gtodrivr

Won't someone think of the children *clutches pearls*
 
News flash, I have children, I presume you have children,  they have access to the internet and humans in general, they hear foul language, get over it.

Eric, thanks for your reply. And..... your 100 percent right. Wasn’t knocking any coach. I truely am looking forward to seeing what the Greyhounds can bring to team state. I was just curious to what the masses think as to why these large heavily populated schools were not pumping out monster teams that match the schools sizes and resources. Your reply and the no punches held back response above are what I was looking for. As someone that has worked pretty hard to grow the sport, feedback like wrestling guys is what I’m interested in. 

Looking at team matches is exhausting, as I said earlier I see the potential for many teams to move around wrestlers to gain an advantage.  Here is some data to chew on:
#1 Cathedral: State ranking -- 4 wrestlers in top 4 (113, 132, 152, 160), 3 ranked between 5th - 8th (126, 138, 145) and 1 more ranked (182); 1 ranked in Semi-State only (106) -- 8 TOTAL Individual State Finals experience:   126 (2x), 132, 138, 145 (3x), 152 (2x), 160 (3x) //  1 Returning State Champ, 2 Returning State Runner-up  //  Loaded with skill & experience, if you are going to beat them you best chance is to win almost all of the matches between 106-120 and 170-285 and stay off your back in every other match.  If you can steal a match in the middle that will be a huge bonus because the lineup (126 - 160) is similar to 'Alabama Football', pure talent.  With all that said I do believe there are a couple of teams that fit the bill and will battle them to the end.
#8 Avon: State ranking -- 4 wrestlers in top 4 (126, 132, 152, 182), and 3 more ranked between 9th -13th (120, 138, 145); 1 ranked in Semi-State only (220) -- 8 TOTAL Individual State Finals experience:   120, 126 (2x),132 (3x), 152 (3x), 182  //  1 Returning State Champ (2-timer) //  They have 4 kids who are serious contenders to be a 2019 State Champ; the rest of the group has plenty of experience on their side as well.  They have wrestled the hardest schedule YTD and are more than ready to do battle in Fort Wayne. It has been mentioned several times they have been forfeiting 2 weight classes and they were missing a stud for several of their matches as well.  They will be a tough out and entertaining to watch.
Penn: State ranking -- 1 wrestler in top 4 (195), and 3 between 5th - 9th (120, 220, 285) and 2 more ranked (145, 182); 2 ranked in Semi-State only (132, 138) -- 8 TOTAL Individual State Finals experience:   120, 132, 195 //  Unfortunately down in Indy we are not provided many opportunities to watch the teams from the ECSS.  With that said Penn is known throughout the state as a hard nosed team with plenty of heart & technique.  If any match comes down to the wire and Penn has 182 - 285 remaining they will win the match.   Between 106 - 170 they have several wrestlers ranked and are more than capable of winning a big match for the team.   Don't sleep on the Kingsmen, if you do you may be behind on the scoreboard after the 14th match.
POTENTIAL MATCHES:
120 Vince Sparrow - Penn (#9) vs Tyler Conley - Avon (#13)
126 Ray Rioux - Avon (#4) vs Lukasz Walendzak - Cathedral (#6)
132 Asa Garcia - Avon (#1) vs Logan Bailey - Cathedral (#3) (1st match was 1-0 Garcia)
152 Nathan Conley - Avon (#3) vs Elliott Rodgers - Cathedral (#1)
 
#2 Evansville Mater Dei: State ranking -- 3 wrestlers in top 4 (113, 120, 145), 7 ranked between 7th - 13th (106, 126, 132, 138, 152, 160, 170); 1 ranked in Semi-State only (182) -- 11 TOTAL Individual State Finals experience:   113,120,126, 145 (2x), 152 //  Although EMD is located 3 hours south of my location I am familiar with this group of wrestlers.  They reload each year better than any school in our state.  Never one to back down from a challenge; they don't get pinned, or give up any bonus points for that matter, and when given the opportunity to win in that fashion they usually seize the moment.  Look for them to be laser focus in their quest to win Team State this coming weekend.
#7 Carmel: State ranking --  1 wrestler in top 4 (106), and 4 more ranked between 5th -15th (132, 170, 182, 195); 1 ranked in Semi-State only (285) -- 6 TOTAL Individual State Finals experience:   None //  The 'Rodney Dangerfield' of Team State.  Personally I believe Carmel to be very dangerous with enough athletes to make it difficult for any team to beat them.  Outside of their only loss this season (29-27), they have decimated their competition with the closest dual being a 25 point victory.  Extremely well coached and intelligent wrestlers, they typically will not 'beat themselves'.  They are better than the individual rankings indicate, look for them to pull off an upset along the way.
Portage: State ranking --  2 wrestlers in top 4 (113, 160), and 3 more ranked between 5th -15th (120, 126, 132); 2 ranked in Semi-State only (106, 152) -- 7 TOTAL Individual State Finals experience:  113 (2x), 126 (2x),132, 160  //  1 Returning State Champ  //  Portage is strong where Portage is strong, which means don't expect to beat them where they have a ranked wrestler participating.  In order for them to pull the upset they will need to accumulate points from 113 - 132, 152 & 160 and pull off a few surprises at the other weights.  The program has a reputation of being one of the best in the state for a very good reason, and underestimating this group will give a team headaches for the remainder of the day.
POTENTIAL MATCHES:
106 Suhas Chundi - Carmel (#4) vs Alec Freeman EMD (#7)
113 Jacob Moran - Portage (#1) vs Cole Ross - EMD (#4)
120 Ty Haskins - Portage (#15) vs Blake Boarman - EMD (#2) 
126 Brook Peele - Portage (#5) vs Kane Egil - EMD (#7)
132 Ricky Hegedus - Portage (#9) vs Kyle Holman - Carmel (#14) vs Clay Egil - EMD (#10)
160 Donnell Washington - Portage (#1) vs Gabe Sollars - EMD (#9)
170 Logan Hart - Carmel (#5) vs MaCartney Parkinson - EMD (#7)
 
