Coach Brobst

I think wrestlers who were pretty tough tend to hang out with other wrestlers who are pretty tough, so when they think back on their youth, they have memories mainly of wrestlers who were pretty tough. They prune the memories of un-tough people through the years. 
 
The people who weren't pretty tough in wrestling probably aren't posting and reading this board, so they don't come up with a counter argument through personal experience, so the only side our observations is the tough side, while we are cognizant of both tough and untough people around us today because we don't have to have very good memories for that. 
 
Kids in my day were a mixture of tough and un-tough. Some of my teammates worked extremely hard to improve themselves. I had a few teammates who worked extremely hard when I wrestled them which helped me a lot. I'm eternally grateful for these teammates and developing that type of character is the focus of my coaching career. I also had teammates that weren't tough, and I wouldn't spend much time thinking about them if I didn't coach where I encounter their contemporary archetypical counterparts allowing me to remember hundreds of wrestlers from all my years all at once.
 
The best part of coaching is encountering a kid that reminds you of an untough kid in the past, but helping them develop into a kid who reminds you of a badass tough wrestlers you remember from the past. 
 
I vent to my dad every single season about something that annoys me currently with kids, but he always has a story to top me. His 35 years of coaching just have better highs and better lows than my 16 when it comes to positive and negative examples of toughness, work ethic, dedication to overcoming adversity. 
 
I think of a wrestler from the 90s who lost his mother and didn't ever have his dad around on a weekly basis because it opened my eyes to the most important struggles some kids go through, and my dad was an amazing father who allowed me to learn about what it meant to succeed as a person through wrestling. He always gave me opportunities to analyze the actions of the wrestlers on his team from the time I was old enough to analyze until the I graduated and he retired. 
 
I also think of the kids who quit the morning of sectionals a few years after that last kid graduated who I think had very strong homes, and I've been trying to figure out why kids like that don't want to put it on the line. 

I have an assistant coach who does reviews of the popcorn at each school. The girls team is making TikTok’s of his reviews for the end of year banquet. I look forward to hearing about how the hot dogs compare at each location.
 
these are the important discussions

I have an assistant coach who does reviews of the popcorn at each school. The girls team is making TikTok’s of his reviews for the end of year banquet. I look forward to hearing about how the hot dogs compare at each location.
 
these are the important discussions

I have an assistant coach who does reviews of the popcorn at each school. The girls team is making TikTok’s of his reviews for the end of year banquet. I look forward to hearing about how the hot dogs compare at each location.
 
these are the important discussions

I have an assistant coach who does reviews of the popcorn at each school. The girls team is making TikTok’s of his reviews for the end of year banquet. I look forward to hearing about how the hot dogs compare at each location.
 
these are the important discussions

I have an assistant coach who does reviews of the popcorn at each school. The girls team is making TikTok’s of his reviews for the end of year banquet. I look forward to hearing about how the hot dogs compare at each location.
 
these are the important discussions

So, one of my favorite parts of wrestling season is sampling the different hot dogs the schools present during the year.  For disclosure, my son Chris Bohn and wrestles for Munster, the hot dog testing tour will follow the Munster schedule. I also taste test the dogs plain. Today I was at Goshen High School.  The hot dog was $3.  It was pretty plump, and was definitely not cheap.  The bun has the perfect amount of "freshness", meaning it wasn't hard, but it wasn't soaked.  I will definitely be picking up a couple of more tomorrow.  The Goshen hot dogs get 6 slices of pizza out of 8.  The next stop on the tour is Valparaiso high school on December 2.  Thank you for reading.

We do earlier than conference even--first weekend of January. Barring injury, kids should all have made their way to the weight they want by then and gives them the month of January to wrestle people at that weight for seeding criteria and such. Also ensures they have the 6 qualifying weigh ins on time and nobody is forcing me into last minute changes.
 
In my opinion, Kids should know by the first week after the allowance hits how their bodies feel and what weight they perform best at. Pushing it any later can cause friction in the line-up and doesn't allow any build up of seeding criteria at that weight. To be fair, I care a great deal more about the team aspect of the sport than some coaches, who see it truly as an individual sport only, which drives my decision making on this.

