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So as the tournament approaches, and the topic of this discussion, I got excited and found this video of the most exhilarating 10 seconds of my adult life. I still yell at the screen to LIFT THE HEAD!!! vlc-record-2022-01-11-10h41m57s-10241240132_wtohvpth-10241241132.mp4.crdownload-.mp4

If we are looking at the entirety of their careers, in my opinion you start with NCAA champs and figure out your list from there based on international results. For me, it would go something like this: 1. Andrew Howe 2. Angel Escobedo 3. Nick Lee 4. Jason Tsirtsis 5. Mason Parris I would move Lee up maybe to #1 if he were to win title #2 this year. Then factor in any international experience he gets in the coming years. He will have a tougher time being the #1 guy than Parris will. I would move Parris above Tsirtsis as soon as he wins a national title (likely next year). He's the front runner for the world team this next olympic cycle with Gable going WWE. How he does there will dictate where on the list he falls. An NCAA title and and world/olympic medals would move him to #1. IMO, if you don't wrestle in Indiana during HS, then we can't claim you. Gable Steveson should not be on a list of Indiana's best ever. He's a Minnesota guy. David Taylor was born in Nevada, but he's an OH guy.

Lets go in-depth WHY others are When you say “improving at a faster pace with improved recruiting” ? To me it starts with practice facilities, Where does the team practice at ? First thing you look at is big ol’ Assembly Hall . In the basement ? Yea… basically sums it up there. I could be wrong but I think Indiana is the only team that practices in a basement . Look elsewhere it’s State of Art practice facilities. Kids are drawn to the nice practice rooms, this isn’t 1950’s . Kids now days want the best. Some HS practice facilities are nicer than what Indiana University has . I’m not lying here, to get some of these Top Recruits they gotta invest . Until then it’s a na, I’ll pass. Lil’Johnny looking at another school. #amiright ?

I watched the Zeke Seltzer and Jesse Mendez super match from Team State and the one thing that stood out to me more than anything was their hand fighting. It makes sense as to why they’re head and shoulders above the rest of the competition because that is a major aspect in their game and a huge component of the collegiate level, and the sooner you learn it, the better. Aside from these two and surely Christian Carroll, who has some of the best hand fighting in the state currently?

Another popular opinion, nick tattini majors Garcia next time they wrestle

Brackets are now released. There are still a few placement matches to finish up from last Friday to determine if a girl goes in the 5th place slot or 6th place slot. With that being said, the girls were already inserted into the brackets, but will get put into the proper spot after that match. It was just easier to put them in the bracket now and just swap them this Friday when the tournament starts. https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=633930132

Brackets are out, It's ONNNNN!!!

Very well could see #1 Christian Carroll and #3 Juan Grange this weekend at the NIC. I may have to come out of hiding and head over to Elkhart for that one!

For the past three years, I've had one girl on the team. This year, I had eight in the practice room and six who competed in nearly all the girls tournaments. Two will make it through to the state finals next weekend. Tonight, we had four more girls show up who were simply "curious" and I talked to them about joining next year. As comfortable as they are with me and the other male coaches, our school's ability to get a female adult to join us will be the next step to helping the next batch overcome their hesitancy. What does that have to do with sanctioning? It would give my school the confidence to actually invest in the sport, commit to extra $$ to help cover getting a female adult/teacher involved and various other things like women's singlets, some dedicated space and other basic necessities. Even if IHSAA doesn't choose to sanction, there are a few things that we can do next year as a coaching association and ISWA to help continue building this sport. Getting the list of invitations built early and communicated widely. We need a single place to go to get information and commitment to pushing communications about the opportunities for girls at the schools and ADs. At the tournament level, tightening up the seeding will help too. We have the data from all of the placements and head-to-heads, but never used it. This made for some bad mismatches at a few of the tournaments this year. Just need get more aggressive with our promotion, communication and getting things organized so schools and teams can plan. I really don't see how with some level of semi-professional organization, communication and promotion that we can get past the 120+ schools with 5 or more wrestlers threshold. Heck, if the boys keep shrinking at the current rate, they'll fall below that threshold before the end of the decade. Regardless of any minor gripes, we took a big step forward with our girls this year with zero help from IHSAA. If IHSAA doesn't want to come along for the ride, well, forget 'em. I think there's a big enough community here interested in building out this sport and willing to invest behind it.

