warsawwrestling

Not sure if it will play but can be googled  if not...
Good on Coach Harper @crosstownrivals and the entire penn program. Glad my son went thru the program. Special appearance by ref Troy! 
 
LOL...why is there a pic of @Y2CJ41 in the Penn wrestling room (about 30 second mark)? I shall have that taken down next time I'm there...
 

This is an intriguing thread and one I’ve pondered as well with a kid in college and seeing a lot of IN dudes all over. 
 
This is just personal opinion and speculation..
 
A lot of these guys have been at it a long time and have attained a high level of success. College isn’t so easy. Almost every match is semi state level or better against teams and opponents you/they might not expect. If u take a couple losses you start to doubt yourself..and when you start to doubt you also start to question everything..is the time worth it? Is it as important as it was? Is my passion still there? 
 
Another big factor in my opinion is coaching. Not if the college coach is good or bad but just different! Most of these kids have had the same coach and achieved success with the same academy or high school coach in their corner for anywhere from 4-10 years!! Suddenly you have someone totally new..and different in approach/style/personality. So if you factor that in along with the less success or questions of themselves that also plays a role in the mental game. 
 
Lastly, but just as important, injury!! With every match seemingly semi state level or greater, the wear and tear on the body is increased and as the young body ages it also changes and doesn’t heal like it used to! 
 
Im proud of all the IN dudes I see grinding it out at all collegiate levels. It ain’t easy and it is vastly different in college. 
 
Thanks @blueandgold for raising the issue. Heck, it’s different as a parent so I can only imagine how these athletes feel!! 

Is that all? 106 from 2014

Is that all? 106 from 2014

Indiana has always been a state that produces great talent, but a lot of times, it never seems to materialize on the next level. There are a variety of factors that can contribute to this, but it’s always interesting to see who does well and who doesn’t in college. An individual that comes to mind for me is Dylan Lydy, a state champion in 2015 and now ranked 4th in the nation as a redshirt senior for Coach Ersland and only has one loss. He looks to be a for sure All-American this year if he can keep this momentum going, and while he is an incredibly hard worker, there have been more talented wrestlers to enter the collegiate ranks who fizzled out quickly. Also, I see Kris Rumph and Kyle Hatch are BOTH ranked #1 in the nation at their weights for very respective and competitive schools. Hats off to these gentleman for persevering and making the most of their college careers. I hope this new crop of talent can be successful. I have high hopes for Silas Allred, Zeke Seltzer, and Brayden Littell along with many, many others.

140 senior year....HWT now

These are all great weights. Still haven’t seen a weight deeper than 2015 120 though that featured names such as:
 
Brendan Black
Breyden Bailey
Brock Hudkins
Cornelious Elliott
Hunter Langeloh 
Jeremiah Reitz
Kyle Hatch
Sawyer Miller
Tyler Ferguson
Will Egli
 
Deepest weight I’ve ever seen. 4 state champions in one bracket.

Congrats to three IN guys claiming D3 #1 rankings...Champagne, Rumph, Hatch. Several others right there with nationals on the horizon. 
https://www.d3wrestle.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Ranking_7_20200114.pdf

Wabash update. Lotta top guys out yesterday but lotsa young guys getting great experience. Of note, Kyle Holman of Carmel defeating a national champ. 
 
https://sports.wabash.edu/news/2020/1/11/wrestling-wabash-places-fourth-at-nwca-national-duals.aspx

Wabash college getting ready for NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals in Louisville this weekend, with the #3 seed.  1st round bye and will await the winner of U of Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. Heidelberg. 

Your Wabash update. Next up National Duals Friday in Louisville. Good luck to all the IN dudes in all divisions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Southern Scuffle
Joe Lee got a quick 1st period TF (16-1) over Chris Fasano of The Citadel in the Round of 32.  He got a 1st period fall (2:17) over Connor Flynn of Missouri.  Flynn had been wrestling 174 this season and dropped to 165 after losing twice to Mizzou's starter Jeremiah Kent. 
 
