grappleapple

I see very, very few people forcing kids to focus on one sport. Most of the coaches I know, including wrestling coaches, encourage other sport participation. But not all kids want to play multiple sports.
I have twins. They both wrestle. They both played football and baseball as freshmen as well. The next year one decided he has more fun wrestling and working to get better at wrestling year around. For him, it's not about a college scholarship or anything. He genuinely loves wrestling and wants to improve. He quit football and baseball and now solely focuses on wrestling.
His twin wrestles during the season, but also plays baseball, and football. He gets destroyed on the mats by his brother, but he doesn't care because he loves baseball and football and has fun with all three sports. In the end though, both made their personal choice on what they like. Some want to wrestle year around, others don't.

Coach makes some excellent points. But I'd be very surprise if anyone's goal was to "hurt" the ISWA. The only way individuals that feel "wronged" by establishment of any kind, to voice their displeasure is through protest, in this case boycott. So while it's difficult to disagree with coach hull and the fact that the boycott path hurts the kids and Indiana wrestling first and foremost. History has shown absolutely that if your not prepared to step out of line for what you believe in, NOTHING will change. Least of all establishment. I was not really in favor of this "boycott" until the ISWA "process" hit me at home. And I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case with most, if not all, that are choosing this path. IMO it's the governing bodies responsibility to be flexible in these situations. And they have not been.
 
Here's a crazy idea... NO QUALIFICATION necessary for freestyle state. NONE. If the number one goal is truly to have the greatest number of kids compete in freestyle, why then are the kids and their families given any challenge at all when it's come to competing???? I don't think it's a stretch to say numbers at freestyle state would be very nearly equal to folkstyle state if no qualification was necessary. I've stayed away from getting involved in this since my kids were absolutely screwed by the ISWA not granting a waiver for their documented injuries. In the beginning, I wanted to give the ISWA an opportunity to do the right thing in granting injury wavier. It's very simple. We have doctor and PT documentation but still denied. And I'm supposed to respect that type of irresponsible leadership from our governing body??? It's pathetic. But, this is just my story, and my sons are only two Indiana wrestlers. But both want to have an opportunity to compete if they are physically able. From where I sit, it would appear to be a simple case of indifference. Granted, appearance can be deceiving, until it's consistent. And if nothing else it has been consistent. Allowing these "situational qualifiers" is nothing less than a slap in the face to those kids that have legitimate situations that don't allow them to compete or qualify.  
 
So, PRAY TELL. What, EXACTLY, would be the worst case scenario of no qualifying for freestyle state???  And would it even approach this debacle?

LOL..I fully expected this to say Congratulations to PM on winning the Inaugural Indy Metro National Freestyle Tri Dual ISWA Qualifier at Warren Central.

Awesome award. Congrats. I know I check this site more than I do my bank account or my kids grades. Thanks for screwing up my priorities.

A ban On head locks and spladles would end my coaching career

The IHSAA winter sports meeting took place Thursday at Primo's in Indianapolis. Wrestling was a hot topic of conversation. Here are the results.
 
1) Proposal to offer three classes was presented by Bobby Cox. The proposal involved reintroducing the team state series as well. No decision was made, but it is planned to be voted on at the May 23rd meeting.
 
2) A consideration was brought up about weight cutting, with Alan Jackson proposing no wrestler be allowed to move more than one weight class above or below their weight on November 15th.
 
3) The topic of singlets came up, and research will be done on the cost of switching to a more "basketball-like" uniform.
 
4) Spladles, headlocks and jumping on the opponents back when he is getting up from the down position, trying to get a potentially dangerous call, have been outlawed effective immediately.
 
5) Mater Dei wrestlers have to wrestle up one weight class automatically.
 
6) The terms "get up", "be aggressive" and "don't reach back" have been banned for coaches and fans. If those phrases are audible, a team point will be deducted.
 
7) Wrestlers requesting injury time will now be required to jump rope, or run in place while the trainer looks at them. This will prevent the injury timeouts used for catching one's breath.
 
8) Fans who clap and yell just because a top wrestler throws the bottom guy back to the mat, resulting in no points at all, will be banned.
 
9) Wrestling season will begin August 3rd and end August 2nd.
 
10) Obviously I am bored and it's April Fool's Day. Of course none of this jibberish is true.

The IHSAA winter sports meeting took place Thursday at Primo's in Indianapolis. Wrestling was a hot topic of conversation. Here are the results.
 
1) Proposal to offer three classes was presented by Bobby Cox. The proposal involved reintroducing the team state series as well. No decision was made, but it is planned to be voted on at the May 23rd meeting.
 
2) A consideration was brought up about weight cutting, with Alan Jackson proposing no wrestler be allowed to move more than one weight class above or below their weight on November 15th.
 
