Dolbydude

Chris Lytle will be the baddest dude in the building

Expanding the numbers will do nothing. Wrestlers, coaches, and parents just need to start accepting the fact that the wrestler lost and didn't do there job of winning the match. It's as simple as that. Too many should of's, would of's, and could of's...How can we change the tournament so that my kid, or wrestler gets to state? This is where the participation ribbon mindset is starting to engulf the true competition of not only the state tournament, but any tournament in general.

If this is your first time or in my case the last time.  Make sure you enjoy the ride.
What a absolute privilege it has been to go on this journey with my son.
There has been some incredible highs and some bitter disappointment.  But
the journey has been awesome!
   I can remember when his first goal was to get threw an open tournament without getting pinned.
His second match was against the ISWA champion.  A girl named Kayla Miracle.  Needless to say.
He lost.  His second goal was to win half his matches.  After that they just kept getting a little harder
and a little harder.  It was a long journey to get to this point and It could not have had more fun.
   In the end,  there is only one guy who gets his hand raised.  But if you
made it this far you are a Champion in my book. 
Good luck to everyone this weekend.  Hope you enjoy the ride!

Bluemonster's Predictions In Order
 
106: K. Anderson, Diep, Bryant, Schaffer
113: White, Holmes, Turner, Smiley
120: Elliott, Bailey, Jenkinson, Bocock
126: Red, Uk, Melloh, Welliever
132: McKinney, Napier, Ellis, Vaughn
138: James, Cash, Stansberry, Boggs
145: Pruitt, Warren, Bane, Smiley
152: Johnson, Hill, VanCamp, Herrick
160: Gonzalez, Archer, Stambaugh, Goddard
170: Harvey, Worm, Nuckols, Irick
182: James, Morales, Parris, Manns
195: Rypel, Tonte, Cavens, Fuller
220: Marrow, Hart, Grable, Schjoll
285: Trawick, Brogan, Jackson, Hobick

Let me start with saying we have many great ambassadors in this state for youth wrestling, and wrestling in general.  In no way is this to be taken as critisism for how we do things; however, it is an observation on how something very successful was done.  What we need in this sport is encouragement of all levels of wrestlers; thus, leading to growing numbers at all of our tourneys.  Some kids are really advanced, and some are not regardless of years experience.  What is disouraging to some is to come to weekend tourneys that have 12-16 kids in a weight class, which necessitates elementary aged kids wrestling 6-8 times with full wrestlebacks, and not leaving until dinner time.  A recommendation is to start running some tournaments with 8 man brackets.
 
This weekend we attended the Spartan Rumble in Danville, Illinois.  They had 700 wrestlers. Tourney started at 9:30, and they were pulling tape off the mats at 3pm.  We drove an hour & half, and I was home by 5:45.  They ran all 8 man brackets with blocked weights
 & staged all kids by division.   What this also does is gives all of our kids confidence they have a chance to place. I am not saying all kids should place(i.e. get a trophy, medal, Etc.), but giving kids confidence leads to them sticking around & enjoying the sport.  Wrestling 6-8 times to place 4th, 5th, or 6th doesn't do that in my opinion.  Many times getting a taste of success can encourage kids with confidence, and that can give them motivation to not only stick with the sport, but work harder to get to that next level.
 
We all know how how much hard work it takes to be successful at this sport. Not only for the wrestlers, but the time commitment, financial, and emotional obligations of the parents.  The above example proves that reducing bracket sizes can speed up tournament.  All our parents were shocked & ecstatic it ran so fast with a completely packed gym...700 wrestlers. BTW, shockingly they did not use Trackwrestling for matches.  Good old fashioned bout sheets.
 
Just my 2 cents.  Thanks everyone for all you do for this sport.

Very well run tournament. Thanks to the Director & all of his behind the scene assistants. Weigh-ins went smooth, full mats were great for the kids & consistent officiating by a good group of young men. First time participating in this particular event & I was very impressed with how well things were run at this wonderful facility.

4 or 5 is the youngest I would think to start.  And obviously have a TON of patience as it will take lots of time to see any sort of progress.  During the first few years of starting it should be all about having fun out there and doesn't matter what the results are so enjoy the ride dad whenever you decide to get him involved  !!!

It only smells funny when you ARE here

That's quite the shocker there

Do you guys not know that james has already dominated cash & lee , not to mention is the only kid in the state of Indiana that has beat red????
James is a lock at 138!

Before the finals, the crowd rose for the National Anthem.  And then....nothing.  It looked as if technical difficulties would prevent the playing of the tape.
 
Sometimes in America, someone steps into the breach.  
 
This guy strolled out of the stands like he owned the place, and proceeded to own the place.
 

How will the breakdown of pools go.  I know in previous years the returning top 4 teams will be on top of each pool.  With that being said, will there simply be an additional team added to each of the pools?  This is going to be a great day for wrestling.  Looking forward to it.

We will be taking a team to compete in the mat mayhem nuway duals on the weekend of Jan 10th-12th. The team is middle school 14 & under. If interested contact me asap.
Brandi Cash
317-281-3678
There are not 14 open weights. Its a 14U team. But I am posting from my phone and it won't give me the edit option.

I think its a little late in the game this season, however I was thinking of starting an elementary league.  With the number of clubs registered with ISWA I am sure we could get 10-20 clubs to join up.  This wouldn't have anything to do with the standard weekend Dual Meets that are scheduled and should by all means not give any conflicts to them.  However, a schedule could be drawn up, teams meet on locations and over the course of two/three months, the teams could gain an additional 6-8 dual matches in the end.  If put together correctly, this could be a great addition to feeder programs and keep the level of expectations high when it comes to wrestling and what all is involved.  Put it this way, we all see each other week-in/week-out.  This would basically be another way to see new wrestlers outside of the standard weekend tournaments.  It can work guys with a little mat burns (elbow grease to some people .......