Joe lost his quarterfinal match to 8th ranked Thomas Bullard of NC State, 9-4.  He drops to the consolation bracket where action will resume tomorrow morning.  He'll face Randy Meneweather of Air Force in the blood round.  

Your Wabash update..Happy holidays @SWINfan and all college board people. 
 

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
 
A friendship formed at a junior high football practice has led to a pair of successful high school wrestlers.
 
Jacob LaPlace met Joseph Walker when both were gridders at Mishawaka’s John Young Middle School.
 
LaPlace, who had been wrestling since age 4, saw mat potential in Walker.
 
“You’re really athletic, you’ve got to come out for wrestling,” says LaPlace of his invitation to Walker, who was already around 160 pounds. “Since then, we’ve been training together.”
 
Now in their fourth season as Mishawaka High School teammates, Walker is competing at 182 and LaPlace at 195. LaPlace is 16-0 so far in 2019-20 and 125-22 for his career. Walker is 6-0 and 75-25.
 
LaPlace placed fourth at the IHSAA State Finals at 138 on 2017 and was a state qualifier at both 145 in 2018 and 182 in 2019.
 
After being a state qualifier at 152 in 2018, Walker placed sixth at State at 170 in 2019.
 
Going against Walker everyday in the practice room makes LaPlace better.
 
Third-year Mishawaka head coach Steve Sandefer has watched iron sharpen iron with LaPlace and Walker.
 
“They’ve drilled and wrestled live with each other their entire high school careers,” says Sandefer. “The other person is the reason they are as good as they are now.”
 
“They wouldn’t be where they’re at without each other.”
 
LaPlace agrees with that sentiment.
 
“He gives me quick and agile,” says LaPlace of Walker. “He’s got a real explosive double (leg takedown). His strength and defense is really good and that helps my offense.”
 
“I help him because I’m bigger than him.”
 
Walker credits LaPlace with getting him started in the sport and is grateful to his first head coach and his current one.
 
“Jacob’s always been my partner since seventh grade,” says Walker. “I have the speed so I give him different looks. He keeps good position and gives me looks.”
 
“Adam Sandefur was my first coach and he’s always been on me, directing me. Steve (Sandefer) has also pushed me to become greater.”
 
Walker, a University of Michigan commit, credits his faith for his success.
 
“God’s my source of energy and power,” says Walker. Sandefer uses adjectives like hard-nosed, hard-working and super-athletic to describe Walker. He knows that he is also meticulous in his approach to wrestling and its technique, position and adjustments.
 
“He really takes the time to learn the finer details of wrestling,” says Sandefer of Walker. “He is very detail-oriented. That’s going to benefit him not just on the mat but off the mat.”
 
Says Walker, “I want to make sure everything is done right so I don’t do a wrongful move and don’t drill it wrong. I want to make sure it’s precise.”
 
While he has the physical tools, Walker is also a technician.
 
“Athleticism does help a lot, but I’m making sure my technique is down,” says Walker. “That’s a big factor.”
 
“With the bigger guys, strength is going to help a lot. But technique is the main source. I have to make sure my technique’s sharp.”
 
Most days, there’s a Hall of Famer in the room.
 
“Having Al Smith in there is a big help,” says Walker. “That’s another set of eyes watching us to make sure we’re making moves correctly.”
 
Walker says he likes to keep his bucket of moves open.
 
“If one thing doesn’t work, I can hit another thing,” says Walker.
 
“But all those moves, I have to make sure I sharpen them in the practice room each and every day.”
 
“A lot of wrestlers have one good move and it’s very hard for people to stop. That’s their move. It’s what they drill. It’s what they do. It’s their bread and butter.”
 
Walker chose Michigan for college because of the academic and athletic connections.
 
He plans to study anesthesiology while grappling for the Wolverines.
 
“(Anesthesiology) fascinates me,” says Walker. “You have to make sure you have the right dosage and all the math behind it and the science. Grades and school comes first. School is very heavy in my life.”
 
