Coach Hull

Fargo Observations: 1) Illinois and California stood out the most to me. Illinois because they are just that dominant. I do believe they have the best wrestling in the country now from top to bottom. Pennsylvania was still in the mix, as was Michigan, Minnesota, etc. but Illinois handled their business. California stuck out because it was just so many of them. I don't believe I saw them at any of the duals, but their boys were solid and their girls were just as solid being dual national champions as well. 2) Folkstyle vs. F/G: I still do not believe that kids should focus simply on Folksytle during the offseason by any means. As was stated earlier, wrestling F/G makes you a complete wrestler and there is no denying that because it requires better technique and rewards good habits. Focusing on just "singles and doubles", as opposed to "gut wrenches and push outs", is a sure way towards average. By the way, push outs were enforced to create more action and keep the wrestling on the mat, which is good for everybody. It may not be well liked, but wrestling on the edge is a habit our high school wrestlers all need to do a better job of. As coaches, I'm certain we have told our wrestlers more than once they can't stop wrestling on the edge. In F/G, the rules do it for us. How does that help Folkstyle? Creating better habits. Focusing on singles and doubles for the folkstyle season is fine but, again, how many times do we as coaches (hopefully) impress the importance of keeping your head up on our shots? Plenty. But in folkstyle you can afford to sit down there and hang on a leg more because there's less trouble, so a kid feels less of a need to focus on it and that goes the same for coaches. In Freestyle, if you shoot with your head down, there's no hanging on legs because you're more than likely going to get turned. Better habits. The benefits of wrestling Greco is a no-brainer for those that have, but unfortunately many of our coaches didn't, didn't like it, or weren't that successful at it and so that flows down to our kids. This is in no way a knock on Folkstyle because this is the schoolastic wrestling style. It is the style we wrestle in high school and the style we will be wrestling in college, so there is no wonder people tend to focus on this. There have been conversations about just going to the Disney Duals, or HYWAY events, etc. Don't get me wrong: Disney has some extremely tough competition, and there are powerhouse programs, such as Yorktown who go train with Brandon (FL) and prepare hard, among other schools who make this voyage. But Yorktown also pushes Freestyle and Greco just as much as Folkstyle so it's no wonder they are among the elite. Perry Merdian, inarguably the best team in the state, also handles their business out at Disney BUT THEY ALSO GO TO FARGO!!!!!! Why do they go to Fargo and wrestle F/G? To give their kids the best opportunity. F/G helps their kids get better habits with 360 degrees of wrestling, Fargo has the best competition in the country, and Fargo is where the college coaches are at. If you want your kid to be seen by the top tier coaches in the country you send them to Fargo. How do you go to Fargo? Wrestle Freestyle and Greco. I had plenty of conversations in Fargo with coaches like Senshiro Abe, Les Gutches, Eric Guerrero from Oklahoma State, Stephen Abas, Rob Eiter from Penn, Mike Dixon from Old Dominion, Williams from Michigan State, coaches from Penn State, Michigan, and many, many others that say the same thing: they come to Fargo because these are truly the best representation of kids in the country. As a wrestler, then, how do I get there? Wrestle Freestyle and Greco as well as Folkstyle. This doesnt mean this is the only place college coaches see you. It just means this is where the most do. Again, this is no knock on Folsktyle or Disney, or a plug for Fargo, because it can be pretty expensive, or anything else. I am saying all of this to say that it does absolutely no disservice to Folkstyle by wrestling Freestyle and Greco in the summer. IT ONLY GIVES YOU BETTER CHANCE AT SUCCESS! 3) Ok, I digress to really why I'm posting: Fargo Observations: Team Indiana, the athletes, the coaches, and the ISWA should be proud of themselves. The kids handled themselves great on and off the mat, they battled hard, and the trip was an enjoyable experience for everyone I believe. We did not have one wrestler I think that was satisfied with their performances, including the All-Americans. This was refreshing to me because it shows our kids are hungry to be the best. We still, as a state, need to do better on top and bottom, along with being more physical, setting up our shots, and having that winning attitude - but overall a pretty good performance. The girls did well too in building on Indiana's foundation of girl's wrestling. I hate to name drop because all of the kids shed sweat and battled hard, and I could be doing a disservice by only acknowledging the best, so for that reason I will say that I give much respect to every athlete that competed. Truly. However, aside from the notables, I will say that I am excited about the young group of guys that are gearing themselves to be Indiana's next chapter of studs: Champaign, Stevenson, Coy, Jolley-Little, Tolley, etc. Other young guys that were pretty impressive were Hildebrandt, Glogouski, Atkinson, Mammolenti, Malone, Popp, etc. Again, it's hard to name drop everyone, but these are some of the guys I saw personally. (Don't hate me boys if I didn't put your name up there All-in-all, it is time to get ready for the upcoming season and I am looking for the kids that wrestle Freestyle and Greco to make the biggest jump and again be the majority of state qualifiers, placers and champions. There are some good folkstyle tournaments coming up here soon and I, along with probably everyone on this board, am interested to see how this year's h.s. season goes. Only time will tell. Nice job again Team Indiana, the coaching staff, the wrestlers, parents, fans, and the ISWA for making this summer another step towards greatness for Indiana Wrestling!

