I did not attend or coach in the State Finals, I got to see a true fans prospective sitting on my coach streaming on multiple computers and listening to commentators. There were many things I was happy to see and hear but saddened at other things as well. I will start with the things that made me upset as a fan:

 

Disappointing:

1. Some of the commentary during matches. A prime example is when a commentator saw a big lift and return to the mat and his exact words "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ I have never seen such raw strength." 

2. As a commentator you don't have to agree with the officiating but to second guess a call of an official and blatantly disagree with that call is wrong. 

 

 

I streamed every match.  I agree with you on some of the commentary.  I realize that they guys they had doing it aren't professionals, but a little research goes a long way.  Mat 4 was so bad I muted them when watching that mat

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I really love our state tournament, I do but the IHSAA MUST do better for our kids.  Some things that need to be addressed by our association...

 

1.  Our kids should not have to camp out in a storage area and required to use a service elevator to sit in nosebleed seats.  You should be able to sit with your family/school fans/etc or have seating for them closer to the floor.

2.  Bathrooms and showers should be made available...not the one stall bathrooms.  The locker rooms should be available at all sessions.  

3.  1 Session, 1 March of Champions on Friday.  Now that we know we can start it at 11am, we should do that instead of getting kids back to their hotels late on Friday night.

4.  The 1lb allowance on Saturday.  Mr. Faulkens was/is wrong in his interpretation.  The officials and our association should have stood up to him on that issue.

 

Just my thoughts...this tournament is supposed to be about the kids and, in numerous instances, it was not.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Clint Gard said:

I really love our state tournament, I do but the IHSAA MUST do better for our kids.  Some things that need to be addressed by our association...

 

1.  Our kids should not have to camp out in a storage area and required to use a service elevator to sit in nosebleed seats.  You should be able to sit with your family/school fans/etc or have seating for them closer to the floor.

2.  Bathrooms and showers should be made available...not the one stall bathrooms.  The locker rooms should be available at all sessions.  

3.  1 Session, 1 March of Champions on Friday.  Now that we know we can start it at 11am, we should do that instead of getting kids back to their hotels late on Friday night.

4.  The 1lb allowance on Saturday.  Mr. Faulkens was/is wrong in his interpretation.  The officials and our association should have stood up to him on that issue.

 

Just my thoughts...this tournament is supposed to be about the kids and, in numerous instances, it was not.

 

 

I was under the impression that a one pound allowance was allowed on back to back days of competition.

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27 minutes ago, lemercad said:

I was under the impression that a one pound allowance was allowed on back to back days of competition.

I may not have the exact wording but here is what he said when Coach Harris from Cascade questioned him...

 

Wrestlers get the 1lb allowance on Friday because some school couldn't practice on Thursday.  But at the end of the last match on Friday that 1lb drops off and the weight class resets, so 109 goes back to 108.  Then you get the 1lb again for being a consecutive day tournament.  So 108 = 109 again.

 

I have not been able to find his interpretation anywhere in the rulebooks, NFHS Rules, or in the Winter Bulletin.  I have not spoken to any coach who can find that interpretation either.

 

I will say this...in all of my emails and face-to-face conversations with Mr. Faulkens, he has always taken his time and explained things to me and been cordial and respectful.  I know he loves wrestling, I really believe that.  In this instance, I believe he was wrong.

Edited by Clint Gard
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24 minutes ago, Clint Gard said:

I may not have the exact wording but here is what he said when Coach Harris from Cascade questioned him...

 

Wrestlers get the 1lb allowance on Friday because some school couldn't practice on Thursday.  But at the end of the last match on Friday that 1lb drops off and the weight class resets, so 109 goes back to 108.  Then you get the 1lb again for being a consecutive day tournament.  So 108 = 109 again.

 

 

By that interruption in the even that you get 2 pound on the first day(if a school couldn't practice 2 consecutive days) then you would have one less pound the second day. ex first day 108 goes to 110, back to 108 when wrestling is over then up to 109 the second day... that seems right.

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58 minutes ago, bbulldog152 said:

By that interruption in the even that you get 2 pound on the first day(if a school couldn't practice 2 consecutive days) then you would have one less pound the second day. ex first day 108 goes to 110, back to 108 when wrestling is over then up to 109 the second day... that seems right.

No in the rule is this:

 

ART. 5 ... When there are consecutive days of team competition, there shall be a 1-pound additional allowance granted each day for all wrestlers up to a maximum of two pounds. In order to be granted this 1-pound additional allowance, a minimum of 48 hours advance notice is required for the opponent(s). The acceptable person(s) to receive that notice shall be the head coach, principal or athletic director. Competitions that are postponed for one calendar day or more, for reasons beyond the control of the participating school(s), or practices that cannot be held in these situations due to school policy shall be treated the same as competitions when there are consecutive days of competition in terms of the 1-pound allowance, with the exception of the required 48-hour notice.

 

It just maxes out at 2 additional pounds.  106 would be MAX 110 lbs. Starting with the 2 lbs growth allowance (108) at Christmas then with 2 consecutive missed practices OR 1 missed practice and 1 additional pound for the second day of competition.

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19 hours ago, Thor said:

They do crap like this every year in every sport. South Adams went to state in football two years ago and they had our head coaches name completely wrong. It truly is amazing the apathy shown at these events. How hard is it to proofread or double check?

They did the same thing to Mater Dei this year in the 2A state football finals. Who knew Mike Goebel coached football at Mater Dei?  But, getting the kids' names wrong is worse. These kids work so hard to get to the state finals and make that podium. Its sad and disrespectful not to have their names right. I know mistakes happen but damn. 

Edited by WrestleMan
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7 hours ago, crosstownrivals said:

I am glad that this topic was brought up on the forum. This was the first time since 1994 that I did not attend or coach in the State Finals, I got to see a true fans prospective sitting on my coach streaming on multiple computers and listening to commentators. There were many things I was happy to see and hear but saddened at other things as well. I will start with the things that made me upset as a fan:

 

Disappointing:

1. Some of the commentary during matches. A prime example is when a commentator saw a big lift and return to the mat and his exact words "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ I have never seen such raw strength." 

2. As a commentator you don't have to agree with the officiating but to second guess a call of an official and blatantly disagree with that call is wrong.

 

1. That is a common exclamation, not meant to take the Lord's name in vain. Also, are you assuming the commentator wasn't Christian? Could be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist etc.

2. Is a commentators job not to comment on action? If there is a questionable call shouldn't they be able to say so? What kind of authoritarian structure do you want in place that can't question authority?

Edited by greco165
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6 minutes ago, greco165 said:

1. That is a common exclamation, not meant to take the Lord's name in vain. Also, are you assuming the commentator wasn't Christian? Could be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist etc.

2. Is a commentators job not to comment on action? If there is a questionable call shouldn't they be able to say so? What kind of authoritarian structure do you want in place that can't question authority?

I'm afraid I have to disagree on the first point. While I agree it is common, I don't think that makes it right. There are plenty of other things that could have been said in that instance. A simple "Wow, I've never seen that kind of raw strength!" would probably get the point across just as well. I completely agree on point 2 though. As a commentator you don't have to agree with the officials. You should be able to give your opinion as long as you can back it up with a rules interpretation that makes sense. Viewers should receive honest, unbiased, educated opinions from commentators. 

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I’m not saying that using the term “Jesus Christ” wrong but when your 7yr old is watching with you and his first response is “daddy he said a bad word” now you have to explain to them. It was just not the appropriate time or place to express how excited you were. 
 

 

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