“The wrestling is very heavy in freestyle. They’re going past folkstyle. There’s a lot of international wrestling. That’s what I want to do.”
 
“I want excel in the sport and be the best I can be.”
 
Joseph is the son of William and Rhonda Walker has eight siblings, including Salome Walker (on the women’s wrestling team at McKendree University) and Queen Walker (on the women’s track and field team at Bethel University).
 
LaPlace, the son of Lester and Rae and younger brother of Mariah and an Indiana Tech commit who plans to study business administration, explains his mat style.
 
“I rely on my defense a lot,” says LaPlace. “I only have a few offensive shots, but I’m really confident in those shots.”
 
“I’ve always been a defensive-type wrestler. Most of my offense comes outside of a tie.”
 
LaPlace says he was more offensive as a freshman and sophomore when he competed at 138 and 145.
 
“Moving up, I figured out that you’ve got to slow down,” says LaPlace.
 
“You’ve got to wear out the bigger guys before you can start to get on your offense.”
 
As he grew and got older, LaPlace decided not to cut as much weight.
 
“I wanted to wrestle what I weigh (as a junior),” says LaPlace. “The same thing this year. I’m walking around at about 188.”
 
“I feel comfortable wrestling 195 at about 188 or 189. I might not look it, but I’m pretty strong in wrestling positions. I’m confident in my strength.”
 
Sandefer, who won state titles for Mishawaka at 140 in 2008 and 2009, has become a believer in wrestling at a comfortable weight rather than cutting all the time.
 
“That’s a mistake a lot of kids make,” says Sandefer. “They come into the wrestling room and think about how much weight do I have to lose rather than getting better”
 
“We’ve gotten away from pushing kids to cut too much weight.”
 
Sandefer looks at LaPlace and sees wider shoulders and thicker legs.
 
“That’s exactly what he needed — not just for our season but going forward in life,” says Sandefer. “It’s really given him an opportunity to focus more on his wrestling more than cutting weight.”
 
LaPlace, Walker and the rest of the Cavemen are gearing up for the 32-team Al Smith Classic, which is Friday and Saturday, Dec. 27-28.
 
“The Al Smith is a real eye opener and we train really hard for it,” says LaPlace. “We’re excited for it. We’re going to have a really good run this year as a team.”
 
Many coaches over the years have described the Mishawaka event as a “meat grinder.”
 
“That’s exactly what it is,” says LaPlace. “It shows you just what State’s like. You’ve got to make weight two days in a row. There’s really tough competition.
 
“It’s a tough tournament. It’s fun.”
 
Mishawaka is coming off of the Henry Wilk Classic at Penn Dec. 21.
 
After the Al Smith Classic, the Cavemen will take part in the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Class 3A State Duals in Fort Wayne Jan. 4.
 
Other meets on the horizon are the Northern Indiana Conference Championships at Mishawaka Jan. 18, Mishawaka Sectional Feb. 1, Penn Regional Feb. 8, East Chicago Semistate Feb. 15 and IHSAA State Finals in Indianapolis Feb. 21-22.
 
It will take mental toughness for the Cavemen to get through the season and Sandefer emphasizes that on a daily basis.
 
“Today in our society there’s a lot of people who find excuses for their failures and easy ways out with no responsibility or accountability,” says Sandefer. “Be responsible for yourself. If you’re losing matches what are you not doing in the wrestling room? Are you playing around too much? Hold yourself accountable.”
 
“(It’s about) being mentally tough to push through these tough times. If we’re in a tough practice, everybody else is going through it. It’s not just you. Lift your teammates up. It’s much easier to get through it together.”
 
As a wrestler, Sandefer put in plenty of time away from practice, putting in miles on the treadmill and stationary bike. That extra work had a carry-over effect.
 
“It makes it that much tougher to give up,” says Sandefer. “When you’re putting in that kind of quality time and work in the wrestling room, when you step on the mat, you say, ‘I did not put in all this time and all this effort to come out here and lose or just give up in the middle of a match.’”
 
