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Coach and I had a great rivalry while he was at Bluffton and I was at Adams Central and it continued with his outstanding success at Colombia City and I was at New Haven but most of all we have been good friends. I had the honor to induct him into the IHSWCA Hall of Fame. I will certainly miss our conversations

Over the weekend we lost another Northeast Indiana wrestling coach, Steve Tatman from South Adams. He lost the match with cancer, as per his request, there will be no services.

Jesse takes out three time NCAA qualifier Shelton Mack 10-0 in the consolation round. I know Jesse shoots for the stars but 99.9% of high school kids would have been very excited about a win like that.

Only difference in that match was some grown man strength vs a kid I’m not sure is 19 yet. Jesse was the better wrestler that match.

The first round of invitations for the 2022-23 Team State have been sent out and each team accepted their invitations. It's going to be another great tournament! There will be an invitation late April for 1 team each class and 1 in season vote determined the week before Christmas. The following teams that have accepted: 4A 3A 2A 1A Brownsburg East Central Bellmont Adams Central Center Grove Floyd Central Delta Bluffton Crown Point Hobart Garrett Cascade Evansville Mater Dei Mishawaka Hamilton Heights Cowan Indianapolis Cathedral New Haven Heritage Hills North Posey Penn Roncalli Jay County Prairie Heights New Prairie Rochester Community Norwell Southmont Rensselaer Central Tell City Western West Central

Insane opening match for Jesse, taking on a NCAA champion and a vet decorated freestyle wrestler.

Prayers to the Family

Last evening our Team State committee hosted it's annual vote-in selection to choose ONE OF THE FINAL TWO spots for the IHSWCA Team State Tournament on January 7th 2023. The committee has to make very difficult decisions on which teams will be selected for this tournament. As a reminder, in the last two seasons we have chosen to pick ONE MORE team based on in-season results. That vote will be around December 18th. Teams chosen last evening were: 4A: Carmel 3A: Terre Haute South 2A: Wawasee 1A: Winamac Thanks, and congratulations to these programs.

Some great wrestling will happen this weekend, with two IN guys in the mix. At 61kg - Jesse Mendez is the 4 seed. It appears at this weight, the seeding committee penalized for FF's at the US Open. Daniel Deshazer beat Mendez at the US Open and later FF'd the 3rd/4th Place match. DeShazer is seeded 6th despite the win over Jesse. Seth Gross is the 5th seed and he also FF'd to to DeShazer and Tyler Graff to finish 6th, after losing to eventual Champ Nico Megaludis in the semis. Seeding aside, Jesse will face former NCAA Champ Seth Gross in the 1st round/Quarterfinal. Should he knock off Gross, he'll likely see Megalis, the #1 seed. Personally, I think he'd have a better shot as the 6-seed, but you gotta win matches to get to the end. Whoever wins Sunday afternoon will face Daton Fix who at Final X, who is sitting in wait. At 65kg - Nick Lee is the 4 seed and may have gotten a favorable draw. Nick finished 3rd at the 2020/21 US Olympic Trials, losing to Jordan Oliver and then running off wins against 3 former NCAA Champs on the back side. Between Nashon Garrett, Zain Retherford and Yianni Diakimohalis there were 6 NCAA Titles at the time (now 7). Kendrick Maple, another former NCAA Champ, came out of retirement and won the US Open last month, in impressive fashion. By winning the US Open, he's the #1 seed. #s 2 and 3 respectively are Yianni and Joey McKenna. Lee should face Josh Saunders in round 1, then Matthew Kolodzik in the Quarters. Maple will be challenged by Eric Henderson or Pat Lugo in Quarterfinal. The 2 winners of the Semifinal will skip the final and prepare for a best of 3 showdown at Final X, as there is no returning medalist waiting in the wings.

Had to work today. Tough day for the IN guys.

WOW

I suspect you'd watch a lot more than 1-2 events a year. MD Holiday Classic Team State Semi-State and State MCWC Duals Many major FS tournaments Plus you get access to archives of all events plus past events. I was once a Flo hater in a big way. But after the acquisition of Track Wrestling, I have found it to be well worth the money. But the single chunk of $ isn't ideal. That said, if $30 isn't too much, you can do a monthly sub for FloBowling and it will give you access to all Flo events. They offer $30 monthly, cancel anytime

Good man. I had a great deal of respect for Coach Kearby.

Condolences to his family and friends R.I.P

So sad. Another Northeast Indiana legend. Godspeed all healing and peace beyond understanding.

It's really not the type of shot, but more the finishes you utilize and the crispness of those finishes.

You are welcome. One book that I love is Navigating Change by Gary Gore. Lots of great stories in there that apply to wrestling and just life in general.

The NWCA puts on some good stuff in this area. Check out there website and look around at the different options on there that might be a good fit for you- https://www.nwcaonline.com/coaching-development/coaching-development-programs/for-scholastic-coaches/

Whiteland needs to get an at large bid to this 9 starting Seniors next season Buttler & Brooks both went to state. 6 of the made it to semi state. Grandinetti won Sectionals and then got concussed in practice and missed the regionals. While kids he beat went on to state. Warriors should be in a conversation for at large.(IMO)

It appears that the legendary Coach Kearby from Columbia City passed away yesterday, unfortunately due to a car accident. Never wrestled for him, but he was an assistant football coach of mine at Garrett many years ago. Great coach and an even better man. Thought the northeast Indiana wrestling community would like to be aware... https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/man-dies-following-collision-with-cement-truck-on-u-s-27/