Is a certain poster banned again? No way this conversation happens if a certain Fort Wayne based poster is able to post.

Sollars vs Purdy at the SIAC in 2 weeks

Rankings will be released fully after 24 hours. If you purchased a magazine you will get immediate access. Date: 01/10/2022 Girls Girls #5 View full individual rankings record

Been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’ve come up with a few names. Chad Red (New Palestine) – Nebraska senior, 3-time All-American (7th, 8th, 6th), undefeated 4-time State Champion with a record of 183-0, Cadet Freestyle National Champion, FloNationals Champion, Super 32 Champion Angel Escobedo (Griffith) – Indiana University head coach, 2011 IHSWCA Hall of Fame, 2-time United States World Team Member, 2013 Senior Freestyle World Championships 5th Place at 55 kilograms, 4-time All-American, 2008 National Champion at 125 pounds, 4-time State Champion with a record 223-1, 2-time Junior Freestyle National Runner-Up, Cadet Greco National Runner-Up Andrew Howe (Hanover Central) – Northwestern University Associate Head Coach, 2012 Olympic Team Trials Finalist, 2012 United States National Team Member, 4-time All-American, 3-time NCAA Finalist, 2010 National Champion at 165 pounds, 2009 National Runner-Up at 165 pounds, 2014 National Runner-Up at 174 pounds, 3-time State Champion with a record of 192-1, 2008 Junior Freestyle National Champion, 2009 Junior Freestyle World Championships Bronze Medalist at 74 kilograms Reece Humphrey (Lawrence North) – New Jersey RTC Head Coach, 2019 Terry McCann Award for Freestyle Coach of the Year, 3-time United States World Team Member, 2013 Senior Freestyle World Championships 8th Place at 60 kilograms, 2-time All-American, 2009 National Runner-Up at 133 pounds, 3-time State Champion with a record of 160-7, 2005 Junior Greco National Champion at 135 pounds Nick Lee (Evansville Mater Dei) – Penn State senior, 3-time All-American, 2021 National Champion at 141 pounds, 2021 Olympic Team Trials 3rd Place, Junior Freestyle National Champion at 138 pounds, Cadet Freestyle National Champion at 132 pounds, 2-time UWW Cadet National Runner-Up Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point) – Indiana University coach, 3-time All-American, 2014 National Champion at 149 pounds, 4-time State Champion with a record of 173-2, 2011 Junior Freestyle National Champion at 140 pounds, 2-time Super 32 Runner-Up, 2013 Junior Freestyle World Championships 7th Place at 66 kilograms For consideration Gable Steveson (Apple Valley, MN) – Indiana born and raised, competed in state until eighth grade, Minnesota senior, 2021 Olympic Champion at 125 kilograms, 2021 National Champion at Heavyweight, 2021 Hodge Trophy, 2-time Big Ten Champion, 4-time Minnesota State Champion, UWW Cadet World Champion

Coaches. If we do not want this qualifier it is simple, it is up to us to stand up and make our voices known on this. THERE IS NO REASON FOR A QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STATE!! My middle school team wrestles on Saturday before the qualifier, and now they have to make scratch weight 2 days in a row?!? That’s insane. All in favor of no qualifier say I. I

I didnt see anyone before 2000. Too young. Im going off of the eye test. Its so hard. I think if vegas oddsmakers created betting lines somehow they would be pick ems for the most part. Maybe an occasional -1 or -1.5. 1.) j tsirtsis 2.) mendez 3.) angel 4.) howe 5.) a tsirtsis 6.) red 7.) humphrey 8.) micic 9.) paris 10.) maurer 11.) nick lee 12.) b lee 13.) hernandez 14.) seltzer 15.) coughlin i was just telling someone the other day if i could find a time machine and set up a match between mendez and and j tsirtsis their senior year I would love to see it. That would be my dream hypothetical match.

