Wrestling Scholar Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 We should be grateful to Indianamat for having a quality wrestling forum that's active and engaged. I think the forum is healthy and promotes improvement in the wrestling community and is significantly better then most states forums. Joe does a good job to keep things going and sometimes funny. So here's a thumbs up. The reason i thought of this, as i normally take a look back every year after my home state of Kansas board the weekend of the state tournament which is one of the heaviest traffic periods. The Kansas forum on websitewww.usawks.com used to be a good forum with a lot of participation, engagement and controversy. Just looked today, the Monday after the state tournaments. I meant plural intentionally as to class wrestling tournaments. I was disappointed as the boards are dead. I could only count 6 posts since the end of the tournament Saturday. Hardly any buzz over big matches, team races, controversial calls and other relevant and stupid stuff. Its kind of sad in a way. A lot of the big posters aren't there anymore. Just curious what if anybody has experience with other states, and if those wrestling websites are going strong or have jumped the shark. Websites like this really could be threatened as an ongoing concern. On a flip note, I used to live in Missouri and participated in the forums. It looks like the old board disappeared and something new is out there. The old board was good 15 years ago. I didn't fill like opening an account. Things evolve. oldfat119 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Message boards aren't exactly a thriving community on the internet. Texting and social media means people can communicate just as easy and to their specific groups. I used to have the archives labeled by year and the number of posts has drastically dropped over the past 15 years(yes it will be 15 years in December!). That is due to other social media outlets, but also that many times the posts were questions that are now answered in team or wrestler profiles. However, our board is still very lively and active, which is a tribute to the diehard fans of the sport in this state. Usually the week after state is the only week out of the year where I really want to pull the plug on the board. GenHeavyHandz, Justin Ratliff, busstogate and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busstogate Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 One of our neighboring states used to have a very lively board, but it petered out and put all of its season-specific info under a paywall. Joe has endured much for little and added a lot for less. I will be forever grateful. JayinSTL, GenHeavyHandz, Lawdiggity and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navy80 Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Gridiron Digest forums took a hit when someone created a Facebook group called something like Indiana High School Football fans. I'm grateful for Indianamat. It's got to be a top 3 high school forums/website in the nation. GenHeavyHandz, oldfat119, bwoodjc89 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahawkeye Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 The only outside Indiana exposure I have had is the "national" website Themat. Joe does a great job here, as well as the posters LONG LIVE THE POSTERS! Rivalry helps a lot too. MUSKEEWRESTLER and GenHeavyHandz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 y2 is my hero - maybe I should be on da payroll as a influencer ? piscis1956 and GenHeavyHandz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenHeavyHandz Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 This board has made me a minor celebrity. I'm forever grateful. Trev Young, busstogate, BrodyHardcastle and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamGarcia Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 When the Greatest Poster Of All Time (GPOAT) jumps on topic on here and grabs the Bull by its Horns . The Tens of Thousands of Views, the Hundreds of Likes, the Hundreds of Memes that drive this site into the everyday conversation of Indiana HS Wrestling households . A Decade long of bring common viewer in and making them famous . Thanks Indianamat GenHeavyHandz, Mitchell1993 and Wrestling Scholar 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionQuest87 Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) I saw Joe eating breakfast at the Hotel during state finals weekend. I wanted to go up to him and let him know what an awesome job he is doing. But decided that he should not be bothered when he is with his family. So I'll say it here, Joe you do an unbelievable job with this website. I don't post much but there is hardly a day that goes by that I am not on here. The information I gather from here is incredible. Keep up the great work. Congrats on 15 years and many more. Edited February 28, 2023 by VisionQuest87 Regionrat1, MUSKEEWRESTLER, horseofadifferentcolor and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Spires Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 I may be biased, as I’m part of the Gorilla Crew and have only frequented college wrestling boards otherwise, but there’s a reason this website has an award-winning reputation. Joe has made this forum better and better over time, and it’s still easily standing the test of time against the social media era, which as Joe said above, hasn’t been great for message boards. But yet I, and many others, are still daily-or-near users