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By JEREMY HINES Thehines7@gmail.com For as long as Sullivan freshman Lane Gilbert can remember he has dreamed about having his hand raised at the Indiana High School wrestling state championships. He’s done more than dream about it. As a young kid he would go into the wrestling room at Sullivan High School and act out having his hand raised. It didn’t matter that nobody else was around him. In his imaginary scenario he always emerged victorious. No obstacle stood in his way. No opponent could beat him. He was the champ. That dream would never be taken away. The dream was much different than real life for Gilbert. In real life, he has had far more hardships than one kid should experience. He’s overcome situations that would break others. Through it all, he’s come out stronger. To get a clear picture of just how tough Lane Gilbert is, it is important to dive into his uncomfortable past. Gilbert’s mother, Rachel, became Indiana’s first female sectional champion in wrestling. She won the 103-pound class in the North Knox sectional in 2002. Rachel was going places in life. News agencies had reported on her wrestling journey, because at the time, female wrestlers were still very new in the state. She had some colleges showing interest in her. But Rachel began facing a more formidable opponent than anyone she went up against on the mat. She started battling an addiction with drugs. Lane’s father had his own battles with drug addiction. For Lane’s father, that addiction would eventually lead to a prison sentence. Young Lane didn’t want to miss an opportunity to visit his dad, even if that meant going to the prison any time he could. “Lane worshipped his dad,” Lane’s wrestling coach and grandfather Roy Monroe said. “Lane never failed to go see him. He always wanted to see him.” Tragically, Lane’s father developed cancer while in prison and ultimately died due to the disease. “That was really rough on Lane for a while,” Rachel said. “His dad was a drug addict for a long time and Lane always held out hope that one day he would get better. Once he got sick, that was probably the hardest thing. Lane stayed strong through the whole thing.” At nine-years-old Lane did something no kid his age should ever have to do. He stood up in front during his dad’s funeral and sang a special song. “I don’t know how he did it,” Monroe said. “That’s almost an impossible thing to get through, and he did it. He toughed it out.” That’s what Lane always does. He toughs things out. He toughed it out when his mom was having her struggles. He toughed it out seeing his dad in prison, and then watching as cancer slowly took its toll. He toughed it out when his uncle Jordan, who had taught Lane quite a bit about wrestling, died in a fiery car crash. No matter what life threw at Lane, he toughs it out. Perhaps he gets his fighting spirit from his grandfather. Roy has been a major part of Sullivan wrestling for over 30 years. He’s watched his daughter struggle with drug addiction. He lost his son in that tragic car accident. He’s experienced heartache and he remained the rock Lane needed in his life. Lane could always stay the night at Roy’s house. He could always get the right words from his grandpa. And, on the wrestling mat, he could look to Grandpa Roy for direction as well. “He’s my role model,” Lane said. “He’s nice to everyone. He’s a good coach. He’s all the things you can think of if you were to make the perfect person – that would be how I describe him.” But Lane’s toughness also comes from his mom. In a time when people frowned on girls wrestling against boys, she held her ground. In fact, she and Roy had to go to the Sullivan school board to even get approved to wrestle back in her high school days. Later, as has already been alluded to, Rachel battled a fierce drug addiction. But, for Lane’s sake – and for her sake, she fought through and emerged victorious. She is currently a Dean’s List student working to become a nurse. “I am so proud of her,” Roy said. “I’ve been a counselor. I’ve went into the jails and counselled drug addicts. I’ve seen them come in and out of addiction. The real truth is, only about one percent of drug addicts make it to where she is now. It’s so hard to overcome, but she’s done it. And she’s a great mom.” She is also very, very protective of Lane and worries almost to a fault about the decisions he makes in his own life. “After having made the decisions at a young age that I made, I saw first-hand what can happen and how quickly everything can just spiral out of control,” Rachel said. “One mistake and everything can be gone. I have that fear in the back of my mind that he’s of the age and he could make the wrong choices. I’m almost too hard on him, but I am terrified because I know what can happen and I keep my eye on him. I do trust him. He’s seen what can happen and how bad things can get.” Lane knows when his mom tells him to keep on the straight and narrow, it’s because she cares. “I have so much respect for my mom,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot from her.” One thing Lane has learned is to never doubt himself. This summer when he was a third alternate for the Pan-American games, he let doubt creep into his psyche. After the first two qualifiers couldn’t attend the games, Lane got the call to participate. But, going into the event, he felt like he really didn’t belong. Boy was he wrong. Lane went undefeated in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. News of his success quickly spread throughout the town of 6,500 people. When he arrived home, he was given a police escort through the streets. “Oh my gosh,” Rachel said. “The town put on this whole show when he returned. The police and emergency vehicles all met up on the north end of town. He had no idea it was going to happen. There were fans from all over our town and they all followed him to the high school. It was so cool. He was so surprised.” Currently Gilbert is 28-1 on the season and ranked No. 5 at 113 pounds. He has carried the confidence he developed during the Pan-American games over to the season. Now he knows he belongs. Now he knows that dream he played through his head so many times growing up isn’t just a dream – it’s an attainable goal. “I’ve been coaching at Sullivan for 13 years as head coach and I’ve been there 30 years as an assistant,” Monroe said. “I’ve never seen anything like him. I look at Lane, with his skills and what he’s been through, and I just know that adversity isn’t a problem anymore. He can do whatever he sets his mind to do.” As for Rachel, well, she says nowadays she’s just like any other wrestler’s mom. “I’m still up in the stands screaming my head off,” she said. “But when I’m shouting, at least I know which moves to shout. The other moms look at me and ask what they should be yelling.” View full article