If you start with NCAA champs then Kelvin Jackson from Anderson Highland has to be above Parris

Both of our swim teams practice together. Same coaching staff for both.

The swim teams would be the best comparison. Most schools only have 1 pool, but have boys, girls, youth club, and sometimes swim lessons all happening during the same season. Are the boys & girls swim teams allowed to practice together? Share coaches? I'd guess the IHSAA will keep that consistent with wrestling, too.

Here is a question. If it is sanctioned can the girls still practice with the boys? If not this causes some interesting challenges. Facility use and scheduling is the first that come to mind. During season many schools have youth programs that use the same room and mats. So there would be days that you would need to schedule girls practice, boys practice, then youth club practice. I can't think of any schools that only have one basketball court but on the other hand I don't know any schools that have more than one wrestling room. Then coaching challenges come in. It is already hard enough to find coaches let alone quality coaches to help with programs. This would add even more time and resources that are necessary. As far as the benefit for girls go at first this might be a step back. The State of Indiana had 2 Olympic wrestlers and that came from practicing and competing against boys. It will be quite a while before girl wrestling is built up enough for them to get the same competition they have now. Offseason will be able to offset much of this and possibly the solution would be to have the season offset from the current season to help with some of these things. The other thing is the reality of getting to 5 wrestlers on 120 teams before this is sanctioned by the IHSAA and financially supported is going to be challenging for sure. We had 2 girls before covid and we lost them during that time. We have a couple in the youth program. But to be honest wrestling is just now becoming a more popular thing to do in our school for the boys let alone the girls. So getting girls out is also an issue for some schools. On top of that listening to Katie Kriebel at the ISWCA meeting was enlightening on how you should coach girls differently and I feel she had some very valid points. As a male I struggle to understand my wife all the time and we have been together for over 20 years. I personally don't have daughters so this is an arena that may need some honest guidance if you want to do it right especially for those of us without daughters. Concerning funds someone told me that California didn't dedicate funds to girls wrestling but instead they took the boys funds and split it and from what I heard the boys numbers dropped. I can't find anything to back this up so please don't take it as a fact. I just think it needs to be looked at holistically from the top down and look at what the challenges and the possible outcomes will be for every school. The good and the bad. I am supportive of all things wrestling. Including girls wrestling, especially after watching how good Juliano Ocampo is. I would really like to see it be it's own thing. I am sure there are a ton more people that have put more thought into than me and I would be happy to part of a much larger conversation of how to implement this successfully.

It's on FloWrestling if you have an account. Mat #17 @ 2:27 Great match with a lot of action and attempted takedowns. Pretty much zero riding time, all on the feet. Kudos to Seltzer for bumping up to give Mendez a challenge - and he certainly did challenge him. Mendez was just a little quicker and more technical I think which gave him a few angles for his takedowns. But Seltzer did get one takedown on a throwby, and attempted several others including a flying squirrel-type front headlock right at the end. I was impressed with Seltzer's strength in the match versus such a high level opponent one weight up

Everyone I know still talks about the big leftsided headlock on Mendez! Instant classic! Seems like he pinned a few top ranked guys early last year at the Perry duels too! Maybe Riley Rust and Estrada?

Which may be the case currently for some schools and a girl's team. I think once it is sanctioned or known that it will be sanctioned, getting to the 120+/5+ mark will happen quite quickly.

Haggard, Sefton, Hirschy, & Zelt High School Wrestling Weekly. H,S,H,& Z is a local funeral home.