Wrestling Arizona now for what looks to be another tight dual. On a side note the Illinois vs. Missouri is pretty exciting as well with Ke-Shawn Hayes giving Nkosi Moody the business, now Singh vs. Pawelski...but let's get it Indiana!!!!

We're about to get started here shortly. I heard the boys are warming up so it's about to go down! Lineup looks pretty solid? Briggeman Sinkovics Wynkoop Micic Kennedy Carmichael Moss Forte Farrell Tatum Harvey Neibarger Lefever Dixon Early Blades Lets go Indiana!

There were a few FF and some guys switching around but from what I've seen, some of the Greco notables: Jordan Lile (6-2) Deondre Wilson (5-2) Riley Lefeever (4-3) Ethan Briggeman (3-2) Tommy Forte (2-0) Agreed, hopefully Freestyle will have more success as a team and individually. Nice job again Indiana boys for going out there and representing!

First match starting against North Carolina now...we should do fairly well in this pool from my initial observation. Let's go Indiana!

Thanks! You're right: Looks like we have Missouri when wrestling starts back up.

We got sh lacked 51-8. With the exception of Forte's win, only Wilson, Hack and Blades won a period. It will be interesting to see how Georgia does against Illinois throughout the lineup. It will take a few rounds for us to get in the groove, with either Kansas or Nebraska up next, so I imagine we pick it up here. Regarding the disparity in line-ups, the experience our guys get will be very rewarding to them personally and it will have effects throughout the state. With that said, wouldn't it be nice to take two teams down there even for double the exposure? Even though we have some studs in Disney and elsewhere today, with the team state transition happening next year, maybe the emphasis on Folkstyle will begin to plateau? This could open up more energy to direct towards our financials and strengthening the culture. I know of some state associations out there that have hundreds of thousands of dollars in their account, which goes a good way towards making their trips more affordable. Also, similar to Georgia's Compound Wrestling, changing the culture to understanding the privilege of wrestling for Team Indiana, and helping our state compete for a national title, could be emphasized more across the board. Either way, whoever we face next, I'd like to see us get this win!

Weigh-ins were this morning for Greco! Not sure which pool we are in yet. Competition looks pretty good but we have a pretty solid team out there. Live feed for Illinois, Minnesota, Wisonsin and Finals: http://www.themat.tv/2012/06/junior-duals-live-webcast/ Will be nice when we do the same next year. Good luck Team Indiana!

