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We ( Edwardsburg, MI ) have been bringing a small group of kids to Mishawaka and Jimtown regularly. Both rooms are awesome. Both have coaches who will jump in and help kids and are willing to go live. I sort of wish Michigan had an RTC system in place like Indiana, but to be honest I would still want to go to IN for these rooms. You can see the difference it is making with our kids. I highly recommend both rooms.

We could quite possibly witness the greatest Wrestler this state has ever seen.

RTC tonight 5:30-7:00PM! Kyle Hatch is back in the room training with us as we prepare for the Maconaquah duals Saturday.

Congratulations to Andres Moreno from Lowell for signing with Indianapolis. He is projected to wrestle 133, 141. View full signing

Agree with Joe. Cutting weight classes won't solve the problem. I know it is difficult, time consuming, often frustrating and not what we should have to do as coaches, in a perfect world. In a perfect world 50 to 60 kids would show up every year after putting in a vigorous off-season of hard work. But that's not the world we live in. I try to talk to at least one kid each day who is not in my program about going out for wrestling. We normally have close to 50 wrestlers, sometimes more, to start the season. Some of them drop out since we have a larger number of newbies but we normally end up well over 40 on the roster by Sectional. Barry Humble got huge numbers at Adams Central. It was then a very small school. It will never be easy to get large numbers but it is worth the effort. Let's point this discussion in a new direction. Let's hear from the coaches with solid numbers what you do to build the program. 1) As I said in my post, try to talk to at least one kid per day from the start of school until season starts (over 50 days) and from the end of the season until the end of school (about another 55). Often I will speak to the same kid several times but with all those contacts it is hard not to get at least a few extra recruits each season. 2) Coaching another sport can help. I coached high school football for over 30 years and then moved to middle school four years ago (love the shorter season that ends before Fall break!). Our middle school numbers have jumped since I get to pump the sport every day (Wow, that was a great tackle. I bet you would have a mean double leg.) 3) We have a bowling party every year after County tournament. I get a cheap trophy with a wrestler and a bowling pin on it. 4) I make sure to get the cut lists from freshman and middle school basketball teams. We also encourage middle school basketball players to come out after the season (got IHSAA fifth and sixth place finishers that way). 5) I send a letter to every eighth grade wrestler welcoming them to our summer program, encouraging them to play a fall sport and try to meet up with them at the start of their freshman year. Next season I am sending a recruiting e-mail to the student e-mail account of ever Why incoming freshman student (girls and boys). 6) Get your kids exposure whenever possible. We name a Wrestler of the Meet on announcements (thanks Q!), nominate them for school programs (we have two on the Student Athletic Council), make sure to get your kids Academic All-State recognition. I make sure to fill out the recommendation forms for National Honor Society for each wrestler nominated. The Marines now have an academic certificate for wrestlers. There are more but I want to hear what you guys are doing. If you ever get a chance, talk to Danny Struck about building a program. His numbers are amazing and he builds a true sense of belonging for his kids. We don't need to get to 50 on the roster to succeed. If you currently have 15 and get to 20 that is big. Add one or two a year and you will have a sizable roster pretty quickly. Let's stop waiting for our ship to come in and swim out to it! The article uploaded below is about what teams do to build camaraderie. recruiting article.docx

Congratulations to AC Eberle from Carroll(Fort Wayne) for signing with Trine. He is projected to wrestle 133. View full signing

Congratulations to Justin Davis from Carroll(Fort Wayne) for signing with Trine. He is projected to wrestle 149. View full signing

Congratulations to Antwaun Graves from Warren Central for signing with Indiana Tech. He is projected to wrestle 149. View full signing

Congratulations to AJ Fowler from Calumet for signing with Indiana Tech. He is projected to wrestle 285. View full signing