thegoldstandard

Marler was dominate. Troutman wrestled well but got down in the semis, had a headlock that might have won it but hit it a little too hard and got rolled. He came back for 3rd.

106 Kennedy over Burton - Kennedy looked tough all day. 113 Lahue over Whitley - Lahue looked great all day. Whitley was close a couple of times but Lahue countered very well. One of the best freshman in a long time. 120 Shepherd over Popp - Shepherd was in a league of his own. 126 Jamison over Meenach - Meenach got high on a ride and pinned. He had a great semi-final with Schremp. 132 Marler over Chavez - Marler goes as hard as anyone out there. 138 Lost my bracket...Meza over Jasper 145 Mundy over Emily in a 1-0 match 152 Burnette over Browner - Very impressed with Burnette - 2 pins and was pretty dominate over Browner 160 Abel over Kreilein - The freshman was impressive today but FP pulled out the win. 170 Marlin over Hall in the match of the day. Final overtime Marlin rode him out. The place was going nuts as the momentum went back and forth. I hated to see this one end. 182 Randall over McCutcheon by pin. McCutcheon looked good early on but got caught on his back. 195 Curtley over Valenciano. Curtley was tough all day as well. 220 Andrey over Brown. Brown pinned Ottersbach in the semis. Andrey is a big guy. 285 Phillips over Honaker. Phillips isn't a big heavyweight but he is smooth. He gets a lot of takedowns for a heavy. FC - 3 champs Jeff - 3 champs Mitchell - 2 champs Forest Park - 1 champ Paoli - 1 champ New Albany - 1 champ Corydon - 1 champ Southridge - 1 champ Washington - 1 champ There are several kids here that could go to state. It will be interesting to see the draws. Overall it was a great day of wrestling with a lot of close matches. Best of luck to everyone at Evansville!

Mitchell's coach was a heavyweight Wisconsin state champ and All-American lineman at the Air Force Academy.

Unofficial for bragging rights.

106 - Kennedy doesn't have any trouble. Best match will come from Nawl. Kennedy FC Lynch NA Nawl VL Burton P 113 - I think it will be tough for Whitley to win two weeks in a row but he might have gotten a slight edge by beating him in the finals last week. I can see this one going either way. Whitley FC Lahue Co Schitter Ja Graber W 120 - Shepherd doesn't get challenged until semi-state. Shepherd Je Popp FC Ramirez SR Eckart Ja 126 - This class is wide open. Any one of the four can win it. Kerstiens JA Meenach NW Jamison NA Schremp Jeff 132 - Marler outlasts the competition in this class but Griffith held tight last week. Marler FC Griffith Pr Chavez Ja Meza Wa 138 - FC matroom pays off. Troutman FC Brescher Ja Meza Wa Mundy SR 145 - Should be a good finals match. Floyd is very tough in this stretch of classes. Emily FC Mundy SR Osha W Kempf Pr 152 - Not sure if Burnette can handle the strength and flexibility of Browner. He's tough to hold down. Browner Je Burnette Mi Stenftenagel Ja Franklin NW 160 Abell FP Kaelin Pr Dean NW Rice Pa 170 - Marlin was tough last week but should be challenged on the way this week. Marlin Je Stetter SR Shepard P Hall Ch 182 - Could see a McCutcheon/Randall rematch but picking Cissell to take it. I'll take Randall in a rematch over Mc if it happens. Cissell W Randal FC McCutcheon Ch Songer Ja 195 - Curtley is the best but Southridge rounds it out. Curtley Je Valenciano Ja Schwinghamer SR Smith W 220 - Tempted to pick Andrey over Ottersbach but Ottersbach is on a roll. Ottersbach FC Andrey Pa Hedrick W Schwoeppe SR 285 - All the big boys from Southridge get rematches.... tempted to put Jolley-Little at 3rd though. Phillips Mi Schwoeppe SR Honaker W Miller PC Many of these classes are wide open. I could see a lot of upsets.... Charlestown could knock some people off if they catch them early, but based on last week they gassed pretty bad in the 3rd. New Albany was looking very good at sectionals. They may upset a couple in the 1st round. Jeff has some guys that could go for first or fourth depending on the day. I think FC repeats last week's performance with the most champs. Looking back, I probably picked heavy on the Southridge side but just picked on first thought. As it stands: Southridge sectional: 32 Jeffersonville sectional: 24

I would agree the mat room at this point in the year is a big difference. That match could go either way in a rematch. Lahue did a nice job riding but couldn't turn Whitley. I'm sure we'll see it again next week.