Sure. As suggested by MattM, it would even be nice to put together a "Points of Interest" Packet or video to show what does and does not work, or try and work with ISWA to get a coaches clinic BEFORE Freestyle/Greco starts to show some of the trends we need to focus on as a state throughout the season. Nevertheless, although some states have different identities and styles, these trends aren't anything secretive - it just comes down to solid wrestling. Some examples in Greco we noticed included the basic importance of maintaining good position with elbows in and a center step. Many of our kids start with elbows in, but it almost seems only for show, because as soon as the whistle blows or we go to engage, our arms come out and we get thrown by, ducked, or worse. Even understanding the importance of a center step has been off because many us are out of position, off balance, or simply get thrown when a proper center step could have completely changed the course of the match. We have missed way too many trapped arm guts, got caught in too many, and haven't properly defended GOOD guts in Freestyle. For example, it wasn't until halfway through the Cadets we had to show them how to catch that leg underneath and step over. When the guys finally started doing it we countered and scored big points 75% of the time. Offensively, many of us have been too loose on our gut wrenches, not positioning our shoulders properly, loose hips, not loading them up, and not using leg drive all the way through the move. In Freestyle Too many of our kids don't set up all of our shots and shoot with their heads down, which in my opinion is arguably one of the biggest issue facing wrestlers from high school on down. Unfortunately we get comfortable in Folkstyle because guys can just hang on to a leg when they get stuffed and try for a stale mate. But in freestyle you get crotch lifted or scored on. Anytime our head is down and hips are up on a penetration, it's no surprise we get tossed or turned. On the other hand, by maintaining good position on our shots, including our head being up, we should theoretically be able to take 1,000 shots and not be in trouble. Defending the leg lace has been another issue, as many kids have focused more on going hand-to-hand rather than truly defending the lace. Hand-to-hand is fine for the first and only leg lace if they get, but just focusing on that without a complete defense just means we don't get beat as fast. Wrong philosophy IMO. Collectively, going straight to a turn off of our take downs isn't as much of a habit as it should be. We've almost had to ban gator rolls all together because we aren't getting enough pressure and get caught on our backs the majority of the time. We have not had that "killer instinct" on the edge. We have mat awareness, sure, but it is generally Folkstyle mat awareness where we would go back to the center rather than work the guy out of bounds. Although we score on push outs, we have left A LOT of points out there in that regard. I hear a lot of coaches complain about the push out rule, but those are the rules. People hate it until they win a close match by working the kid out of bounds for 1. Then it's ok. Re-shots aren't there like they should be and stuffing the head, squaring hips, and posting on opponents legs to stop shots are few and far between. Now don't get me wrong, our kids have went out there and banged. The Schoolboy Greco team finished an All-American 7th, and we had 12 or 13 times as many 5 point throws this year at the Cadets over last year. We should coin the term "Indiana Headlock" because we have scored some devastating points with it, and our toughness is higher than many teams out there. We aren't visibly intimidated by anyone or any team really. We have done a pretty good job of hand fighting on bottom and not getting turned when it counts, although there are a few last second turns we give up that would have won some matches. Having an official camp has been HUGE, as it was evident with our kid's success with both Schoolboys and Cadets. For example, I remember vividly seeing kids approach and execute a clinch EXACTLY how Coach Eppert taught it at camp. It was also evident in other states success, such as Florida's coaches being upset at the Cadets because kids were training individually all over the state, when, having home-field advantage, they felt like they should have had a better showing if everyone was on the same page. Still, all-in-all, it has a great learning experience for the kids as the coaches don't expect everyone that competes to be a defending World Champion when they step on the mat representing Indiana. Every wrestler should have been able to take something away from both tournaments to help them be a better wrestler in any style. As many of us know, the Freestyle and Greco season participation was down this year because of the growing emphasis on Folkstyle, and all teams made due with what we had. I, along with the rest of the coaching staff, am extremely proud of the kids for competing the way they did. These are just a FEW examples of what habits we need to consider in order to take Indiana to the next level. It will be interesting to see how any of this may or may not affect the Juniors in Oklahoma City next week, or Team Indian in Fargo. Again, none of this is a secret. It's just solid wrestling.

Pretty good tournament for the Indiana Cadet Dual Team all-in-all. Everyone learned something about themselves that will prove valuable as they continue to grow in this sport. There were a few technical and philosophical trends we've seen, along with the Schoolboy team, that separates us from the top states in the country, but they are easy fixes. If we can make some small adjustments and create good habits, we break into the top 5 without a doubt next year. Nevertheless, it was a great experience! A special thanks to all the coaches, parents, and team members who all grew together, which was very rewarding! This growth will only make this experience and our success that much better for years to come. I believe Coach Sisson will be posting more information on this tournament here soon. Again, nice job Indiana!

