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

More people from Indiana have Googled Estonia over the past few days than ever before and with good reason. After this weekend Indiana will have four representatives at the Junior World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. For those of you that want a little geography lesson, Tallinn is the largest city and capital of Estonia. Estonia is a country that has about 1.3 million people and is about half the size of Indiana. It is a very historical city and sits on the Baltic Sea. Wikipedia has a lot of great information Tallinn and Estonia, just click here for that info. Now onto the wrestling part, which is why you’re here. Last week Alara Boyd was dominant in her quest to make her first Junior World Team at Women’s Nationals in Texas. After medaling twice as a cadet she is looking for her third world medal in as many tries this year. The men duked it out this weekend in Raleigh this past weekend looking to join Boyd in Tallinn. Lucas Davison had an immense advantage sitting out until the second day already in the best of three finals. Brayton Lee was the top seed in the challenge tournament in an extremely deep weight class. Lastly, Mason Parris decided a couple weeks ago to start training for the event and with his Fargo placement last year was given the three seed. The tournament brackets were small due to a limited number of qualifiers. Most brackets were 8 man or less with a couple that had around 10 competitors. Parris’ path to Estonia was quite unique to say the least. Not only was entering the trials a late decision, the top two wrestlers from the Junior Open did not come to the trials. That left the weight wide open as Anthony Cassioppi was considered a big favorite to win the weight. Parris had one match on Saturday where he defeated Virginia Tech’s John Borst 7-4. That put him in the best of three finals against Wiconsin’s Trent Hillger with whom he defeated during the NCAA season. In the first match of the best of three series Hillger topped Parris 7-6 after a late flurry of action that almost gave Parris the win. The second an third matches were quite different as Mason go after it early with a tech fall in the second match and a pin in about a minute in the last match. Lucas Davison saw North Carolina’s Brandon Whitman in the finals. Whitman was an NCAA qualifier last year for the Tar Heels as a true freshman. Davison dominated the first match 9-0 with a big 8 point first period. In the second match he wrestled a little more conservatively and won 5-0. Not only will Davison have Indiana friends on the Junior World Team, his Wildcat teammate Yahya Thomas is also on the team. Brayton Lee had quite the weekend to say the least. Brayton employed quite a unique strategy all weekend long and while it took a few more hairs off his dad Brett’s head it worked out well in the end. He started Friday out with a late tech fall of Justin McCoy who wrestles for Virginia. After that match the drama began. In the challenge bracket semi-finals he faced off with rival Jacori Teemer. They have wrestled three times before and every match was pure pandemonium. This match would be no different. Teemer raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first period on a couple snatch singles and pushout. At the start of the second period something changed…that being Lee broke the ice. He scored 12 straight points to take the lead and ended up winning 12-9. In the bracket finals Lee had Peyton Robb who was a redshirt for Nebraska last year. This time Robb raced out to an 8-2 lead late in the first period before rattling of four late points to close the gap to 8-6 at the break. The second period once again was all Lee as he racked up 11 more points to win 17-6. Next up for Lee would be Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso who made quick work of him in Vegas. Lee was prepared to not give up a leg lace, but early on may have forgotten about leg defense. Sasso came out hungry and was up 6-0 after the first period. Another early score in the second period it looked like the match would be cut early due to a tech fall. However, Mr. Lee had other plans. He kept the pressure on and started to crack the ice with constant pressure and heavy hands. Lee started with one takedown, then another with a turn, then a pushout and for good measure two more takedowns to eventually break Sasso. The final score was 11-8 after 11 straight points by Lee. The final match had a little less drama as you could tell Sasso was still tired both mentally and physically from the first one. Sasso got an early push-out, but Lee rattled off another 8 points to win convincingly 8-1 and earn his trip to Tallinn. On the weekend Lee scored 47 points in the second period while only allowing 7(3 to McCoy and 2 each to Teemer and Sasso). This year is the third time we have had multiple representatives in the same age group and style at a World Championships. The two other times were when Angel Escobedo and Reece Humphrey both represented the USA at the University Championships in 2010 and the Senior Championships in 2013. Before this weekend Indiana has had six others qualify for the Junior World Championships: Leroy Vega(1999), Matt Coughlin(2006), Angel Escobedo(2007), Andrew Howe(2009), Jason Tsirtsis(2013), and Stevan Micic(2015). Micic and Howe both brought home bronze medals. On the senior side of things three Indiana natives had solid days on the mat. Kayla Miracle fresh off claiming her third straight spot on a U23 team made quick work of Desiree Zavala spending less than two minutes on the mat total in two matches. She pinned Zavala in 1:10 in the first match and almost broke a sweat in a 34 second tech in the second. She clinched a spot in Final X where she will face Mallory Velte in the best of three series for a spot on the senior world team. Last year Velte won the series in three matches and went on to win a bronze medal at the World Championships. On the men’s side of things Riley Lefever and Ben Harvey came into the challenge bracket as a 5 and 7 seed respectively. Both exceeded seed expectations and placed 3rd and 4th. For Lefever he lost to Ohio State’s Kollin Moore in his first bout. He beat three-time All-American Tim Dudley in his first consolation match then avenged his loss to Moore for 3rd place. Harvey faced Mark Hall first round and dropped that match. He defeated Stacey Davis and Geno Morelli in the consolations before falling to Nick Becker in the 3rd place bout. Overall Indiana had a great few days on the mat and will be well represented at the world level. Currently we have five representatives on teams with the cadet teams determined in a couple weeks and both Hildebrandt and Miracle two wins from earning their spots at Final X. Both girls will be at Final X in Lincoln on June 15th. View full article