We do earlier than conference even--first weekend of January. Barring injury, kids should all have made their way to the weight they want by then and gives them the month of January to wrestle people at that weight for seeding criteria and such. Also ensures they have the 6 qualifying weigh ins on time and nobody is forcing me into last minute changes.
 
In my opinion, Kids should know by the first week after the allowance hits how their bodies feel and what weight they perform best at. Pushing it any later can cause friction in the line-up and doesn't allow any build up of seeding criteria at that weight. To be fair, I care a great deal more about the team aspect of the sport than some coaches, who see it truly as an individual sport only, which drives my decision making on this.

We do earlier than conference even--first weekend of January. Barring injury, kids should all have made their way to the weight they want by then and gives them the month of January to wrestle people at that weight for seeding criteria and such. Also ensures they have the 6 qualifying weigh ins on time and nobody is forcing me into last minute changes.
 
In my opinion, Kids should know by the first week after the allowance hits how their bodies feel and what weight they perform best at. Pushing it any later can cause friction in the line-up and doesn't allow any build up of seeding criteria at that weight. To be fair, I care a great deal more about the team aspect of the sport than some coaches, who see it truly as an individual sport only, which drives my decision making on this.

We do earlier than conference even--first weekend of January. Barring injury, kids should all have made their way to the weight they want by then and gives them the month of January to wrestle people at that weight for seeding criteria and such. Also ensures they have the 6 qualifying weigh ins on time and nobody is forcing me into last minute changes.
 
In my opinion, Kids should know by the first week after the allowance hits how their bodies feel and what weight they perform best at. Pushing it any later can cause friction in the line-up and doesn't allow any build up of seeding criteria at that weight. To be fair, I care a great deal more about the team aspect of the sport than some coaches, who see it truly as an individual sport only, which drives my decision making on this.

Couldn't agree more...we talk alot about wanting more participation in the sport especially from our football players but we continue to limit the spots for bigger guys in favor of the smaller weights.  I know it's meant to reflect the college rosters, but keeping more kids involved through high school grows the sport.  It's a tough sell for recruiting athletes to get them to sign up to go out and give up 50+ pounds trying to compete.  It feels like we have painted ourselves into a corner where the argument against additional upper weights is limited athletes participating and the obstacle impeding getting more athletes is there isn't a spot for them to wrestle!

HSE is at 11 this year.
3 returning qualifiers,3 others returning from last season and 5 who are new
 
was hoping to get to 12-15 range so still need to recruit some more

Ava Shaw is a Junior at HSE

EJ Shults is a Junior this year at HSE.

HSE is at 11 this year.
3 returning qualifiers,3 others returning from last season and 5 who are new
 
was hoping to get to 12-15 range so still need to recruit some more

HSE is at 11 this year.
3 returning qualifiers,3 others returning from last season and 5 who are new
 
was hoping to get to 12-15 range so still need to recruit some more

The Indy school shake up will create a very deep regional at Perry
Perry
Warren
Greenfield Central
New Pal (gonna be really good really soon)
Mount Vernon
Lawrence North
North Central
Roncalli
Beech Grove
LC
Franklin Central plus other schools that have decent size too
 
How would you like to be tiny Lutheran or Triton Central, or Purdue Polytechnic? 
 
even if Perry and Warren never return to the programs they were in 2003-2019, the sheer depth is going to make that a tough road for those teams just to make Semi-state 
 
Maybe (emphasis on the maybe) even deeper than Mooresville overall who has
 
Brownsburg
Center Grove
Avon
Ben Davis
Plainfield
Decatur Central
Pike
Mooresville
Martinsville
Greenwood
Whiteland
 
The edge at the top would certainly go to Mooresville but I’d put the 2nd-5th placers at this regional up against any in the state.
 
 
 
 

Allowing 16 total entries would benefit the stronger programs a lot.
 
Having 14 entries with the option of having up to two wrestlers per weight is a good start to get things rolling. Many of the teams with 10 or less kids will have one or two that end up being JV and get very few matches. With them having that ability to dangle the carrot of wrestling at sectional they would be more likely to stick around.
 