We have a few national tournaments before then, which I am extremely excited about, but I've talked with a lot of wrestlers and parents who are also catching the Fargo bug. Who's going? Who should do well? There's always a stud who doesn't find success and a sleeper who comes out hammering opponents. Any comments or concerns on how we'll do as a state? What place could we get? Is it even that big of a deal anymore with the expansion of Folkstyle? I heard we may have an "official" Team Indiana Fargo camp again?

This is gearing up to be a great tournament for the Cadet Dual Team! Of course our only objective is to go out there and win, and this year's team will definitely be capable of competing on a high level. Current commitments include... 88 Drew Hildebrandt (F/G) 94 Blake Gloguski (F/G) 100 Cameron Diep (F/G) 106 Sage Coy (F/G) 113 Tommy Cash (F/G) 120 Nathan Boston (F) 120 Jackson Chastain (G) 126 Tyler Fleener (F/G) 132 Jose Champagne (F/G) 138 Cory Troutman (F/G) 145 Joey Mammolenti (F) 145 Malcolm King (G) 152 Connor Armuth (F) 152 Logan Hunt (G) 160 Dylan Lydy (F/G) 170 Noah Perdue (F) 170 Chandler Dyer (G) 182 Nathan Warman (F/G) 195 Connor Tolley (F/G) 220 Tyler Williams (F/G) 285 Gavan Jolley-Little (F/G) ______________________________________________________________________ Event: Cadet National Duals Date: June 10th - 17th Location: Ocean Center-Exhibit Hall 101 North Atlantic Avenue Daytona Beach, FL Team Leader: Danny Williams (Warren Central) 317.625.7675 Coaches: Wes Gibson (Perry Meridian) Brandon Sisson (Floyd Central) Nick Hull (Indiana Pride Academy) Cost: $440 one style, $475 two styles (includes camp, transportation, hotel, entry fee, shirt and shorts) Additional $80 for Team Indiana singlet if you don't have one already Additional money for food Hotel: El Caribe Resort & Conference Center 2125 S. Atlantic Avenue Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118 386.252.1558 Weigh-Ins: Anyone wrestling at least 2 matches in Greco do not have to make weight for Freestyle. Awards: 26 individual medals will be awarded and 8 national team plaques will be awarded to the first through eighth placing teams in both styles. A consolation trophy will be awarded to the consolation bracket champion. ______________________________________________________________________ Cadet Dual Team Camp Location: Lawrence North High School Dates: June 1st - 3rd Check-In: 1:00-2:00 pm on Friday, June 1st Conclusion: There will be a final team meeting from 4:00-4:30 pm on Sunday, June 3rd Food: Dinner will be provided on Friday Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided Saturday Breakfast and lunch will be provided on Sunday Sleep: Wrestlers will be sleeping in the wrestling room, with supervision, so bring a sleeping bag and pillow. Clothes: There will be 7 wrestling workouts, so bring enough gear and shower needs for all of them. Down time: There will be some down time between sessions. Wrestlers should bring their own entertainment for these times. ______________________________________________________________________ Please check back for any updated info!

There are only a few Indiana kids signed up and looks like some of the top names in the country are all wrestling. This is a great opportunity for more of Indiana to get some national exposure and recognition. These points count towards the Duals and Fargo draws, and the Future U.S. Olympian Rankings. Should be a great USAW tournament! Team Indiana and the ISWA used to make these trips, but for a variety of reason, cost primarily, discontinued them. Still, I'm sure some dedicated parents and wrestlers can still get together and make this happen? If anyone would like to possibly carpool, I know of a few families that are interested in going. Post your info here if interested...