** I will do the other 2 pools sometime in the next 24 hours....sorry for any mistakes.

It’s sad when you come into a thread with the intentions of posting a GIF, and the only other reply has already beaten you to it

Connersville version of track wrestling
 

Schedules are on the to-do list for next year...after we finish the all-inclusive history since 1920.

This is how you grow the sport. Huge duals like EMD vs PM. CP vs Portage. Cathedral vs CE and stream it for those who can’t make it. 
I love that it was on a Friday night! Think there should be more Friday night duals. 
Thanks for putting on a great show for wrestling fans. 

The Wildcat gym was rocking last night, but I want to take a moment to give Y2 & IndianaMat some much deserved kudos. Providing the masses across the state & beyond the opportunity to see the action from this dual is what makes this site special.
Awesome job!

There are numerous factors that come in to play. The one I use most though is the dart board I have in my garage. I usually just put all the names of every wrestler I have in each weight on it and throw a handful of darts labeled 1-8. Whatever happens, happens.

With this in the IHSAA bylaws how are they giving you another answer?
Ineligible Students
Q. 60-9 May a temporarily ineligible wrestler be weighed in at dual meets or tournaments where his School is participating for the purpose of meeting minimum weight classification requirements for the State Tournament Series?
A. Yes.

Brooks Wathen will in fact not be able to compete this year due to his recovery from ACL patellar graft reconstruction.  Early in the football season Brooks sustained a grade 3 tear of his right ACL, and at that time with guidance from his orthopedic surgeon, he made the decision to attempt to continue to play football in a brace with hopes of also wrestling in the brace.  Brooks was able to complete the football season while missing only a couple of games and as the wrestling season began, Brooks was optimistic as he was learning how to manage wrestling in the large apparatus.  As the second and third weeks of practice came and went, I was becoming less and less hopeful.  I watched Brooks return home each night in excruciating pain and knowing that things would only get worse as matches began, I began to lose any hopes that I possessed of Brooks competing at all this year, let alone making a return to Bankers Life.  In Brooks’ last few practices, while compensating for lack of use of his right knee, he began to strain his left LCL.  At this point, with the realization that Brooks would ultimately not be able finish his senior year and most likely end up needing both knees reconstructed, I encouraged him to surrender. 
If you have spent any time at all around Brooks, you know that there is no quit in him and you understand how difficult not being able to finish is for him.  His ride started at age four at pee wee 40 and concludes 14 years and 125 lbs later somewhat short of his goal.   Time sure does fly!
Brooks' Dad

voted and after seeing the current tally it was like pissing in the ocean... : (

Here’s what I’ll say about Carson:
He is the nicest kid I have ever met when he comes over to shake my hand or give me a fist bump after absolutely smashing my guy.  Lol.  Seriously, such a great young man.  He does work and is fun to be around.  Great job mattyb and brewer family on raising such a great young man.  That being said I will not he sad to see him go!  😬
Snyder

Congrats to Carson and the rest of the Brewer family!  Thats awesome!

Walker back in too!!! 
Carson Brewer with 7 wins over 6 ranked kids in the last year and a half. Only unranked loss this past year was Friday night!!! I think that if he has a good showing at Brecksville in a couple weeks, he could get back in.... hopefully!
Congrats to Asa. 
Hopefully all our guys can stay in there for the rest of the season! 

To the family of Elijah Lacey, Coach Tonte and to the Warren wrestling community,
I sincerely apologize if the picture used in Cooper Noehre's Indy Star Athlete of the Week nomination offended any of you.  The star did not choose the picture, I did.  I didn't look at who he was wrestling.  I just chose a picture I had on my computer that I thought would be easy to see.  I feel absolutely horrible that this could be looked as disrespectful.  Elijah was never anything but a class act to me and my team.  I have nothing but respect for Coach Tonte and the people in his program.
Again, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry for a stupid oversight.
 
Josh Holden, Greenfield-Central Wrestling

Voted a ton. People have to be using bots to vote. Conley had a lead last week and some swimmer from Concord got like 10,000 votes in one day. They Cheatin!!!!