3) The topic of singlets came up, and research will be done on the cost of switching to a more "basketball-like" uniform.
 
4) Spladles, headlocks and jumping on the opponents back when he is getting up from the down position, trying to get a potentially dangerous call, have been outlawed effective immediately.
 
5) Mater Dei wrestlers have to wrestle up one weight class automatically.
 
6) The terms "get up", "be aggressive" and "don't reach back" have been banned for coaches and fans. If those phrases are audible, a team point will be deducted.
 
7) Wrestlers requesting injury time will now be required to jump rope, or run in place while the trainer looks at them. This will prevent the injury timeouts used for catching one's breath.
 
8) Fans who clap and yell just because a top wrestler throws the bottom guy back to the mat, resulting in no points at all, will be banned.
 
9) Wrestling season will begin August 3rd and end August 2nd.
 
10) Obviously I am bored and it's April Fool's Day. Of course none of this jibberish is true.

The IHSAA winter sports meeting took place Thursday at Primo's in Indianapolis. Wrestling was a hot topic of conversation. Here are the results.
 
1) Proposal to offer three classes was presented by Bobby Cox. The proposal involved reintroducing the team state series as well. No decision was made, but it is planned to be voted on at the May 23rd meeting.
 
2) A consideration was brought up about weight cutting, with Alan Jackson proposing no wrestler be allowed to move more than one weight class above or below their weight on November 15th.
 
3) The topic of singlets came up, and research will be done on the cost of switching to a more "basketball-like" uniform.
 
4) Spladles, headlocks and jumping on the opponents back when he is getting up from the down position, trying to get a potentially dangerous call, have been outlawed effective immediately.
 
5) Mater Dei wrestlers have to wrestle up one weight class automatically.
 
6) The terms "get up", "be aggressive" and "don't reach back" have been banned for coaches and fans. If those phrases are audible, a team point will be deducted.
 
7) Wrestlers requesting injury time will now be required to jump rope, or run in place while the trainer looks at them. This will prevent the injury timeouts used for catching one's breath.
 
8) Fans who clap and yell just because a top wrestler throws the bottom guy back to the mat, resulting in no points at all, will be banned.
 
9) Wrestling season will begin August 3rd and end August 2nd.
 
10) Obviously I am bored and it's April Fool's Day. Of course none of this jibberish is true.

The IHSAA winter sports meeting took place Thursday at Primo's in Indianapolis. Wrestling was a hot topic of conversation. Here are the results.
 
1) Proposal to offer three classes was presented by Bobby Cox. The proposal involved reintroducing the team state series as well. No decision was made, but it is planned to be voted on at the May 23rd meeting.
 
2) A consideration was brought up about weight cutting, with Alan Jackson proposing no wrestler be allowed to move more than one weight class above or below their weight on November 15th.
 
3) The topic of singlets came up, and research will be done on the cost of switching to a more "basketball-like" uniform.
 
4) Spladles, headlocks and jumping on the opponents back when he is getting up from the down position, trying to get a potentially dangerous call, have been outlawed effective immediately.
 
5) Mater Dei wrestlers have to wrestle up one weight class automatically.
 
6) The terms "get up", "be aggressive" and "don't reach back" have been banned for coaches and fans. If those phrases are audible, a team point will be deducted.
 
7) Wrestlers requesting injury time will now be required to jump rope, or run in place while the trainer looks at them. This will prevent the injury timeouts used for catching one's breath.
 
8) Fans who clap and yell just because a top wrestler throws the bottom guy back to the mat, resulting in no points at all, will be banned.
 
9) Wrestling season will begin August 3rd and end August 2nd.
 
10) Obviously I am bored and it's April Fool's Day. Of course none of this jibberish is true.

The IHSAA winter sports meeting took place Thursday at Primo's in Indianapolis. Wrestling was a hot topic of conversation. Here are the results.
 
1) Proposal to offer three classes was presented by Bobby Cox. The proposal involved reintroducing the team state series as well. No decision was made, but it is planned to be voted on at the May 23rd meeting.
 
2) A consideration was brought up about weight cutting, with Alan Jackson proposing no wrestler be allowed to move more than one weight class above or below their weight on November 15th.
 
3) The topic of singlets came up, and research will be done on the cost of switching to a more "basketball-like" uniform.
 
4) Spladles, headlocks and jumping on the opponents back when he is getting up from the down position, trying to get a potentially dangerous call, have been outlawed effective immediately.
 
5) Mater Dei wrestlers have to wrestle up one weight class automatically.
 
6) The terms "get up", "be aggressive" and "don't reach back" have been banned for coaches and fans. If those phrases are audible, a team point will be deducted.
 
7) Wrestlers requesting injury time will now be required to jump rope, or run in place while the trainer looks at them. This will prevent the injury timeouts used for catching one's breath.
 
