Justin Ratliff

2 minutes ago, BrodyHardcastle said:

I think you’re thinking of Cumberlands.

Yes! That is it.  

Hasn't Campbellsville had some other tragic events happen in recent years?  Or am I thinking of some other college?

15 hours ago, THECountyFan said:

Saw a picture of Brewers knee at a past practice at a academy the other night, looked like two knee caps in one. for what its worth

I'm didn't name anyone, nor will I.  I think the rules need adjusted in general.  Brewer is a warrior.  He's wrestled on several of my travel teams.  Love that kid!

Just like the Iranian untying his shoe to catch a breather, there was no rule against it.  There is no rule against it but we have all seen wrestlers use injury time to get out of a bad position and/or catch a breather.  I don't know the answer but it definitely needs to be looked at. 

It's a difficult situation.  On one hand, it's designed to protect a wrestler and determine if they can continue wrestling.

One the other hand, some wrestler's use injury time like an Iranian with a shoe untied.

If you purchased tickets there is an email from Ticketmaster where you can leave a review. Speak your mind Indiana wrestling fans. Please remember to be civil though. 

@Y2CJ41 can you set this up?! You are the Don King (without the hair) of Indiana wrasslin'.  This could be a fun event.  Maybe do a youth version to open up the night?  Make it like a 2-2.5 hour event?

6 minutes ago, Athenr said:

Settle down there Roll Tide

More like the Big Ten Wrestling of semi-states.  As in Big Ten Wrestling is even more dominant than SEC (Roll Tide) Football. 

Evansville is not only in the top four semi-states. It is THE top. 

Nearly as many medals as East Chicago and the Fort combined.  Not even a contest.  Evansville is "Prelim State".  All the others are semi-states.

German food and country cookin'! Ya'll going to the South!

@Christopher Bohn should totally do a state finals hot dog review though.  

Brewer PBJ?

David Pierson

Rowd-a-bush

I’ve been seeing stalling called a lot more this year if a wrestler goes out of bounds. Depends if they are trying to go out or if the action causes them to go out of bounds from what I’ve seen. I’ve seen a lot more 1st period stallings.

We sat in 107 and there was a good view of mat 1 and 2.

It’s so entertaining to mess things up!  

Great write up as always!

If you give your kid an extra year of preschool is that a grey shirt?  Is a red shirt 2 8th grade years or how about an extra 6th grade year then an extra 8th grade year?  What color shirt is that?

Can someone come up with a diagram?

@Mattyb how are the tables at the Casino in downtown Evansville?

They did it this year.

On 2/3/2024 at 6:32 PM, Gdunham149 said:

Potential at 190 for Terry or Goldsberry to see McConnell in the ticket round. 

Goldsberry and McConnell should see each other in the ticket round.  Terry and Henry should see each other in the semifinals.  

You were very accurate with your predictions.  The 132 championship match would have been hard.  A lot of game planning and execution had to happen for the freshman to pull the upset!

Mallory Winner

5 hours ago, Y2CJ41 said:

FINALLY! We can settle a lot of differences there! Should we get a sign-up sheet started now/

 

Hopefully they can do something similar in Indy at the new plaza area next to the arena.

We could get this rematch set up. I could probably talk the farm boy into lacing them up again.  

2 hours ago, TripleB said:

Evansville will be hosting fan fest; let's hope some breweries are set up!

 

"Get ready for an unforgettable experience on Saturday, February 17th, as Explore Evansville hosts an electrifying Fan Festival exclusively for attendees of the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals! This event is your ticket to a day of excitement, featuring an enticing array of food trucks, outdoor activities for all ages and convenient shuttles to explore the bustling Franklin Street district. It's a chance to immerse yourself in the lively spirit of Evansville, connect with fellow wrestling fans and enjoy the best the city has to offer. Make the most of your visit and join us for a day of celebration, community and endless fun right in the heart of Downtown Evansville!"

I heard they are going to have an open challenge mat next to the beer garden!  

On 1/24/2024 at 6:11 AM, Justin Ratliff said:

2023 933 kids in qualifiers (I believe this may have included the kids that were Tulsa kids that were allowed in last year)

 

2024 903 kids in first week of qualifiers (4 more qualifiers to go)

 

I think that there may be less kids in the qualifiers this week due to MS State Duals and Kid's Folkstyle Nationals.  However, even if they have 150 kids per qualifier, that would put the number at around 1500 kids.  That would be a 60% increase participation from last year?  I will give you a little less than that for the kids that may try to qualify again this week.  But the increase can't be denied.

 

What is Indiana's weakest link for wrestling?  Is it youth?  No way, we have all kinds of training and events for these kids.  Is it HS?  No way.  We have 3 teams this year represented among the top of the nation.  It's middle school.  The red headed step child.  Middle School is where many start their career.  So they end up way behind our wrestlers who have grown up on the mat.  Then you have the all of the different weights, different starts/ends to the season throughout the state.  MS is just weird.

 

Now you have more of these middle school wrestlers getting USAW cards and competing against better competition.  We all saw kids that have never been and wouldn't think about competing at MS state.  Now they may have set a goal for themselves to get more training or train after the MS season ends.  They might just want to get more involved in going to USAW tournaments since they have a card now.

 

Let's continue to watch how this plays out.

Update:

1600 wrestlers in the qualifiers.  Not sure how many of those were kids trying to qualify the second time around.  But that is a lot of kids wrestling at a MS tournament like this that would not go to state.  We all saw those kids participating.  And a lot of kids getting USA cards that did not have them before.  1209 kids got USA cards during the previous 20 days.  That's 14% of the total state valid USA cards.