If there are bracket issues a coach will need to contact the tournament administrator to have them corrected.

No referee-backs either!

We need to have better ways of aligning kids into their weight classes without having them make weight multiple times a week. I personally like the "lunch" time weigh-in as it lets the kids eat and not worry about drinking too much water. Even something like weighing in one time per week is better. We want kids to enjoy the sport at the elementary and middle school levels. Making weight, even if you aren't cutting, can be a huge burden on new kids/parents in the sport.

Personally, with as many middle school events as there are I would hate for kids to be forced to monitor their weights multiple times per week. As a high school coach we try to limit the number of weeks with two weigh-ins just to ease the strain on the kids. I know our middle schools will have three, sometimes four events in a week and I couldn't imagine a kid needing to make weight that many times. Even if they aren't cutting weight they still need to monitor their weight in order to not be over. When talking about middle school we need to work on retention of athletes more than anything. This includes uniforms AND weigh-in procedures.

Officials Point Breakdown 50% -Coaches ratings(Coaches vote 1-5 for officials) 20% -Number of varsity matches on the season (7 or more to get full credit) 15% -Number of association meetings attended (4 or more to get full credit) 5% -Previous tournament experience in the past 6 years -State Finals = 5pts -Semi State = 4pts -Regional = 3pts -Sectional = 2 pts -Never worked tournament series = 1 pt 5% -Number of years licensed -7 or more years = 5pts -5-6 years = 4pts -3-4 years = 3pts -1-2 years = 2pts -First year = 1pt 5% - Number of time official worked the tournament in the last 6 years - 5-6 years = 5pts - 4 years = 4pts - 3 years = 3pts - 2 years = 2pts - 1 year = 1pt Notes These are points basically so for coaches ratings they can get up to 50 points, varsity matches up to 20 points, and so on. Officials at the semi-state level are looking at around a minimum of having 85 points in this system. That means they need to have basically a 4.1 average coaches vote along with most of the other criteria. For the coaches vote they have to have a certain number of votes to qualify for advancement. On top of that after X amount of votes they will throw out the top X and bottom X votes. That means the more votes you get the more of your bottom votes get thrown out. Advancement Officials have to work 3 sectionals before a regional, 3 regionals before a semi state, and 3 semi states before working the state finals. You can work your first regional in the same year that you do your 3rd sectional, your first SS the same year that you do your 3rd regional, and your first state finals the same year that you do your 3rd semi state. Basically if you have high enough ratings you can do a state tournament in 7 years. This used to be 10+ years. State Finals 12 state finals officials with 2 rookies 2 year rotation for each official. After your two year rotation, the first year you can only do a sectional, the second year you can do a regional. The third year you can do semi-state and state again if you qualify

Yes he has....

The coaches vote is very important and a huge factor into referees advancing. I had a ref ask me to vote for him one time because he said he missed doing a regional because he didn't have enough votes. The votes also play a big factor into a referee getting a semi-state or state. Literally a couple 4's for a state level ref will ensure he does NOT get a state finals assignment. I'll let someone like @cbarnett comment on the full system of voting and advancement. I know the gist of the system, but do not want to provide false information.