Sandefer has watched Mishawaka numbers grow from less than 30 to about 45 in his three seasons in charge. The Mishawaka Wrestling Club has more than 60 members.
 
“We have all the right people in the right places,” says Sandefer. “I couldn’t be doing this without my club coaches, assistant coaches, my family and the group of parents we have who are supportive of Mishawaka wrestling.
 
“They help us get a lot accomplished. They get everybody pumped up and fired up.”
 
That includes Jacob LaPlace and Joseph Walker.

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Hunt, Harvey, McCormick, Laughlin and Larson. All 5 wrestled in the Patriot Open at George Mason University on 12-7. 

My gawd longest day ever

Lotsa good IN vs IN action. As FC said the James vs Bailey match was outstanding, 8-7 Bailey. LONG day at Marian...
https://sports.wabash.edu/news/2019/12/8/five-little-giants-claim-individual-titles-at-the-indiana-little-state-wrestling-tournament.aspx

Congratulations to Graham Calhoun from Plymouth for signing with Wisconsin. He is projected to wrestle 174.

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Sorry for the delay..holiday week, busy getting beer.
 
https://sports.wabash.edu/news/2019/11/24/wrestling-hatch-wins-165-pound-title-at-concordia-open.aspx

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
 
Real adversity meets opportunity.
 
That’s the story of Jacob Linky.
 
The wrestling room at Warsaw Community High School is filled with pulsing music and coaches barking instructions as more than three dozen Tigers get after it.
 
One wrestler — junior Linky — goes through the workout, rehearsing his moves with his workout partner, cranking out pull-ups and running laps around the room.
 
But without the sounds heard by the others.
 
Linky lives in a world that is mostly silent.
 
Without his cochlear implants, Linky can’t hear much of anything.
 
There was one incident where smoke alarms went off all over the house where Jacob now resides with Nrian and Brenda Linky. It was 3 a.m.
 
“Jacob slept through the alarm,” says Brian Linky, Jacob’s legal guardian. “I woke him in the morning.”
 
The young man was not born deaf.
 
Now 18, Jacob was about 5 and in native Africa — Lake Volta, Ghana, to be exact — when he lost his hearing at the hands of his father.
 
“We were slaves,” says Jacob, speaking of his early childhood through interpreter Rebecca Black. “We helped my dad in his fishing business.
 
“I didn’t used to be deaf. My dad hit by head a whole bunch. That’s how I became the way I am.”
 
His father demanded that young Jacob dive into very deep waters full of dangerous creatures.
 
“I felt a pop in my ears,” says Jacob. “I was a kid.”
 
His native language was Twi, but he didn’t hear much that after his hearing was gone.
 
Growing up the second oldest of seven children, Jacob has a brother who was born to another family, rejected and traded to his father.
 
It was a life that is difficult to imagine for those in the U.S.
 
“My mom didn’t do anything wrong,” says Jacob. “She fed me.”
 
Wanting the best for Jacob, his mother placed him in an orphanage. He eventually came to live in Warsaw when he was adopted by Andy and Dawn Marie Bass and began attending the fifth grade at Jefferson Elementary in Warsaw. He received hearing aids and then implants.
 
“I’m thankful the Basses adopted me and brought me here,” says Jacob.
 
“I now live with the Linky family.”
 
Following grade school, Jacob went on to Edgewood Middle School in Warsaw and was introduced to wrestling.
 
“I knew nothing (about the sport),” says Jacob. “I played around.”
 
Drive and athletic prowess allow Jacob to excel on the high school mat.
 
“At times his feisty side comes out because of that past,” says Warsaw head coach Kris Hueber. “He’s channeled it well and we’ve been able to harness well most of the time.
 
“He has days where he is cranky and fired up, You know that he’s drawing from stuff that no one else has.”
 
After missing his freshmen season, Jacob made an impact with the Tigers as a 145-pound sophomore, advancing to the East Chicago Semistate.
 
“This year, I’d like to go all the way to State,” says Jacob, who spent the summer pumping iron and continues to eat a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and protein while packing more muscle on a  5-foot-7, 160-pound frame.
 