Another positive is that there would be a lot less likelihood of having over 16 wrestlers in a bracket at sectional. More than 16 would create chaos that we don't need. There would still need to be protocols as any sectional with 9 or more teams could possibly run into an issue.
 
As far as a coach dropping a starter for someone else at sectional. That is a coaching decision and a part of the job. Other coaches have these types of decisions all of the time. Wrestling is almost too easy in that sense.
 
I have no issues with either scenario having everyone score points. At the NAIA level they have rules in place for when wrestlers from the same team face each other. I believe they do not give bonus points in those matches so a kid doesn't "throw" a match.
 
If I were to guess, the IHSAA would be much more likely to allow up to two entries with a total of 14 than allowing 16 total entries.

Does anyone know who specifically was on the State Tournament realignment committee?  I'm sure Mr. Faulkens but not sure who else.  Given Franklin Community was moved out of Mooresville, maybe Jim Tonte was on the committee too?  Not sure if coaches are on the committee.  If anyone knows specifically, thanks for responding.
 
Many of the changes don't make sense to me.  But this post is going to focus on one. 
 
Here's facts regarding changes to Southport and Arsenal Tech sectionals:
 
The latest sectional alignment swapped 4 teams from the former Arsenal Tech sectional with 4 teams from the former Southport sectional. 
 
Here's what participation rates look like pre and post:
I looked at participation (defined as total wrestlers competing at sectional) from last season and noticed that the four schools moved from Southport to Arsenal Tech all have a low participation rate and the schools moved from Arsenal Tech to Southport all have high participation rate.  There was previously a divide in participation rates between the two sectionals.  However, the changes to the sectionals create a much more significant divide than what existed before.      
 
Sectional Participants 2023
Teams in Old Southport Sectional
83
Teams in Old Arsenal Tech Sectional
110
Participant Divide
27
 
 
Teams in New Southport Sectional
120
Teams in New Arsenal Tech Sectional
73
Participant Divide
47
 
Low participation results in forfeited matches and wrestlers advancing due to forfeits and not competition.  If last year’s wrestlers competed in the new Arsenal Tech sectional, there would have been only 17 total matches to determine advancement to regionals.  With only 73 total participants in this new sectional and 56 advancing, that means that as many as 39 wrestlers (70% of advancing participants) will qualify for regionals without wrestling a single match. 
 
Also, in the new format, some weight classes would advance forfeits to regionals from Arsenal Tech.  For example, last year’s wrestlers now in the Arsenal Tech sectional would advance forfeits in both the 106 and 285 weight classes.  Forfeits advance to regionals instead of wrestlers!  This means two wrestlers qualify for  semi state without having to wrestle a match at regionals!  
 
Will better wrestlers advance?
I looked at the regional qualifiers from each of these sectionals last year and put them in the new sectionals.  The change in sectionals would mean that 80 of the 112 total qualifiers (71%) would now be grouped together in the same sectional. 
 
Regional Qualifiers 2023
Teams in New Southport Sectional
80
Teams in New Arsenal Tech Sectional
32
Qualifier Divide
48
 
With 56 wrestlers advancing from each sectional, this means that the new format would eliminate 24 of 80 of last year’s regional qualifiers at the sectional level because they are now all in the same sectional at Southport.  These 24 more skilled wrestlers would be eliminated early, thereby losing a week of their season and the experience/accomplishment of advancing to and competing at regionals. 
 
What is the impact to drive time?
The change in these sectionals creates longer drive time for schools overall, and significant greater mileage for schools moved to the new Southport sectional. According to GPS, the new proposal requires Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, North Central and Mount Vernon to collectively drive an additional 42 miles to attend sectionals.  The schools moved into Arsenal Tech sectional save only 23 miles in drive time. 
 
Are there Regional and Semi State Implications?
There are additional impacts at the regional level and Semi State level.  For example, if we look at last year’s 220 weight class at the New Castle Semi State, 6 out of 8 “blood round” wrestlers from last year would now be in the same regional.  This means that 2 wrestlers who completed in the “blood round” (one round away from making it to state) would have been eliminated at the regional level.  We are dangerously close to eliminating state caliber wrestlers at the regional level with this sectional realignment.  106 is another weight class where you will see a similar dynamic.
 