Jeff won a very close team championship over Floyd Central. 106: Kennedy, Lynch, Gray, Jones - Kennedy pinned in the first 113: Whitley, LaHue, Weekly, Doty - Whitley wins on a late escape 120: Shepherd, Popp, Peavler, Haynes - Shepherd pinned in the first 126: Schremp, Jamison, Meenach, Strobel - Jamison had a couple of penalty points on cautions that cost him 132: Marler, Griffith, Castlberry, DeLeon - One of the best finals matches. Marler outlasted Griffith but he game him a great fight. 138: Troutman, Stuart, Gregory, Neito - Troutman won easily. 145: Emily, Kempf, Fridley, Pfohl - Emily controlled the match. 152: Browner, Franklin, Scott, Meldrum - Back and forth a bit and Browner escaped a lot of tough situations. 160: Kaelin, Dean, Terry, Thompson - What would have been a tough semi-final match made for a good finals match. 170: Marlin, Hall, Fernandez, Bagwell - Charlestown gassed in a lot of their matches in the third period. 182: Randall, McCutcheon, Spangler - Randall outlasted Hall 195: Curtley, Lynch - Pinned 215: Ottersbach, Leasor, Brown, Enteman - Big pin in the finals. 285: Jolley-Little, Crawley, Koehler, Carver - Another big pin. Whitley had the upset of the day over Lahue. A takedown in the first really threw Lahue off his game. Herron (160) from FC was out of the line-up and that swung the meet Jeff's way. Looked like Jeff was able to pick up a lot of bonus points with pins. Great wrestling by both teams and it made it interesting down to the heavyweights. Floyd with 8 in the finals and 7 champs. Impressive performances by both teams!

Not sure how any of these kids make weight as much as the coaches talk about food!

After the seeding meeting, I think a couple of lineup changes tip the scales in favor of Floyd Central over Jeffersonville for the title. 106 Kennedy Lynch Gray Jones 113 Lahue Whitley Doty Laughead 120 Shepherd Popp Peavler Haynes 126 Jamison Meenach Schremp Strobel 132 Marler Griffith Crase Deleone 138 Gregory Troutman Stuart Lowe 145 Emily Kempf Fridley Dunn 152 Browner Franklin Meldrum Scott 160 Herron Dean Kaelin Thompson 170 Hall Marlin Fernandez Bagwell 182 McCutcheon Randall Lee Spangler 195 Curtley Youtsey Lynch Hoff 220 Ottersbach Leasor Brown Enteman 285 Crawley Jolly-Little Carver Koehler

It's definately a two team race for first with Jeff and Floyd. I'd give a slight edge to Jeff after watching HHC, but I wouldn't be surprised if Floyd won it all either. Floyd will probably have the most champs (6) but Jeff will have their lower performing weights finish higher in some classes. I only see a couple of weights where Jeff won't place in the top four while Floyd will probably have three. Other teams will sprinkle in a few wrestlers in the finals but I don't see a lot of upsets. I'll wait until the individual brackets come out before putting time into those predictions. You never know if a kid with a light schedule will get seeded high and create some matchup issues in the semis. Powerhalf's predictions look pretty solid though.

Probably good for them to come in under the radar. They are both great wrestlers. Three reasons they don't get much recognition on rankings: 1. Their results don't get reported on the website. 2. They don't normally send kids to semi-state 3. Their schedule is not nearly as competitive as most of the other southern schools ie: Jeff, FC, JC, Evansville schools, etc. They wrestle some good teams but not week in and week out like other schools do so they don't get the exposure. Either way, good luck to those two. All that matters is the final four left in the semi-state after the wrestling is done that day.

Almost as many as a certain quarterback's commitments/decommitments to colleges.... Yes, he's a good wrestler.

Kennedy got caught. Wouldn't see him losing to Noblitt in a rematch.

Its not a coincidence that Jeff is competing for the top spot in the conference every year. Struck is doing it the right way in all aspects of the sport.

1. Jeff came to wrestle today. A lot of kids beat their seeds. They were projected 3rd and came up big. 2. Jennings wrestled well with several in the finals but Jeff picked up more wins in the consols. 3. Floyd looked flat and lost a few big ones. Youth showed today. 4. East lost a couple they were projected to win but most had solid days. 5. New Albany wrestled better than most thought they would. 6. Madison has several talented young kids. 7. Seymour looked a little light on numbers today. 8. BNL had a good shot in the heavyweight finals but got pinned. They were close to Seymour. 106: Kennedy is a class above the rest. Coureur has improved but I don't think he can catch him this year. 113: Same with Whitley. Both looked great today. 120: Shepherd won easily. I'd like to see him and Whitley wrestle again. 126: Schremp had to be the surprise of the day. Two big upsets and he outwrestled both. He was in another gear today. 132: Marler won easily. Kid could go far in the tournament. 138: Gast beat Nelson. Troutman was ahead of Nelson but got disqualified with equipment or something. 145: Schuler beat Graham. Emily beat Partee in a close one. 152: Adams was in control of Browner most of the match. Had a nice headlock. 160: Wilson over Herron pretty easily. Jeff won a big match over East for 3rd. 170: Marlin won over Randall. 182: Wathan over Lee by pin. Spangler over Bagwell. Another big one for Jeff. 195: Curtley over Wilson. 220: Bass over Ottersbach. 285: McKee over Davis. For the most part, the championship matches were pretty decisive. Not many close ones. Winners tended to control the matches.