Quit commenting on something you do not have a clue on.

Sectional Teams Points Avg Evansville Central 9 431.9904 47.99894 Mooresville 10 446.0268 44.60268 Elkhart Memorial 8 345.3571 43.16964 Frankfort 10 390.2484 39.02484 Carroll (Fort Wayne) 10 383.116 38.3116 Jay County 9 327.6381 36.40423 Bloomington North 11 394.2354 35.83958 Warren Central 10 344.7545 34.47545 Crown Point 8 271.9407 33.99259 Indianapolis Arsenal Tech 9 303.1569 33.6841 Avon 11 346.4002 31.49093 Portage 8 245.1134 30.63917 Elwood 10 279.0352 27.90352 LaPorte 8 222.7703 27.84629 Lafayette Jefferson 10 273.0872 27.30872 South Dearborn 10 253.7566 25.37566 Oak Hill 11 278.9347 25.3577 Mishawka 8 190.8885 23.86106 Plymouth 9 212.7317 23.63685 Westview 9 181.8989 20.21098 Peru 10 201.203 20.1203 Southport 10 197.0178 19.70178 Southridge 9 176.0481 19.5609 New Haven 10 188.1643 18.81643 Castle 9 166.4379 18.4931 Jennings County 10 173.8309 17.38309 Shenandoah 9 144.2619 16.02911 Crawfordsville 10 150.6388 15.06388 Delta 10 123.3299 12.33299 East Chicago Central 9 77.6356 8.626178 Jeffersonville 11 82.6176 7.510691 Twin Lakes 12 57.64552 4.803793 Regionals Regional Teams Points Avg Mooresville 21 792.427 37.73462 Evansville North 18 598.4283 33.24602 Goshen 17 527.256 31.01506 Crown Point 16 494.711 30.91944 Pendleton Heights 19 582.1921 30.64169 Carroll (Fort Wayne) 20 571.2803 28.56401 Bloomington South 20 570.2835 28.51417 Perry Meridian 20 541.7723 27.08862 North Montgomery 20 540.8872 27.04436 Penn 17 403.6202 23.74236 Jay County 19 450.968 23.73516 Peru 21 480.1377 22.8637 Richmond 19 398.0186 20.94835 Hobart 17 322.749 18.98523 Logansport 22 330.7327 15.03331 Jeffersonville 21 256.4485 12.21183

Congratulations to Sam Schroeder from Southridge for signing with Bellarmine. He is projected to wrestle 165. View full signing

I has something to do with the image that is posted on the brackets. However, if you change the template from "Default Template" to "Change" you can click wrestlers and bouts.