Would it be better if the entire sport was no longer under the IHSAA & just purely under the IHSWCA?

IHSWCA is in constant talks with IHSAA and Robert Faulkens. A proposal will be brought to them roughly March 1 from our directors. ISWA Directors, and IHSGWA is doing an awesome job growing this!!!

Principal vote in 2 days They need 6 votes …

Honestly I see gavin being up higher... tatini also up higher hes beat both carcias now I think goodwin is the best 160 in the state wish law stayed at 160 for the al smith. But those are just what I see and have seen the passed couple years. Some would say.... hockaday was pinned saturday but..... that match will come again in a little bit. Either semi finals or finals.

I don’t see that being a very close match. No disrespect. Carroll is unreal though. 3-0 in 37 cumulative seconds.

I’m not sure about that but it was a helluva match and I’d love to see them both at 141 someday

Sheridan coach Steve Leonard coached his 75th win with Sheridan High School in a home dual with Delphi on December 16th. Belated congratulations to Coach Leonard he is a fine leader of young men, and has put Sheridan wrestling on the map in a short period of time. It’s outstanding to see such large enthusiastic teams at our small school the last couple of years. We all hope he sticks around for many more years to come.

I don’t talk about my kids on here …. So it’s always going to be a “Huh ?” to me for future reference. Say what you want . Maybe when they get into College I may claim them here …. Lol so I got one that goes to Rutgers, he might be pretty good at this sport .

Demarco placed higher at state last year at 195, and after watching Jendreas and Hockaday at team state, I’ll say Bailey will have a tough match. I just hope Bailey and Jendreas are opposite sides and should be the finals at semistate

East Chicago 106 Jendreas Crown Point 113 Jackson Laporte 120 Demarco Chesterton 126 Frazier Crown Point 132 Bahl Crown Point 138 Mendez Crown Point 145 Torres Chesterton 152 Goin Crown Point 160 Goodwin Crown Point 170 Svantner Valparaiso 182 Cruz Crown Point 195 Demarco Chesterton 220 Carroll New Prairie 285 Whiteback New Prairie

