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The Wildcat gym was rocking last night, but I want to take a moment to give Y2 & IndianaMat some much deserved kudos. Providing the masses across the state & beyond the opportunity to see the action from this dual is what makes this site special. Awesome job!

A shout out to Craig Akers--he made the 2:09 trip to Evansville to bring you the match. He's a big wrestling fan and a completely likable fella. A few things you did not catch by watching it online: 1. Mike Goebel and Randy Helfrich had on noise-cancelling headsets. Watching it online really took the crowd out of it. The gym was very loud. There was a number of times that the noise shook the house. 2. Perry Meridian brought a nice crowd that was VERY vocal. 3. Perry's coaching staff appears to be a class act. Mater Dei fans noticed and appreciated it. 4. I have never, nor do i ever again expect to, experience another JV match like the one last night. It was incredible! Have you ever seen the student section chant a JV kids' name? Several times, the entire building was on its feet. This match had it all--lead changes, come from behind wins and overtimes. You could live through an entire wrestling season and not see a dual rise to the level of excitement that was produced by the PM/MD JV dual. 5. The sense of humor possessed by referee Travis Cross. He is a respected official in Evansville--but got zero love from MD fans. PM fans also landed some punches! Travis is a great guy and is good for the sport of wrestling. He reffed FOUR hours of JV and varsity last night. I don't know what they paid him, but MD got its money's worth! The towel man is his brother Denver, who is also a good guy. Give them both some love the next time you see them. 6. Lots of emotion from the kids. Winning was ecstasy, losing was agony. 7. I saw wrestlers, fans and coaches from virtually all of the area schools. This was one of four huge duals, in Mater Dei's gym...since 1993! The grapplers, from both teams, got to experience what few wrestlers do: compete in a high-stakes tightly contested dual in front of 2000 hysterical fans.

*Drake Campbell who placed ahead of Edmond at the Grappler Fall Classic

This is how you grow the sport. Huge duals like EMD vs PM. CP vs Portage. Cathedral vs CE and stream it for those who can’t make it. I love that it was on a Friday night! Think there should be more Friday night duals. Thanks for putting on a great show for wrestling fans.

All around it was great to watch some high level wrestling and have a great quality stream and commentating. I put it on my big TV and sat on the couch and watched great matches all night. Big thanks to all those that made this happen as I can't wait to do a few more this year as we expand into streaming a little more.

Dickens’ Cider* *Bob and Tom Show 2002

Really enjoyed it tonight. Great action. A few random thoughts in no particular order..... - MD won tonight by winning @160, @170, Dickins major and limiting PM to a dec @182 & a major @195. Perry needed a lead after 285 and didn't have it. - Fair didn't look himself so the 12-2 win shouldn't carry a ton of weight later. He was hurting and gassed. That said Dickens went right after him, cutting him early after the 1st TD. I'd take Dickens in a rematch, but wouldn't expect a major. - Lambert didn't wrestle in Michigan. Heard he may have been sick. How he gasped late would fit that. Think he'll be much better as the season goes on. - MD's 182, 195 and 220 are light. Not sure about Lannert's weight, but he looked smallish. MCGrew could easily make 182 and Crowe could make 195, he is almost 30 lbs from 220. - Cottey got out of control against Freeman. Heard they have wrestled several times before and it's about 50/50 between them.. Maybe he was trying to send a message at the end to set the tone for next time? Don't know that, but it certainly didn't look good, cost his team a point, and got his coach to tell him to shut up. Look forward to seeing them wrestle again. - PM attempted and succeeded with more head locks and throws than I expected. - Matt Lee got a little sloppy at the end knowing he had it won. But Warren showed no quit late and never made things easy for Lee. Good battle. - Great atmosphere and crowd that was loud and into it. Thought one of the best moments was in the JV 220 match. MD's James Ralph controlled the match for the most part which included a lot of upper body battles. Near the end Ralph landed on his back after a throw and then rolled through to put San Agustin(?) on his back and got the late fall. The crowd erupted nearly as loud as its loudest moments in the Varsity match. - I erred in an earlier post about the JV. MD forfeited 285 and 120, the final match (with MD up 2 pts). Originally said 113.