By STEVE KRAH stvkrh905@gmail.com Some are introduced to wrestling as toddlers and go on to enjoy plenty of success. Others come to the mat for the first time as teenagers and shine in the circle. The second scenario describes Damari Dancy, a 17-year-old senior heavyweight at Portage High School. After winning the Portage Sectional title Feb. 1, Dancy goes to the Feb. 8 Hobart Regional at 27-2 in just his second full season as a wrestler. A basketball player as an eighth grader, Dancy went out for that sport his freshmen and sophomore years of high school (2016-17 and 2017-18) and was cut each time. The second cut ushered in his introduction to a new way of life. “I went across the hall to the wrestling room,” says Dancy. “They accepted me.” A few weeks later, he was competing in his first-ever wrestling event — the junior varsity Duneland Athletic Conference tournament — and suffering a season-ending broken wrist. “My mom didn’t want me to wrestle after that,” says Damari, the son of Rachel Hawkins and the fourth of eight children (five boys, three girls). But that was not the end of wrestling for Dancy. He spent that winter watching his friends compete and practice. He was there at Lake Central for the Harvest Classic taking in all the quality competition. “That’s when I fell in love with it,” says Dancy. When he was healed, Dancy began training. He went to the freestyle/Greco-Roman state tournament and went a combined 0-4. He told his coaches he was not going to stop and began working on wrestling year-round. As a Portage junior, Dancy took part in the Harvest Classic. There he faced Hobart junior Mark Mummey. “I took him down the first time,” says Dancy. “Then he took me straight to my back and pinned me.” Dancy used the moment to fuel the rest of his season. He placed third at the Portage Sectional and third at the Hobart Regional, using a double-leg takedown to best Mummey 4-2 in overtime in the consolation match. He then finished fourth at the East Chicago Semistate and qualified for the IHSAA State Finals at 220. He was 21-13 for the 2018-19 season after being pinned on Friday night by North Montgomery junior Drew Webster, who went on to place fifth. That experience taught Dancy something. “I can actually do it,” says Dancy. “I can actually compete with the good guys. It helped me build my confidence.” “I’m not just some random guy. Guys have to practice everyday to watch out for me.” Portage head coach Andrew Bradbury saw the change in Dancy. “He was starting to believe he’s pretty good and holding himself to a high standard,” says Bradbury. “His technique is improving in all areas. He’s pretty technical, especially in the neutral position.” At 6-foot-2, Dancy has been carrying about 245 while competing in the 285 division as a senior. “I wrestle like a little guy,” says Dancy. “I go for ankle picks a lot. I go for a low single (leg takedown) and drive through. Once I’ve got the ankle, I don’t feel endangered. I’m really comfortable in that position.” While many heavyweight matches are of the 1-0 and 2-1 variety and full of underhooks, that’s not Dancy’s preference. “I feel more comfortable in high-scoring matches,” says Dancy. “I like to get at least two takedowns in the first period. If not, two takedowns in the second period.” Bradbury looks at Dancy and does not see a normal heavyweight. For one thing, he is among the team leaders in takedowns. “He’s more than capable of wrestling in that heavyweight style by pummeling in,” says Bradbury. “But he mostly uses a technical, shot-oriented style of wrestling.” “It’s a lot easier for him to lower his level and get in his shots. He does a good job of picking and choosing his shots. He does get into clinches or ties.” “Some of his best wrestling comes off his motion.” Dancy won a Greco-Roman state title in the summer. “It was positioning for me,” says Dancy. “I was creating positions with arm drags. I didn’t throw anybody.” He placed third in both the IndianaMat Hoosier Preseason Open and Preseason Nationals in Iowa and has used his quickness and agility to enjoy success in his last high school season. He has drawn some attention from college wrestling programs and has bumped up to heavyweight with that in mind. Damari lives with brother Dimonya Dancy and the two enjoy working on computers. Dancy would like to study computer since in college. Dancy has joined a program proud of its tradition and has become one of the team’s leaders, especially since so many talented wrestlers graduated after the 2018-19 season. “We needed somebody to step up,” says Bradbury, who tapped Dancy and Ty Haskins (who was a state qualifier at 120 in 2019 and a sectional champion at that weight in 2020) for the task. “We need them to help lead this team to where we need to be.” “We let Damari know we have high expectations and he needs to lead that. He took on the challenge.” “We lot of first-year varsity wrestlers at the beginning of the year. It was rough (Portage placed fourth in the Duneland Athletic Conference meet and it’s three dual losses came to powerhouses Crown Point, Chesterton and Merrillville). We feel like we can do some good things in the state series.” Leadership styles are not the same for Haskins and Dancy. “Ty, he’s the vocal guy,” says Dancy. “I try to do it by example. I’m not that vocal.” “Practices at the beginning of the year were so hard. They helped us build physical and mental strength. We know we can be good. We work everyday to get to that point.” Dancy often finds working out with sophomore Cory Hill (who placed third at sectional at 220) or assistant Montell Pace. “He goes all out and scrambles with low singles,” says Dancy of Pace. Assistants Kyle Keith and Mark Devyak tend to work more with the upper weights while Eric Keith and Jose Torres are with the smaller wrestlers. Pace is a Merrillville High School graduate. The rest of the staff went to Portage. Bradbury, a 1999 graduate, placed seventh in the state as a junior and was state runner-up as a senior — both at 119. He and 112-pounder Eric Keith were both members of the Indians’ state runners-up at the 1998 Team State Finals. “Tradition, it’s extremely important,” says Bradbury, who came back to Portage as an assistant in 2018-19 after serving as head wrestling coach at Seminole Ridge in Palm Beach County, Fla., a school built in 2006. “We’ve always expected to compete at a high level and be one of the best teams in the state.” View full article

Or... we have a wonderful bracket section with direct links to TrackWrestling..... https://indianamat.com/index.php?/brackets.html/n2020/2020-state-series/

If you click the informational page you get more information.