Isn't it obvious? The journalist is a former basketball player, only possible explanation

Not sure why throwing the wrestling info into a story about a person doing something dumb is relevant in this case.  Not saying the story isn’t worth reporting, but I don’t see why it’s work in thewrestling info is relevant (or if did any college sport).   Seems we should be seeing a lot more national stories about dumb former college athletes, cause I’m sure he’s not the only one making some dumb choices.  Since this isn’t related to the sport and he’s not know nationally as a notable representstive of that sport it seem like poor choice to include it in the article.     

Cooper Noehre (Greenfield-Central) is looking to win the Athlete of the Week award for his performance last week. Any votes for this outstanding young man would be appreciated. 
 
IndyStar Sports Athlete of the Week Vote

Great article 

This would be a shallow topic if we did not expound upon the toughest tournament in the state and and arguably the best in the nation, if we leave out the Al Smith Wrestling Tournament.
   For those of you who don't know who Coach Al Smith is, I will start out with just a few staggering statistics.  Coach Smith has close to 100 former wrestlers that are, or have coached at the Elementary, High School, Collegiate and International levels. Coach Smith has coached several athletes who have gone on to become National Freestyle Champions and Collegiate All Americans. Coach Smith is also responsible for close to 100 wrestlers, coaches, contributors and officials who have been inducted into the IHSWCA Hall of Fame as he sits on the Hall of  Fame Nomination committee.
   Coach Smith was also the President of the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association on several different occasions. Back in the 60's we had 16 team sectionals where only the champion advanced. Regionals that were comparable to today's semistates where only the champion qualified for the state championships, meaning there were only 4 wrestlers in the state finals!  You couldn't have a bad weekend! Coach Smith was responsible for battling with the IHSAA to expand and enhance the number of qualifiers for the next stage of the state tournament.  The element of having a "bad weekend" or maybe victimized by a tough call gave wrestlers a better opportunity for advancement.  Some of the battles he won and some he lost, but he impressed upon State Officials that wrestling was important to this State!
  In the early 70's when freestyle competition began to take roots in Indiana, Coach Smith would take wrestlers (not only Mishawaka wrestlers) to tournaments in Southern Michigan and Opens in Indiana too.  My most memorable times would be the early 70's and the AAU State Freestyle meets at Indianapolis Tech where he would hall wrestlers down to compete, he would coach, officiate, (at times feed)  and encourage other coaches to help officiate a style of wrestling that was foreign to most us. Back in those days we had just a hand full of freestyle officials. It was not uncommon to see Coach Smith in the corner coaching a wrestler who was not even a Mishawaka kid either chewing them out for not hitting a move, or patting them on the back encouraging their efforts. He truly was the pioneer in at least Northern Indiana, if not the state. I chuckle when I hear cheap talk about growing this great  sport! Al Smith is the epitome of growing the sport!
   In the 1972 Olympic team trials, held in Anoka, Minnesota, Coach Smith drove  Penn's first State Champion,  Al Dover to compete in the 149.5 lb. weight class.  Dover ended up wrestling the eventual Olympic Champion, a guy by the name of Dan Gable. Obviously Al Dover lost, but what other coach would drive 7 hours to give a young man an opportunity to chase his dream?
  Coach Smith's coaching record is astounding by itself, attested by his total number of state champs and team State Championship in '91, but it goes a lot deeper than that.  The best way I can describe a conversation with Coach Smith is that when you walk away from him, you feel like a breath of fresh air has just run through you.  He made you feel good about yourself! With his positive attitude, humble demeanor and competitive nature, Coach Al Smith made his wrestlers love this great sport of wrestling!
   Hopefully, I've given you some incite on why the Al Smith Wrestling tournament, which started as an 8 team invitational in the '70's, to the tournament it is today! Also a little information about one of Indiana's Legendary Wrestling figures, Al Smith!
In Wrestling,
Henry Wilk
 

PA announcer:  “ Please rise for the national anthem”
 
a few moments pass...nothing.  A minute passes of awkward silence.
 
a couple of ladies, with very soft voices, begin to sing.  A couple of bars in, several others joined. By the third bar, the entire audience rose to the moment and joyously belted out the anthem.
 
many members of the audience—and the boys—kept their hand over their heart. EVERYONE faced the flag.
 
it was a thing of beauty.
 
No one took a knee or experienced a “triggering” event by this simple display of respect.  I am quite certain that none of the combatants were traumatized and required counseling.
 
on a night of the match-up of a decades-old super-intense rivalry,  it was great to enjoy an experience that unites us.
 
it was a great night to be an American.
 
 

Its 2018... far from the dark ages, can we not find the ability to put individual results in the dual scores. If your not gonna put the results in why put the score down at all, this isnt basketball...wrestling is an individual sport and our state champs are based on individual results! For those that do please disregard this, we appreciate what you do, just frustrated that in an era where drones are in combat, and phones operate off of speaking and facial recognition, and cars can drive on their own, this simple task is only done 50% of the time. 
P.S. Doesn't everybody use some type of software these days anyways I.E. trackwrestling or mat track...