The PIAA(Pennsylvania) passed a proposal to submit a proposal to the NFHS to reduce the weight classes to 12. Even without the NFHS's approval they may go ahead and go to 12 weights. Here are the weights 108, 115, 122, 128, 134, 140, 146, 152, 160, 172, 185, 215, and 285 Here is the article on the proposal https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/2019/05/sad-but-necessary-changes-could-be-coming-to-piaa-wrestling-weight-classes.html Personally, I do not feel this fixes any issues other than putting a pretty bandaid on the problem. Bad teams will still forfeit weight classes, good teams will still have full lineups. The problems stem from the image of the sport and coaches that do not go about promoting the sport in the school. It takes a lot of work to get a program to the top and a lot more to keep it there. Discuss....

They must not be able to count very well in Pennsylvania! In Indiana going to 12 weights "could" reduce forfeits by 40%, but that is artificial as I don't think it would help participation numbers. I would be all in if we had the 14 weights and we could enter two per weight at sectional in two or three weights. That would help two-fold, it would eliminate forfeits and prevent some of those that are making big weight cuts to make the varsity lineup. This type of rule would have a better affect on TRUE forfeits and on participation.

Davison rolls in 2 matches. Lee rolls in the second match. Parris loses match one but comes back big in matches 2 and 3. All 3 guys will be repping the United States of America at the World Junior Championships in Estonia in August.

Lee wins match 2 as well. Got hit with a passive early and gave up 1 then went on to Win 8-1. Congrats Brayton

Agreed! Bryan Bailey has done more in providing opportunities for kid in Indiana than any other person I know in my short span as a wrestling parent. Here is a list of Duals that my son has cut his teeth on over the last 5-6 years with opportunities from Coach Bryan Bailey: 1. West Penn Duals (PA) - 2st weekend of Nov 2. Turkey Burp Dual (PA) - 3rd weekend of Nov 3. Outlaw Duals (IN) - 1st weekend of Dec 4. Christmas Duals (Sparty) (MI) 2/3 weekend of Dec 5. Defense Soap Duals (OH) 3rd weekend of Dec 6. Dixie National Duals (GA) 3rd weekend in Dec 7. NUWAY National Duals (KY) 1st weekend in Jan 8. Walton-Verona Bearcat Brawl (KY) 2nd weekend in Jan 9. Wadsworth Duals (OH) 3rd weekend in Jan 10. West Virginia Duals (WV) 4rth weeken in Jan 11. Lee Paulmalak Duals (IA) 1st weekend in April 12. AAU National Elem Duals (TN) 2nd Weekend in April 13. Viper Pit (OH) 2/3rd weekend in April 14. NHSCAs Virginia Beach Duals (VA) 3rd weekend in May 15. Olivet Duals (MI) Sometime in June 16. Grand River Rumble (MI) 2nd weekend in July This is only 16 opportunities.....I'm sure if I were to ask, Bailey could provide 16 more. Opportunities like these are how to IMPROVE. Brian has told me since we met that he wants to get Indiana BETTER on the MAT! I can definitely say that he is providing opportunities for Indiana kids to get BETTER on the MAT with Dual Opportunities, Practices, and Camps (Latora Leg Camp). *Keep your eyes on this NASTY Disney Dual Team that will be competing in Orlando mid June. #Indiana Kenny Harden

Bryan Bailey @Brey and his boys have made their marks on the mat. With that said, Bryan is currently providing more opportunities for more kids than any single person that I know of here in Indiana. The Baileys are the best wrestling family going. Just sayin

412 wins 2 losses. Alex and Jason Tsirtsis that is ridiculous. 8 state titles

Congratulations to Cody Klettheimer from Frankton for signing with Northern Iowa Area. He is projected to wrestle 174. View full signing