Great battle tonight. I almost feel like I ripped someone off by only having to pay $5 for this type of action. Evengot some extra entertainment from the PM crowd that was thrown in for free PM coach I’m sure will have a talk with the fellas as one cost them a team point and the other got an ear full for his late antics after the match. Class act by coach. I seen several guys that were just flat out gassed. I’m sure as the season goes on, the conditioning will improve. Blake Boarman is just exciting to watch as is the EMD freshman Sollard. Dickens looked very good tonight in his match against Fair. While Fair May have been injured, he was out of gas even in the 2nd period. I’m sure he’ll recover and bounce back to make some noise at Bankers.

There are numerous factors that come in to play. The one I use most though is the dart board I have in my garage. I usually just put all the names of every wrestler I have in each weight on it and throw a handful of darts labeled 1-8. Whatever happens, happens.

Today footage of a varsity wrestler in NJ went viral. The video is of the wrestler having his hair cut matside in what I imagine allowed it to meet the the requirements for wrestlers’ appearance and health in accordance to NFHS rule 4-2-1. The wrestler appears to be African-American and his hair was in medium length dreadlocks. From what I gather, his hair cover wasn’t legal because it couldn’t be attached to his headgear. It is unclear to me if the hair cover he was trying to use was the same he had worn all year, or if it was different. I read that he had misplaced his normal headgear and was using something else. I also read that it was the same head cover and no other official made a big deal about it. You can’t always believe what you read on the internet, so I guess pick whichever version you like. Either way, something was apparently wrong. The main reason this seems to have gotten attention is the shock and awe factor of them hastily cutting the young man’s hair in the middle of the gym while he is clearly frustrated and emotional about the whole thing. Now asking a wrestler to cut their hair because their hair didn’t meet the standard/rule and they didn’t have the proper equipment has happened before, but it normally takes place in a lockerroom or wrestling room prior to the meet (as it should be addressed at the time of weigh ins). Having it happen in the middle of the gym in front of all to see is a much different thing and I can see how this video might catch the eyes of people unfamiliar with our sport. Many are sharing and commenting on the video and many people are viewing it through a racial lense—a white ref making the ruling while a white trainer/manager cuts a black adolescents hair while his white coach stands by allowing all this to happen. I get the optics. It isn’t good. Making matters worse, the ref who made the call allegedly had been disciplined a few years ago for using a racial slur to discribe another official. Really not good optics. All of this could and should have went differently. The ref should have addressed the hair at the weigh in. The wrestler could have had the proper legal haircovering (assuming he didn’t). The coach, ref, or AD could have decided that cutting the hair matside was wrong. All these things could have happened differently. Hopefully this viral video prevents this from happening again. I hope to never see this happen in Indiana. But it very well could. I could almost have seen it happen on my mat. As a ref, I have had to enforce this rule matside—just last weekend, even, at a multi-team individual tournament. Another ref forgot to check for hair coverings (probably assuming wrestlers had them but didn’t bring them to be approved as special equipment) during skin check and the the offending wrestler came onto the mat with hair similar to the boy in the viral video. Luckily the wrestler’s teammates had a spare legal covering and they were able to correct it (in my experience, this has always been the case). The offending wrestler pinned his opponent in the first period so the penalty didn’t play a factor. After the match he and his coach said they didn’t realize he needed the hair cover and said he had been wrestling like this all year. This is a problem. I’ve had wrestlers try to use pantyhose, skull caps that don’t meet NHFS regulations, swim caps, and even had a wrestler try to use a textbook cover as hair covers. Luckily they were all shut down during weigh-in/skin checks. If, in the heat of the moment, a wrestler didn’t have the proper equipment available like in the situation I mentioned above, I can imaging seeing a coach quickly doing something like this and me—with everything that refs have on their mind at a tournament—not thinking about how it might look or if it is appropriate letting it happen. We can do better to prevent these situations. I don’t know if the official was making the kid cut his hair because of racial bias. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. I try not to figure out intent—that isn’t my job. As a ref, I only see two colors: red and green. But I totally can see how this has become story. In the age of social media, stuff like this spreads fast and many people don’t care to look at all the facts. If this happened in the heat of the moment at a meet that I was working, I surely wouldn’t want people assocating my name with racism and hatred. So...let’s make sure this doesn’t happen in the Hoosier state. Below are some rules for this year’s verson of the rule book that partain to this issue. Rule 4-2-1 During competition all wrestlers shall be clean shaven, with sideburns trimmed no lower than earlobe level and hair trimmed and well groomed. The hair, in its natural state, shall not extend below the top of an ordinary shirt collar in the back; and on the sides, the hair shall not extend below the earlobe level; in the back; and on the sides, the hair shall not extend below earlobe level; in the front, the hair shall not extend below the eyebrows. A neatly trimmed mustache that does not extend below the line of the lower lip shall be permissible. If an individual has hair longer than allowed by rule, it may be braided or rolled if it is contained in a cover so that the hair rule is satisfied. The legal hair cover shall be attached to the ear guards. A bandanna is not considered a legal hair cover. The legal hair cover must be of solid material and be nonabrasive. The wrestler opting to wear a legal hair cover must wear it to the weigh-in procedure and be checked for grooming with it on. The legal hair cover must be removed prior to the wrestler stepping on the scale to be weighed. If a referee is not present at the weigh-ins, the hair cover must be checked by the meet referee upon arrival at the site. If an individual has facial hair it must be covered with a face mask. All legal hair covers and face masks will be considered special equipment. If an individual’s hair is as abrasive as an unshaved face, the individual shall be required to shave the head as smooth as a face is required or wear legal hair cover. 7-3-5 Reporting to the scorers table, not properly equipt, or not ready to wrestle or any equipment that is detected as being illegal after the match as started is a technical violation. According to 5-27, technical violations are to be penalized without warning. Rule 8 covers penalties and injuries. 8-1-1 states: Any contestant reporting to the scorers’ table not properly equipped or not ready to wrestle is a technical violation. A wrestler with greasy substance on the body or uniform, improper grooming, objectionable pads and braces, illegal equipment, illegal uniform or any equipment that is detected as being illegal after the match has started shall be disqualified if not removed or corrected within the 1 1/2-minute injury time. ... Most refs don’t want to be bad guys. We want to grow the sport. Help us avoid these types of calls by familiarizing yourselves with the rules and please share the information and knowledge you have gained with others. Also, if you have questions about these or any other rules, please use this site’s “Ask the Officials” Forum. A lot of times great questions can help us dig deeper into our knowledge of the rules and make us better officials...and from what I hear, everyone wants better officials.