8) Fans who clap and yell just because a top wrestler throws the bottom guy back to the mat, resulting in no points at all, will be banned.
 
9) Wrestling season will begin August 3rd and end August 2nd.
 
10) Obviously I am bored and it's April Fool's Day. Of course none of this jibberish is true.

The IHSAA winter sports meeting took place Thursday at Primo's in Indianapolis. Wrestling was a hot topic of conversation. Here are the results.
 
1) Proposal to offer three classes was presented by Bobby Cox. The proposal involved reintroducing the team state series as well. No decision was made, but it is planned to be voted on at the May 23rd meeting.
 
2) A consideration was brought up about weight cutting, with Alan Jackson proposing no wrestler be allowed to move more than one weight class above or below their weight on November 15th.
 
3) The topic of singlets came up, and research will be done on the cost of switching to a more "basketball-like" uniform.
 
4) Spladles, headlocks and jumping on the opponents back when he is getting up from the down position, trying to get a potentially dangerous call, have been outlawed effective immediately.
 
5) Mater Dei wrestlers have to wrestle up one weight class automatically.
 
6) The terms "get up", "be aggressive" and "don't reach back" have been banned for coaches and fans. If those phrases are audible, a team point will be deducted.
 
7) Wrestlers requesting injury time will now be required to jump rope, or run in place while the trainer looks at them. This will prevent the injury timeouts used for catching one's breath.
 
8) Fans who clap and yell just because a top wrestler throws the bottom guy back to the mat, resulting in no points at all, will be banned.
 
9) Wrestling season will begin August 3rd and end August 2nd.
 
10) Obviously I am bored and it's April Fool's Day. Of course none of this jibberish is true.

Come at 6 and grind it out with some of the best wrestlers from around the state.  Enter through door 14.  Coach Hull from Indiana Pride will be our guest clinician tonight.  Coach Hull has been at the helm of Indiana Pride and has helped produce multiple state champions, place-winners, and All-Americans.  Be there tonight.  Get better.

the real problem came in when they split a weight class into 2 mats odds and evens, then my kid would wrestle and then 2 or maybe 3 matches later (which were likely pins since the level at cadet wasn't that high) he would be up again. Also at the end of the day when they were doing this Saturday it was the last match of the day so the table workers were in so much of a hurry and rushing him back on the mat I Dont even think they let him get a full 15 minutes in before the match.

I was an ISWA board member for 12 years. No decision is made lightly. Lots of thought, discussion, and debate goes into everything they do. For your specific circumstances, it might not make sense. For the good of the future of the state, it does. If I was still on the board, I would have voted for this. I hope the ISWA doesn't repeat what they did last year and give last second waivers. Two years in a row will completely ruin their reputation for a long time. They should stand by the decision they made that is best for the whole state in the long run, not just what is good for your wrestler now.
 
Again, all these tournaments you're referring to are folkstyle, not freestyle. Practicing freestyle and competing in freestyle are very different training and preparation for the bigger tournaments. The point is to get more and better competition at the local tournaments to help everyone improve. It's not a change that is going to happen overnight. It's going to take a couple of years to get local tournaments back to the way they were 10+ years ago. I remember easily getting 6-8 matches every Saturday at the local events. We can get back to that, but not with your mindset that your kid is too good for that. When I coached Sliga, he had to attend local tournaments to qualify for state. That's the way it was so he did it. He didn't ask for an exemption because he was on travel teams and won national championships. He simply found a way to meet the requirements as they were set.

that's what happens when you get so many non wrestling people involved in a wrestling event.  In a hurry to leave?  Really, I look forward to this day every year, why would I want to be in a hurry for it to be over? 
 
People do have a tendency to be egocentric, like their wreslter's match is the only one that matters. 

I couldn't agree more. I think Warren is a great venue. I never felt crowded, even with the huge number of wrestlers. I couldn't agree more about the smoking/littering. Be respectful. Signs everywhere say it's a non-smoking facility. Those signs don't mean it's non smoking for everyone but you.

I couldn't agree more. I think Warren is a great venue. I never felt crowded, even with the huge number of wrestlers. I couldn't agree more about the smoking/littering. Be respectful. Signs everywhere say it's a non-smoking facility. Those signs don't mean it's non smoking for everyone but you.

Be more respectful of the things you have and don't forget where you came from.  Many of you don't realize the growth of the ISWA folkstyle state.  It has grown from a small tournament in a sports complex in Bloomington to the Mellancamp facility (with two restrooms)  to a dungeon industrial warehouse with leaky port 'o pottys to Lawrence Central  (jeeze that was a nightmare made space in a crowded subway look comfortable)  to two different weekends at two different schools to what we have now.  What we have now is by far the best. 
 
