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Coach Mike DePalma of George Mason ... October 2nd, 6-8 p.m. https://gomason.com/coaches.aspx?rc=795&path=wrestling Coach Colin Heffernan of Ohio U. ... October 10th ... 7-8:30 https://www.ohiobobcats.com/information/directory/bios/heffernan_colin?view=bio Coach Mark Manning of Nebraska ... October 17th ... 7-8:30 https://huskers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=812&path=wrestling

Haven't forfeits always been a part of wrestling? I have no clue on the overall trend or anything like that, but it doesn't seem to me that it is horrendously worse now than it was when I wrestled, or when I began coaching. All of this stuff ebbs and flows too. This will be my 11th year as a head coach, and I can say that in the last decade alone I have seen teams that had literally 3 wrestlers on the team at one point, go on to be at team state, and win regionals. I have also seen it go the other way, teams with a lot of kids go down to a few. I think A LOT of it is about the "culture" of the sport at the school. For whatever reason it seems like some schools have it, others don't. Again this can change with a class, or with various coaches... I also don't see this as an issue that is small school vs big school. I spent my first 9 years at a small school, and we very rarely forfeited, not that it never happened, but it seemed easier to get a kid to try it out, or come out to fill a spot. I now coach at a much larger school, and had two forfeits all year. I've found communication to be much more difficult at a larger school, and I am in the building. I imagine that getting things "going" is much more difficult no matter the school if your not in the building. With this being said once a team culture is established with-in a program it is something that can last for a long period of time. It is just difficult to get going. I would also say in my opinion getting the culture right is just as important to a program as having a coach who knows all of the moves in the world.

Have 2 at Purdue as well (Pokorney and Lohrey).

Defense soap will be sending a care package for the raffle. Awesome product. https://www.defensesoap.com/

In his last two years in high school, Carson only gave up offensive points to one person here in Indiana. That was the in that pretty rough match Friday night his junior season (it was bad). With that said, he’s pretty tough to score on. He wrestled very conservatively this year at state. Just wanted the title. But... I personally think Rypel was ranked number one in the nation for a reason and has to be favored. Just honored to have my son be mentioned in this conversation after he has moved on. He’s really doing well at Ohio. Coaches have expressed that they really like him and he’s doing better then they even thought he would. Him Slivka and Mosconni all should be wrestling at the Michigan State open the first week of November. Saw all of them last week and they are all doing great! Bottom line.. our studs are moving on to D1 and doing great. It would be cool if Slivka and Mosconni would clean their room tho!

Other guy was Derek (sp) Donelson who coincidentally went to Plainfield.

Here is what I also see from successful programs (in all sports) is the coaching from the bottom up approach. All programs are going to a few studs. The better programs have 10 or so studs. Guess what???... those are the easiest kids to coach. I see coaches coaching from the top down. Meaning... they spend the majority of time with their suds. Those kids are self motivated, and many times know more than their high school coaches. The successful coaches spend more time with their marginal kids and make them good. This not only builds depth, but makes those kids feel more important to the team. This results in retention, and the strengthening of the program. Show more love to the lesser kids. Let them know that they are a HUGE part of the program, and they are needed. That's another great way to keep kids around. Here is something that the vast majority can relate to: As a youth football coach, I was lucky to have my teams in the "super bowl" every season. All teams have a fairly even draft. All teams have two or three studs. The daddy ball coaches spend the whole practice focusing on their own kids and letting junior and his best buddy run the ball in every practice and every game. The other kids "get" to stand on the line and block. That leads to kids hating youth football and angry parents. Where as the successful youth coaches convince the kids that line play is the most important part of the game (which it is). They also find something that each kid does well, and makes them feel that each kid is the very best at doing that particular thing. The daddy ball coaches just "hide" the weaker kids and focus on junior and the other studs. If a kid is not a striper, give them the rock once a game! Put your studs on the line for a play or two. Let them put their hand in the dirt and help get the "lesser" players a few yards. That approach leads to happy well rounded players and happy parents. Every kid will want to play the following year. The kids will play hard for each other and the wins will come. I truly think that many of us can do a better job of developing our "lesser" wrestlers, and letting them know and feel how important that they are to the team. Let dem studs "put their hands in the dirt". Let them take a little time to build up the 2nd or 3rd tier guys. By doing a better job of this (coaching from the bottom up) we will grow depth and keep kids out. Oh.. by the way... Once the individual tourney starts.... go ahead and play daddy ball, with your best 14!!!!