Cathedral beat Avon 43-21 and Avon was missing Brewer and a solid 195 (josh Jones). Forfeited 106 and hwt too. Those spots will be filled with solid kids at team state. Cathedral beat Portage 46-18. With a full healthy line up, I really think my guys deserve the six seed. After seeing what I see in this thread, and last night. I would go with this: 1. Cathedral 2. EMD 3. Warren 4. Brownsburg 5. Perry 6. Avon 7. CE 8. Roncolli

Thank you the wrestlers and coaches do the hard part. Congratulations and have a merry Christmas

Saw this driving thru Nashville yesterday. My wife and I both laughed and she took the pic for me. Single funniest bit on radio I've ever heard!

Agreed. Friday night lights of sorts. Columbus East hosted a great event last night as well. Good crowd. Great venue. Too much orange. Super solid squad.

Mattyb I was right, PM would score not one point over 25!

Sam's a tough and talented wrestler! The Dickens family wishes him a quick and full recovery.

Gotta say it. The Dickens family and their apple orchard together are a class act. Great win.

Boarman finishes the night with fried Falcon wings!

Lee impressed me. Until the end of the match where Warren nearly pulled it off. Warren looked much stronger than Lee.

I thought I was wrong once....... But I was wrong!!!!!

Schedules are on the to-do list for next year...after we finish the all-inclusive history since 1920.

Please take this as constructive, or nitpicky if you must, but this is a big pet peeve of mine. Saying Avon lost to Cathedral 21-43 is akin to a double negative. The winning score ALWAYS goes first. Stating they won or lost tells the reader which team had which score. I've seen this a lot lately and no clue why. Maybe it's an internet thing, because you don't see it in any respectable print (the few that remain). Sorry for the rant, but listing a score as 27-29 drives me nuts and is just wrong. Back to your regularly scheduled argument with Avon and Perry fans!