Central Regional Championships Grand Rapids, MI May 18-20, 2012 Central Regional Championships Register on Trackwrestling.com Friday, May 18th Bronze Coaches Clinic 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM Pairing Officials Clinic 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM Registration for all Groups (Age & Style) [includes Freestyle for Bantams and Girls] 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM 1 Bantam, Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy, Cadet, and Girls Medical Check & Weigh-in (see Weigh-in Procedures) 7:30 PM to 7:50 PM Mat Officials Clinic 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM Saturday, May 19th Cadet & Junior Freestyle & Greco-Roman Registration 7:00 AM to 7:45 AM 1 Cadet & Junior Freestyle Weigh-in (see Weigh-in Procedures) 7:45 AM to 8:00 AM Cadet & Junior Freestyle Tournament Set-up 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM Freestyle Rules Clinic 8:00 AM to 8:15 AM Opening Ceremonies 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM 2 Bantam, Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy and Girls Freestyle Preliminaries to Completion 9:00 AM to Conclusion Bantam, Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy Folkstyle Preliminaries to Completion 1 hr after the completion of Freestyle 2 Cadet & Junior Freestyle Preliminaries to Completion 10:00 AM to Conclusion Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy, & Cadet Greco-Roman only Registration (wrestlers that actively compete in both styles only need to register and weigh-in once) 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM 1 Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy, & Cadet Greco-Roman Medical Check & Weigh-in (wrestlers that actively compete in both styles only need to register and weigh-in once) (see Weigh-in Procedures) 6:30 PM to 6:40 PM Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy, & Cadet Greco-Roman Tournament Set-up 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM Regional Meeting To be announced. Social 8:00 PM to Conclusion Sunday, May 20th Cadet & Junior Greco-Roman Registration 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM 1 Cadet & Junior Greco-Roman Weigh-in (see Weigh-in Procedures) 8:00 AM to 8:10 AM Cadet & Junior Greco-Roman Tournament Set-up 8:00 AM to 8:15 AM Greco-Roman Rules Clinic 8:00 AM to 8:15 AM 2 Intermediate, Novice, Schoolboy, Greco-Roman Preliminaries to Completion 9:00 AM to Conclusion 2 Cadet & Junior Greco-Roman Preliminaries to Completion 10:00 AM to Conclusion 1 ALL athletes MUST be present at the BEGINNING of weigh-ins 2 Breaks Scheduled as Necessary Sessions and schedule subject to change. For specific event procedures or scheduling, contact USA Wrestling National Events at (719) 598-8181.

Central Regional Championships DeVos Place 303 Monroe Avenue NW Grand Rapids, MI May 18-20, 2012 Team Indiana? Any other Indiana team or group of individuals?

Great clinic for sure! Coach Creighton mixed a combination of psychological, physiological, technical and planning curriculum together for what was a great experience. He even threw some funk in there that was pretty impressive as well. I'm certain the coaches in attendance were able to learn something sure to help their program and wrestlers take it to the next level! Thanks again to Coach Struck, Coach McCormick and the IHSWCA for another premier event!

I have to respectfully say that for the one ISWA leader who drug a "slew" of Indiana kids to a folk tourney in Tennessee, I personally spoke to and witnessed half a dozen ISWA leaders who invested their time at Perry. Going to NUWAY isn't so much the issue either as it's good for our kids to get national exposure. And although I understand the point, USAW does not schedule 100 folkstyle tournaments for every one FS tourney. USAW fully understands the need for the growth of FS and GR in the U.S., which is why they are not only targeting and training much younger wrestlers to compete at the international level, but have made a conscious decision to better inform, equip and train grass root coaches with more tools to push this growth. A good example of this is the new and continuous updates to the Coaches Corner at http://www.themat.com/usawrestling.org/coaches.php, to better inform us. USAW feels the pain and has to deal with this issue even more so than we do because they literally have to compete against the best in the world while our platform is a little narrower. And as naturally competitive Americans, when we feel we have a good team in place and fall up short against our international counterparts, there is an issue. I guarantee Zeke Jones and Brandon Slay are not satisfied with one individual champion and want to bring back a team championship. The issue isn't USAW, or the ISWA. Their ultimate goal is to help direct and provide opportunities. It's up to us as coaches and wrestlers to take advantage of these opportunities. It's like we are hitting our goals, which has generally always been a "State Championship" for our kids, but I think we are aiming to low. Oftentimes many coaches and kids think the Olympics is so far out of reach that we don't set that expectation. I was guilty of this and got to the point that I even began framing our rooms culture by using the verbiage "World Champion", in an effort to raise these expectations. I never won an Olympic Gold, but I can plant that seed in our kids! After hearing it enough there may be someone that actually believes and works towards it. Even still, it's like aiming for the stars and at least we'll hit the clouds. But again, as I am typing this I realize this is a DEEP issue for Indiana, and our present course is scary. It's almost going to take a big time 3- 5 year marketing campaign to change the perception of FS & GR in Indiana or else it's ugly. Matt M and Morgan both have great ideas on how we do our part and I'm sure the ISWA is taking notes.