Most classes will probably follow the seeds pretty closely. FC, JC, and Jeff will be close at the end it looks. 106 Kennedy FC, Lynch NA, Courier Jeff 113 Whitley FC, Laughead NA, Lewis JC 120 Shepard Jeff, Engleking JC, Popp FC 126 Gilbert CE, Holwager JC, Jamison NA 132 Marler FC, Waynant, CE, Deleon Jeff 138 Gast JC, Troutman FC, Nelson CE 145 Schuler CE, Partee Mad, Emily FC 152 Adams Mad, Browner Jeff, Stillinger CE 160 Herron FC, Wilson JC, Fisher CE 171 Randall FC, Marlin Jeff, Sandlin Mad 182 Whathen JC, Bagwell FC, Lee NA 195 Curtley Jeff, Fish Mad, Wilson JC 220 Bass JC, Ottersbach FC, Leasor NA 285 McKee CE, Jolly Little Jeff, Davis BNL

Any seeds out yet?

The individual tournament is in about a week. How are all of the teams looking out there? Not seen results from a lot of the teams on the board but figured we'd get the predictions and discussion going. Seeding meeting will reveal a lot. I'll make the team prediction so that Donnie Baker will have a least a week to form a response and some predictions of his own. Last I heard he was showing his boat and got stuck out on the lake when it froze over. I hope we was able to make it to his PO on time. 1. Floyd Central - Very solid this year for a young team. Finished very high in the Mater Dei tournament. 2. Jennings County - Close to FC. Not as strong as some expected but should perform very well in a individual tournament. It's about a toss up between the two. 3. Jeffersonville - Down a bit from last year but always manage to score points in this format. 4. Columbus East - Not seen many results but looked to be a bit behind the top 3. 5. Madison - Couple of great wrestlers and some solid young wrestlers behind them. 6. New Albany - Three or four score well but not much behind them. 7. Seymour - Improving but not there yet. 8. BNL - They'll have trouble breaking the top four in any classes. Any teams/individuals that might surprise?

Meenach didn't place and wasn't competitive in that class.

I'll take Terrance Kennedy over Lahue.

I'm not sure there was a winner. Jeff beat JC by the biggest margin, but that just comes down to match-ups. I'll be honest, I didn't see that any of the teams were top 20 material at this point in the season. All had some holes that will cost against strong teams. Based on technique and attitude, Floyd Central looks like they are back. If that is the case, I'll bet on them improving the most come HHC tournament time and winning the whole thing. I think it will go like this: Floyd Central Jennings County Jeffersonville Columbus East Madison New Albany Seymour BNL

At Floyd Central, Jeff and FC had a heck of a match that came down to a one point win by FC. Someone said FC had 3 straters out of the line-up as well! They looked very impressive. Madison looked to be much improved. New Albany had a lot of young kids in the line up that will only improve. Saturday will be interesting. How did the other half go?

I didn't know them personally but they were great examples for the sport. They conducted themselves with class and built a quality program in a very short period of time. You would hope there would be more support for two guys that are doing it the right way when there are so many examples of people not.

I thought I saw some ffts on the results page. If there are no ffts NA will compete with Madison and Seymour for 5th. They always have 2 or 3 that will go out there and knock some guys around.

The time is near, so its time for some predictions! The HHC looks to be very strong in the top and middle. Based on returning wrestlers from last year and results from early in the season, I predict: 1. Jennings County is at the top of the list. They should have the most solid line-up if they returned everyone. 2. Jeff has been on top for about four years, but looks to be weaker in a few weight classes than the past couple of years. They are built for tournaments. 3. Floyd Central should have a lot of sophomores and juniors contributing this year. They are right behind Jeff and should give them a good match. 4. I know Columbus East lost a lot of seniors but still should be strong. 5. Seymour is competing well early on but they haven't seen HHC competition yet. Toss up with Seymour and Madison for 5th. 6. Madison looks like they have a good young team again behind Adams. 7. New Albany will give up several points with forfeits. They do have a couple of strong contenders though. 8. BNL. Christmas came early with football sectional gift but don't see it happening on the mat. Obviously in a dual tournament there will be some surprises based on how individual teams match up, but I look for this to be the general order of the records at the end of the day. Friday and Saturday should both be worth the price of admission.