Great ideas, Dave! I've had up years and down years with numbers over my career, but more up than down recently and there's only one real reason why: The focus of the culture is on developing good young men, having fun, and winning along the way....in that order. Still have days/weeks/moments when I lose sight of why I do this and think my only purpose is to build a team that wins championship, and that's definitely part of what I want to do, but ensuring they're having fun has to be goal #1. Even with this in mind, in a decade of coaching, I've still never had a team that didn't have at least 2-3 kids quit, sometimes there's nothing you can do, the sport just isn't for everyone. Here's a few things I've found works: 1) Make Dual Meets fun! If the student body gets fired up about going to a wrestling dual, more athletes will want to be a part of the program. A major disadvantage we have is that we aren't a "glory" sport, but shining a light on the hard work the boys do helps with recruitment and more importantly, with retention. Look at what Brownsburg has done in their turnaround there. Turned the sport into an event that is must-see. You think it's a coincidence they have stud football players showing up in the room winning state titles? 2) Monthly, in season or out, we try to do something as a team that is fun. Go to Cedar Point. Take the team to the Indiana Dunes. Go camping. Team Camaraderie goes a long way when interested kids ask current wrestlers why they wrestle. If they respond, "It sucks, but I love it," you may have an issue recruiting new kids. When they say, "I wrestle because it's fun," something has gone right. 3) Involve yourself in the feeder programs. We have 4 Middle Schools, 2 feed 98% of their students to us at HSE, the other 2 are split between us and Fishers,It'd be easy to ignore the other 2 schools as 80% of their kids go to Fishers HS, but I try to run a practice or 2 at each MS immediately following the HS season. And I make it fun! I try to get to know the MS Athlete when they're in 7th grade, so when I reach out as they are incoming, they already know me. This was a lot easier at Mooresville with 1 MS, but I have a great involved staff of Assistants that help out and attend MS events and practices as well so that they're always seeing someone with HSE wrestling gear on in their corner. 4) Spend time, as a head coach, with your JV kids. Not just on the mat, but off the mat too. A lot of coaches have a tendency to focus on the best wrestlers (State Qualifiers and Placers make us look good), but I've been around to see what happens to a program when the emphasis is only on the Varsity kids winning as much as possible and the JV kids get run off. What happens when those Varsity kids graduate? You wind up with a lot more holes in the line-up than you should have because average wrestlers or developmental kids who may have turned into a solid starter leave because they didn't feel anyone cared about their success. I attend every JV event that doesn't conflict with a Varsity one. I may be late due to practice or Youth Club, but I show up to show the kids that I care, and I have 3-4 Assistant Coaches that understand why working with these less capable wrestlers is important and do a great job in practice and at meets. In my experience, these are some of the most valuable people to surround your kids with. I'm going start stealing some of the ideas Dave uses as well. Ultimately, you have to find what works for each school. All 3 that I've worked at have been different, but ultimately, the #1 reason kids do a sport is to have fun. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that, but if you do, growth isn't far behind.

Congratulations to Victor Lee from Marion for signing with Manchester. He is projected to wrestle 197. View full signing

This will cause even more "smaller" school kids to move to bigger schools. I know for a fact that some families with kids that go to smaller schools move to larger schools where they can ensure that they can make a line up. At these larger schools they will wrestle a better schedule, get better partners, and get better exposure (true or not.. this is the mentality of many). With this said... some people stay put because they aren't sure if they can beat a top dog at a top program. By them knowing that they don't need to beat that top dog, they are more likely to move to that bigger school. Especially, knowing the fact that they could have a chance to finish second to that kid at each level of the state tournament and be separated from him all the way through state. The rich would get richer if this happens. You may or may not think this is accurate???? Just a thought.

Lefever gets third in the challenge tournament, he avenged his earlier loss to Kollin Moore from yesterday. Ben Harvey gets 4th in the challenge tournament. Kayla Miracle made quick work of her finals opponent, she will be at Final X in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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

True story. Help yourself now while you have complete control over your fate.

I worried that one day we would cut weight classes, but I always thought it would be by 1 to 13 so that there was a logical tie-breaker in a dual meet. I always hoped they added 1 for a tie-breaker. I can’t see how cutting 2 is good for the sport. I do like the idea of 14 total wrestlers regardless of weight class on varsity.

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

yea the amount of spots open for the football players i encourage to wrestle reduces and I would expect #'s ofr teams would reduce as well.

Join us tonight with special guests, 4x All-American & NAIA National Champion - Jake Sinkovics AND 2x D3 All-American - Kyle Hatch. Great opportunity for wrestlers of all sizes to train! Party starts at 5:30PM!

I’m more concerned with Dake’s injury than Taylor’s. DT at less than100% should still beat Pat Downey, I cant say the same for a banged up Dake vs Dieringer.

And.... since Tanner Sloan stayed at my house during dream team classic we may as well count him as one of our own too????

3 out of the ten weights!!! Indiana on the come up! Proud to be a Hoosier today. Great job men.

Underwood will be wrestling for Coach Maldonado at Calumet College in Whiting, Indiana