Again, let me know if I'm off the mark, but it sounds as if Folkstyle is the primary culprit - which suckssssss!!! Given the economy, it's still hard for me to say money is the issue either as there are some solid Indiana guys right now wrestling in Michigan's NUWAY nationals. But I just left Perry Meridian's tournament and kind of felt bad for them and almost ashamed for Indiana!! It was still a decent turnout, relatively speaking, but the numbers were almost cut in half I felt and Illinois almost had as many studs as we did. I have never been able to go to this tournament and park in the front row, but sure enough did this time. This is not taking anything away from the ISWA or Perry because they ran a great tournament as usual. But I'm trying to leave at midnight - not noon!!!! Moving on, being an Olympic and World Champion is the highest honor a wrestler can achieve. It is true that many of the U.S.' best wrestlers on the Olympic and World stage had success in college. But there is no such thing as "consideration". You either win or lose. Nothing is deserved in wrestling - you have to earn it. Being good in Folkstyle does not necessarily transmit to being great at Freestyle or Greco, and vice verse. If this were the case, the U.S. would be much more dominate at the Worlds and Olympics because of this attention to Folkstyle. But we don't. Why? The answer in part is this increased emphasis of Folkstyle and lack of exposure in Freestyle and Greco. It's not because we don't have the athletes or coaches. We're just collectively focused on something different. The United States is NOT at the top of the food chain as a country which is why USAW, in an effort to have more success against Russia, Iran, Cuba, etc., are targeting and training Olympic hopefuls at a much younger age. Right now at the OTC in Colorado Springs there are several H.S. kids who have bypassed H.S. wrestling specifically to train for the Worlds or Olympics full-time. There is a definitely a conflict there as I'm sure the coaches at Pine Creek, Palmer, Coronado, etc. are mad because a well known stud from Arizona or wherever is walking through the halls but is not on the wrestling team. But those coaches understand not just the State Champion dream, but the OLYMPIC DREAM! We all know "summer wrestling makes winter champions", and I can see some coaches saying this emphasis on folkstyle during the summer is still mat time. But I won state in H.S. and NEVER WRESTLED A LICK of Folkstyle after MSA or Conseco. IT was all Freestyle and Greco. I can honestly say those two styles, rule changes and all, are what gave me more mat awareness, mat time, FUN, and confidence to win a state title. I enjoyed Freestyle and Greco MUCH more than I did Folkstyle. But I'm getting old, so it will be interesting to see the participant comparison of Folkstyle to Freestyle state this year when those numbers come in. Until then, I can understand the argument of focusing more on Folkstyle because this is what we wrestle in school, college, and most recently FILA officially recognized it. I'm sure next year, because of this trend, there will be a lot more Folkstyle tournaments popping up after Banker's Life. If you can't beat 'em - join 'em I guess. The problem is if we continue to focus so heavy on Folkstyle, the U.S.' relevance will decrease on the world stage and we will suck. Then it gets bigger than Indiana, which it already is, and becomes a whole new problem. Now, to stop my crying, I do like Matt M's idea of qualifying for ISWA state again. Not sure why we stopped, as I would imagine it was a valid reason. Although this would not fix the problem entirely I think it could sure help. My angle is the development of INDIANA WRESTLING as a whole, and ultimately the United States. You can hate me if you want as no one can doubt my Indiana Pride or the fact I can hold my head up with Indiana having only one state champion per weight..... BUT if this lack of participation continues I'm going to become a proponent of something proposterous: the infamous "class wrestling" or making Folkstyle our secondary style and wrestling Freestyle and Greco throughout H.S. and college. Hopefully this year is a just a fluke.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I was talking with Coach Morgan about freestyle/greco season and were discussing how summer wrestling in Indiana seems to be down this year. I know we have Schoolastics, Folkstyle Nationals, etc. but it seems there have been a lot of cancellations and current tourney numbers seem low. What is the issue? Costs? More national tourney participation? Scheduling? It would be interesting to compare the numbers but in regards to keeping up with Illinois, Ohio, etc, this does not seem to be a good trend for Indiana. Is this year just a fluke? Any thoughts on why this is, and more so what we can do about fixing it? Would appreciate any input from the Indianamat community...