even in the off-season. Simply put, we are absolutely blessed with this board. Joe and the other OGs have built something that just keeps getting better. All of our rankers work their asses off to try and give an accurate product. And all the regular users just coming on to hype up their kid or school, or even just discuss wrestling because they love the sport, make for a great experience. In my time on the IM staff(roughly 7 years), my ranking position has progressively transformed from “this is a cool side-job, hope I do well” to “this is something I take a lot of pride in, and I want to do a good job for myself, the website, and the kids who look forward to them.” I’ve been recognized out at a bar before because I was wearing Indianamat gear. Indianamat has surpassed a normal forum at this point, we’re a full community. Mitchell1993, BrodyHardcastle, oldfat119 and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenHeavyHandz Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 26 minutes ago, Caleb Spires said: I may be biased, as I’m part of the Gorilla Crew and have only frequented college wrestling boards otherwise, but there’s a reason this website has an award-winning reputation. Joe has made this forum better and better over time, and it’s still easily standing the test of time against the social media era, which as Joe said above, hasn’t been great for message boards. But yet I, and many others, are still daily-or-near users even in the off-season. Simply put, we are absolutely blessed with this board. Joe and the other OGs have built something that just keeps getting better. All of our rankers work their asses off to try and give an accurate product. And all the regular users just coming on to hype up their kid or school, or even just discuss wrestling because they love the sport, make for a great experience. In my time on the IM staff(roughly 7 years), my ranking position has progressively transformed from “this is a cool side-job, hope I do well” to “this is something I take a lot of pride in, and I want to do a good job for myself, the website, and the kids who look forward to them.” I’ve been recognized out at a bar before because I was wearing Indianamat gear. Indianamat has surpassed a normal forum at this point, we’re a full community. A thriving community: Big Announcement comin' soon. Caleb Spires, BrodyHardcastle and busstogate 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrestlingfan937 Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 Joe, up the cost for gorilla membership. You guys deserve so much more than what you charge. Indianamat is Indiana wrestling! Not site can stack up to the time, accuracy, coverage, and interaction you guys out out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIACfan Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 I only visit this site during wrestling season, but in that time it is on a daily basis. We are truly blessed as Indiana wrestling fans to have this place. Big thanks to Y2 & everyone involved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinedad Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Not only does joe do a great job on here, he even gave a young lady an interview who was at the finals this year and doing work for her degree. Joe spends time with anyone who has a real interest in the sport, and does his level best to make sure the right info gets out to those who ask. MUSKEEWRESTLER and GenHeavyHandz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell1993 Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 On 2/28/2023 at 10:53 PM, Wrestlingfan937 said: Joe, up the cost for gorilla membership. You guys deserve so much more than what you charge. Indianamat is Indiana wrestling! Not site can stack up to the time, accuracy, coverage, and interaction you guys out out. Add the ticketmaster fees! Joe and all of IndianaMat, thanks for everything you guys do! I easily spend at least 1 hour of my work day on this site! You guys have built so much for the die hard fans and as you can see from the previous posts, it is very much appreciated! MUSKEEWRESTLER and Wrestlingfan937 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Caller Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 The best there was! The best there is! And the best there ever will be!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Well , look at the threads. How many different topics and announcements pertaining to high school events. In the dead period of the states season. You don’t get that on a lot of other sites. Indiana is pretty lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navy80 Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 On 2/27/2023 at 9:56 PM, GenHeavyHandz said: This board has made me a minor celebrity. I'm forever grateful. 'minor celebrity' I remember you and FCfighter going to fight/wrestle and you about had a heart attack or something like that LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenHeavyHandz Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) Crazy how the world works. He is one of my best friends now. I found out that he is just me if I was born 13 years later and white in New Castle. I had a heart attack because I was an undiagnosed diabetic. Heart attacks aren't funny. I thought you were better than that so I guess you are bored so you want some smoke? Edited March 8, 2023 by GenHeavyHandz Clarification BrodyHardcastle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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