(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) By STEVE KRAHstvkrh905@gmail.comChristian Carroll took care of business in the first three bouts of his high school career, earning pins in 13, 14 and 10 seconds against Wawasee, Peru and Hamilton Heights. The New Prairie High School junior 220-pounder made his debut as a Cougar at the Jan. 8 Class 2A Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals at Martinsville. A knee injury kept Carroll out of action during his freshman year at Penn (2019-20). When he transferred to New Prairie after the first semester of his sophomore year (2020-21), he was required to sit out for a year. That made him eligible at the end of this past week. Not that Carroll is a newbie on the mat scene. With two Super 32 titles and a Junior Freestyle Nationals crown to his credit, he is among the top-ranked grapplers at his weight in the country. He has committed to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to wrestle and study Finance in the Wharton School of Business. “Instead of thinking about my next four years, I’m thinking about my next 40,” says Carroll, 18. Each Quaker grappler in the Wharton School is assigned an alumni mentor and his is David Pottruck. “I’ve always been curious about stocks and how to use money. I have an entrepreneur mindset.” Christian is the youngest of Tony and Erin Carroll’s five children behind John, Jill, Ben, Cassidy and Katie. Tony Carroll works in finance with Aldi Foods. Erin Carroll is employed as a nursing home activity director at West Woods of Niles (Mich.). Christian grew up in the Jimtown area of Elkhart and started wrestling at age 5. He began to really take the sport seriously as an eighth grader in the Penn system at Schmucker Middle School. Over the years, Carroll has developed a mentality that is apparent to New Prairie head coach Bobby Whitenack. “He has a passion for the sport,” says Whitenack. “He has an intensity at practice and goes hard all the time. “He’s truly engaged every minute.” The athlete expects extra effort out of himself. “What you work for is what you get,” says Carroll. “There are no free lunches in this world. “That’s why I love wrestling. There’s no politics. It’s just you and the other guy battling on the mat.” Since joining the New Prairie program, Carroll has taken to the Whitenacks, especially Bobby and son/senior heavyweight Hunter. “(Coach Whitenack’s) a great role model,” says Carroll. “For him, it’s more about life (than wrestling). He cares about our well-being. He preaches so much about life. “How are you not excited to wrestle for a guy like that? He creates a family culture. That’s not a cliche.’ It’s real.” Hunter Whitenack, who is committed to study and play football at the University of Illinois, is a workout partner for Carroll and a team leader. “What’s awesome about Hunter is he’s in that big brother role,” says Carroll. “He’s always motivating, always positive and let’s get this job done. He guided me through the system being a new kid. “It’s about brotherhood. He doesn’t have to risk an injury for football. He puts his team and his community above himself.” Bobby Whitenack is a special education teacher and a 1999 New Prairie graduate. He came back from Manchester University, where he played football, to assistant Cougars head coach Wes Hobart then took over the program in 2010-11 and surpassed the 300-win plateau this season. “I reflect on how many people who made that happen — all the adults and wrestlers,” says Whitenack of the milestone. The coach has two sons in his lineup with freshman Hayden Whitenack at 132. What Carroll enjoys most about New Prairie is being part of a team in wrestling and an active student. “I release my knowledge and disperse as much as I can,” says Carroll of his relationship with wrestling mates. “We have a lot of sponges in the room. It’s a good atmosphere. There’s a certain standard in the room — leaving it all out on the mat. “I don’t think there’s a point in holding back (in class). I have a Type A personality. Communication flows and that is a good way to learn. Fear is False Evidence That Appears Real. I’m not afraid to fail (in wrestling or life). My aspirations are so much higher.” Whitenack appreciates Carroll’s willingness to give. “He’s really good at helping others,” says the coach. “He can work with any kid in the room and give them pointers. It’s a peer review. It’s different from hearing from a coach. He leads by example. You can’t say it if you’re not doing it yourself.” Away from New Prairie, Carroll works out with Chris Fleeger at Midwest RTC in New Carlisle. “He’s a technician,” says Carroll of Fleeger, who was a three-time All-American at Purdue University, Big Ten champion and trained at the U.S. Olympic Center. “He’s instilled a lot of morals in my brain and life perspective.” In the past year, Carroll is placed second at the World Trials. At the nationals, he won every bout by pin or technical fall except for one. In September, he competed in the Flo Wrestling Who’s No. 1 and lost a 3-2 nail-biter super match to heavyweight Nick Feldman, an Ohio State University commit from Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania.Carroll’s Super 32 titles have come at 195 (2020) and 220 (2021). Christian stands 5-foot-11 now, but he anticipates a growth spurt since his father and uncles are in 6-2 to 6-3 range and big guys. Whitenack, who has about 50 on his roster, has his wrestlers attack the season in two portions. “The beginning of season gets you ready,” says Whitenack. “We want to peak at sectional.” New Prairie once competed in Mishawaka’s Al Smith Classic, but opted for super duals like the one at Lafayette Jeff. “Our average kids got better and that set us up to have more success in the postseason,” says Whitenack. “We want to go into sectional with the right mindset. We want everybody moving in the right direction.” Chris Carroll is now a part of that mix. View full article

You know the team from East Chicago would win. Why even try.

Law vs Conway, #1 vs #2 and old Invicta training partners matching up!

Great moment for both wrestlers, teams and wresting fans!!!

Honesty it’s the match we wanted 20 years ago(that feels old to say) with Angel and Reece.

...and this was the fuel to win a DIII national championship

106 last year Jackson's broomstick in the finals

No idea what this means, but it sounds awesome.

Cody LeCount in 2014 hit like the greatest single leg counter I’ve ever seen vs. Forte in the finals. That was so cool.