Creighton is a great clinician, a great guy, has some good stuff, and is well on his way to even more success. He is a die hard student of wrestling and coaching, and rubs elbows with the best of them. He has the accolades to back it up and his most recent Creighton School of Wrestling Camp features 5 National Champs in him, Gerry Abas, Tony Davis, Mauricio Wright, and Jordan Leen. Check out his promo video here: Coached by one of the best in Coach Denny as a 4x AA and 2x NC at UNO, he may not be well known in Indiana but EVERYONE in California knows him. I'll take that. With Creighton fresh from the Olympic Training Center, AGAIN, I think it was a perfect choice by Struck and the IHSWCA to bring him in. We're fortunate enough to have him anyway as he would probably be out at the Olympic Trials himself in some capacity. An out-of-state clinician will do just as much as a homegrown clinician will - and in some cases even more - regardless of logistics. It's up to us as coaches to apply the same principles we try to instill in our wrestler: "It's not how much time you put in but more so what you put into that time". In an effort to progress as a state we can and should learn something from everyone, and Creighton is up there with the best.

Sounds to me like we should back Faulkens as the next Commissioner if he is interested. In the meantime, way to keep it moving IHSWCA! I agree that the positives outweigh the negatives in regards to such a prestigious event. AS a coach/A.D. wrestling/hosting a tournament in which we lose a quality team, I can see a few headaches - but I WOULD UNDERSTAND! It's TEAM STATE! Can't imagine where invited teams will find better competition anyway. Glad this issue is getting additional exposure and attention. Proud of the Indiana wrestling community and IHSWCA. Keep up the good work!

The Arsenal RTC at Tech has been cancelled. The OFFICIAL of RTCs list is posted at the top of the message board. Thanks.

City should be an exciting tournament this year, with Cathedral once again running the show and everyone else looking to get in where they fit in. One exception is that the rest of the City has continued to close the gap, with notable wrestlers competing for titles including Deondre Wilson (#8 @ 106 Arsenal Tech), Devon Caldwell-Valdez (#13 @ 126 Northwest), Robert Duncan (#15 @ 132 Arsenal Tech), Charlie McGinley (126 Arsenal Tech), Michael Hendon (138 TC Howe) and many others. The tournament will be ran on Trackwrestling so updates will be readily available and brackets should be up Friday. Again, it should be a great event at a great venue!

Where is the coaches meeting at today?

Arsenal Tech - has the wrestling history and history as an old civil war arsenal, ISWA state used to be held here for years, celebrating our 100 year anniversary next year, undergoing an $11.2 million facelift for/from Super Bowl, 80 acre campus, centrally located dowtown Indianapolis with skyline in the backdrop, logical location for travel from around the state, 3 gyms, 8 mats in main gym plus new spotlight addition like Conseco for finals, 14-16 mats total if needed, etc. etc. Plus our respect in the wrestling community is about break WIDE open. We recently hosted the John Hurrle Memorial, are hosting an Iron Man tourney this summer with 3 more planned the following year, on top of hosting the City Tournament now, and looking to bid for ISWA state again, our Sectional, and this Team State Tournament. Plus we have Mark Durham. We're bringing back the legacy....FYI. Please consider Arsenal Tech a legitimate option....