“(Jacob) fell in love with the weight room,” says Hueber. “There is not much on him that is not muscular. He’s one of those guys with his energy level he needs to be active. As an athlete, he is a remarkably gifted human being. He’s able to do things no one else in the room can do. Between strength, balance and agility, he is uniquely gifted.”
 
Ask Jacob what his best quality is as a wrestler and says speed. His quickness and and strength come into play in the practice room with larger practice partners — 170-pound Brandon Estepp, 182-pound junior Mario Cortes and 195-pound senior Brock Hueber.
 
“I don’t like to wrestle light persons,” says Jacob. “It makes me work hard to wrestle the big guys.”
 
Warsaw opened the 2019-20 season Saturday with the Warsaw Invitational and Jacob went 5-0 with four pins.
 
Sign language and lip-reading help him navigate life as a teenager and athlete. When Jacob wrestles, Black circles the mat to maintain eye contact and relay information to him.
 
“She always looks where my head is,” says Jacob. “She always gets sweaty.”
 
Who gets sweatier during a match? “Me,” says Jacob, thrusting a thumb at his chest. “I’m a harder worker.”
 
Black has been around Jacob since he was in eighth grade.
 
“I feel privileged to be involved in his life,” says Black. “He’s an amazing person. He just is.”
 
Hueber has come to appreciate that Jacob has the ability to be both competitive and light-hearted.
 
“He’s ornery still, but in a good way,” says Hueber. “He has not been able to out-grow being a kid. I love that.”
 
While Jacob’s background and circumstance are different than his Tiger mates, Hueber says he’s “just one of the guys.”
 
“(They) don’t treat him differently in any way,” says Hueber. “They love being around him because of his charisma and personality. He’s a really great teammate.”
 
Hueber says working with Jacob has helped others recognize their influence.
 
“They might be able to goof off for two minutes and snap right back,” says Hueber. “If (Jacob) misses one line of communication, there’s a lot that he’s got to recover from.”
 
This means that workout partners need to be focused and attentive as well — not just for themselves but to also help Jacob. Hueber notes that Jacob has to concentrate and keep focused on his interpreter in class (his current favorite class in English and he is looking forward to Building Trades in the future) and practice.
 
“There are probably times when he’s looking for a break,” says Hueber.
 
“He’s on and he’s full-wired all day. That’s taxing mentally for sure.”
 
Brian Linky works in payment processing at PayProTec in Warsaw and Brenda Linky is the special needs coordinator for Warsaw Community Schools. The Linkys have two sons who played basketball at Warsaw — Zack (now 28 and living in Calfiornia) and Ben (now 22 and attending Indiana University).
 
Taking in Jacob means they have a teenager in the house again.
 
“He’s been nothing but polite,” says Brian Linky. “He’s hard-working around the house (mowing the lawn, making his bed, walking the dog and cooking his own meals). He has friends over. He’s very happy.”
 
As for the future, Jacob is considering joining the football team next year (he has never played the sport). He turns 19 in May.
 
A brother, Christian, lives in Virginia and communicates with Jacob and family in Africa through text.
 
“We’re going to save up so we can visit our parents in Africa,” says Jacob.
 
Right now, he is doing life as an Indiana teenager and wrestling is a big part of it.
 
Real adversity meets opportunity.

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Lots of Indiana boys at Lindenwood Open yesterday. Marian IU and Purdue kids there. Wabash was up in Wisconsin. 
 
Im up in Cleveland today. Got a couple guys up here today at storm open.
 
Asa gets his first college title! 
 
 

They do have one heck of a faculty for a DIII school now. 

56 Wrestlers if I understood the preview correctly.  That's a big room!  A lot of guys ultimately competing for 10 spots.  Lots of IN kids on the roster.  Let's hope they have a great season!

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/November/14/NWCA-Div-III-Rankings-2

https://www.facebook.com/1708695314/posts/10206481583394216?d=n&sfns=mo