I only have one concern.  Using Warren Central is fantastic, plenty of space and bathrooms ect.  I'm worried that non respectful parents are going to ruin the ISWA's chance to continue to use the school.  Warren like most High schools is a tobacco free campus.  When I left on Saturday afternoon I noticed hundreds of cigarette butts laying on the ground outside the entrance.  It appears to me as if the staff and students take pride in their school.  If was the principal of Warren, that very well could be a deal breaker for me using my school. 
 
The ISWA does not always please everyone, but with over 2100 athletes along with their coaches and fans getting in and out of that place like it was done this weekend is a small miracle.
 
So if we want to continue to keep using this facility, be respectful, pick up after yourself, dont scratch walls and break things, be careful and mindful that this public facility but the school corporation and administration staff has been kind enough to give the stamp of approval.  We are only there 2 days of the year the students are there for 180 and they obviously have a nice facility to be proud of. 

15 minutes was not set by the ISWA.  It has been a USAW rule for quite a few years now.  It was researched and determined to be safe by the insurance company that covers the sports insurance for the wrestlers and the liability insurance for the tournaments.  It's also the way the Olympics and World Championships operate, and they have a lot more intense matches with less 30 second pins.
 
If the IHSAA (who follows the NFHS rules) ever hosted a tournament with 2100 wrestlers and over 20 mats, they would run into a huge problem with the 45 minutes wait time causing longer tournaments with idle mats at the end of the day.  Some sectionals have to take a break after the first pigtail round to make sure they get 45 minutes.  To me, that is "ridiculous".

Very well run this year. Juniors started at 8am. 33 wrestlers at 138 and 45 wrestlers at 145 and we were out by 2:30. Kind of tough with only 20 mins between matches after the third round. But they did keep it moving. Well worth attending.

Congratulations to Jake Kleimola from Lake Central for signing with Indiana. He is projected to wrestle 197.
 
Click here to view the signing

Red is becoming the Kyle Dake of Indiana wrestling, never does anything but win...but can't win any fantasy match-ups.

As much as I hate to bring this up and possibly start yet another class wrestling conversation - I'm curious to hear if this year's finals, particularly the Red vs. Lee showdown, has proven to anyone that our system is pretty darn good as it is? The argument for class wrestling was to get more people interested in the sport. I think this match, in itself, did that remarkably well. I can't tell you how many people I've had come up to me, that really don't follow wrestling at all, asking about what that match was like. People see the videos posted of it. Kids were asking the wrestlers for their autographs. In my opinion, if there was ever an argument over our state's finals being classed or not, this seals the deal in favor of keeping it the same.

Bubba died before his senior wrestling season.

I will complain a little, then offer a different solution
 
Football comparisons to wrestling are ridiculous -- you are comparing a classed team sport (football) and projecting that on an individual tournament.  We do have a classed team tournament for wrestling.  
 
As far as exposure -- the best wrestlers should be rewarded, period.  I cannot see how you can justify that a wrestler at a 1A school should be exposed to college coaches over a superior wrestler from a 2A or 3A school.  Again, if college coaches want to see more athletes in one setting then expand the state finals to 2 more rounds.  You could add the same amount of mats that you would add for a small-school tournament and divide up rounds 1/2 by weight.  The most skilled wrestlers should be getting the exposure to college coaches
 
The statistics do show that 1A schools do not get a proportional number of state placers.  The statistics also show that nearly 10% of the state's forfeits are from a single sectional.  Statistics can show many things, depending on what solution you are trying to beat everyone else over the head with.
 
I know this has been hashed and rehashed over and over on the forums.  I've had an open mind about classing the individual tournament, but have moved more towards the single class side of the fence.
 
 
My solution:  Open up in-season wrestling so that athletes can practice with other schools and with academies.  Expand the state finals by 2 rounds by adding 4 mats and splitting the first and second rounds between weight classes.  College coaches could choose to attend the first day (where wrestlers may be knocked out of the tourney, but may be a great fit for some colleges) or only attend the final day where they would theoretically see the "cream of the crop"
 
Pros:  
Wrestlers from small schools could find area cooperative training centers where they would receive excellent instruction from skilled coaches (thus increasing the wrestling skill level state-wide) Wrestlers from small schools with many forfeits would have the chance to work out with varied practice partners to alleviate any discrepencies where a school only has a 106, 132, 160 and 250 lb wrestlers College exposure is given to the best wrestlers regardless of school size The area training centers would provide a great transition into freestyle and greco wrestling post-season for those who would continue wrestling Cons:
Would need to determine how to staff and coach at the area training facilities, and provide enough of them so that travel time isn't too big of a burden.  Could potentially rotate between a cluster of area schools Would the IHSAA ever allow something such as this?  Do other states restrict wrestlers to only wrestle within their school during season, or are they allowed to supplement that with Contenders/RWA/CIA/Pride/Red Cobra/Maurer-Coughlin type training?