I think the current committee is making mistakes and not using data that's available.  I also think they're not listening to feedback from coaches who have good ideas.  No system is ever perfect, but there are parts of this realignment that don't make sense...at least not that I can see.  Would love to hear from the committee why they would change Southport and Arsenal Tech the way they did.
 
Coach Hughes
317-753-7786
 

The Indy school shake up will create a very deep regional at Perry
Perry
Warren
Greenfield Central
New Pal (gonna be really good really soon)
Mount Vernon
Lawrence North
North Central
Roncalli
Beech Grove
LC
Franklin Central plus other schools that have decent size too
 
How would you like to be tiny Lutheran or Triton Central, or Purdue Polytechnic? 
 
even if Perry and Warren never return to the programs they were in 2003-2019, the sheer depth is going to make that a tough road for those teams just to make Semi-state 
 
Maybe (emphasis on the maybe) even deeper than Mooresville overall who has
 
Brownsburg
Center Grove
Avon
Ben Davis
Plainfield
Decatur Central
Pike
Mooresville
Martinsville
Greenwood
Whiteland
 
The edge at the top would certainly go to Mooresville but I’d put the 2nd-5th placers at this regional up against any in the state.
 
 
 
 

The Indy school shake up will create a very deep regional at Perry
Perry
Warren
Greenfield Central
New Pal (gonna be really good really soon)
Mount Vernon
Lawrence North
North Central
Roncalli
Beech Grove
LC
Franklin Central plus other schools that have decent size too
 
How would you like to be tiny Lutheran or Triton Central, or Purdue Polytechnic? 
 
even if Perry and Warren never return to the programs they were in 2003-2019, the sheer depth is going to make that a tough road for those teams just to make Semi-state 
 
Maybe (emphasis on the maybe) even deeper than Mooresville overall who has
 
Brownsburg
Center Grove
Avon
Ben Davis
Plainfield
Decatur Central
Pike
Mooresville
Martinsville
Greenwood
Whiteland
 
The edge at the top would certainly go to Mooresville but I’d put the 2nd-5th placers at this regional up against any in the state.
 
 
 
 

Chatard is gonna benefit from this as well
a lot more kids to Semi -State for the Trojans who were already building

The Indy school shake up will create a very deep regional at Perry
Perry
Warren
Greenfield Central
New Pal (gonna be really good really soon)
Mount Vernon
Lawrence North
North Central
Roncalli
Beech Grove
LC
Franklin Central plus other schools that have decent size too
 
How would you like to be tiny Lutheran or Triton Central, or Purdue Polytechnic? 
 
even if Perry and Warren never return to the programs they were in 2003-2019, the sheer depth is going to make that a tough road for those teams just to make Semi-state 
 
Maybe (emphasis on the maybe) even deeper than Mooresville overall who has
 
Brownsburg
Center Grove
Avon
Ben Davis
Plainfield
Decatur Central
Pike
Mooresville
Martinsville
Greenwood
Whiteland
 
The edge at the top would certainly go to Mooresville but I’d put the 2nd-5th placers at this regional up against any in the state.
 
 
 
 

The Indy school shake up will create a very deep regional at Perry
Perry
Warren
Greenfield Central
New Pal (gonna be really good really soon)
Mount Vernon
Lawrence North
North Central
Roncalli
Beech Grove
LC
Franklin Central plus other schools that have decent size too
 
How would you like to be tiny Lutheran or Triton Central, or Purdue Polytechnic? 
 
even if Perry and Warren never return to the programs they were in 2003-2019, the sheer depth is going to make that a tough road for those teams just to make Semi-state 
 
Maybe (emphasis on the maybe) even deeper than Mooresville overall who has
 
Brownsburg
Center Grove
Avon
Ben Davis
Plainfield
Decatur Central
Pike
Mooresville
Martinsville
Greenwood
Whiteland
 
The edge at the top would certainly go to Mooresville but I’d put the 2nd-5th placers at this regional up against any in the state.