gsmith58

Nice job. Thank you for doing this. How you find the time is beyond me.
One thing though, Haines has as much chance of making 113 as Ison does of 106. I'm taking odds now
 

Flo just updated their rankings.  Should be the last update before the High School season.  Our guys won't see much movement during season due to  our sweet travel restrictions.
120-Zeke Seltzer-20th
132-Jesse Mendez-2nd
152-Matt Lee-17th
170-Graham Calhoun-20th
182-Joe Walker-13th
195-Silas Allred-2nd
195-Evan Bates-13th
FYI-I updated middle school top 25 on the youth page
 

Not saying he would have, but one could make a credible argument that he was a potential four timer (yes, I know Asa stood in his way).
I know it's not any consolation, but folks know just how good he is.

Not saying he would have, but one could make a credible argument that he was a potential four timer (yes, I know Asa stood in his way).
I know it's not any consolation, but folks know just how good he is.

Not saying he would have, but one could make a credible argument that he was a potential four timer (yes, I know Asa stood in his way).
I know it's not any consolation, but folks know just how good he is.

This is my favorite Mattyb post in the history of Mattyb posts. LOL

A couple ideas for youth programs
1. Get the parents together. Hold a cookout, or maybe during your youth practice have a coach take time to do a "parent clinic". Figure out who the most "likeable" parent is and ask them to be the ambassador for the other parents - do NOT pick the parent that wants to run everything but not many people like cause that will drive people away. The more the parents become friends, the more likely it is that their young wrestler will be back next season. If they enjoy spending time with each other, it's also more likely that one wrestler going to a weekend tourney in the spring will bring more along with them.
2. Early in the youth season get an inexpensive package of cool-looking clothes together and see if the parents will buy it or get sponsors to help cover costs where parents cant. When a little kid gets a "pro headgear" or "real wrestling shoes" they are now a real wrestler. If the tshirt you get them is super cool, it might be their favorite shirt they wear every other day to school and other kids see that stuff especially if a bunch of them are wearing them
3. Communicate! Let the parents know ahead of time what is coming up, what the kids are working on, etc. Seems like every other youth sport has practice on specific nights every week with a game on saturday. With youth wrestling, try to get with other clubs in your general area and set Monday, Thursday or whatever night as your "meet nights" where clubs can get together and do some round robin wrestling with no pressure just get a lot of matches against some new faces. Wednesday night is bad because that is youth night at many churches. Make those meet nights fun.  Don't know if its possible, but try to get the screaming parents away from the mat and into the stands as much as possible so its more of a kid-friendly environment
4. Stress to the kids that the focus is not on winning, but trying the moves that they have been working on. As a parent, it doesn't get much more frustrating to practice double legs all week long, only to get to a match and watch your wrestler dance around and never try a double leg! Reward them for trying moves, not just for winning. In football we used to give helmet sticker awards - not sure what could work for wrestling but try to have someone (maybe the kids parents) keep a tally on how many times they attempt a move even if it doesn't work, then make a big deal out of the counts at the next practice - maybe ask the kids really trying to talk about what they were thinking and if the moves worked for them or not

I 100% agree. This is something the coaching staff I’m apart of has been doing for the 3 years I’ve been there. We have kept pretty solid and steady numbers for a small 2a school. We had a kid last year as a state placer that wasn’t so good as a freshman and sophomore and had a decent junior year and by his senior year he only had two losses going into state. Granted it’s pretty rare for that to happen but It’s helped us tremendously because it’s giving those kids that aren’t so good as freshman and sophomores hope. If this kid can do that why can’t I? I think we were blessed with that situation and I understand that doesn’t happen at every school but it goes to show that coaches need to stick with those lower tier wrestlers and coach them up. If we want them to stick with the sport we need to give them reasons to stay. I had the chance to take our team to Disney this year and I don’t even know where to start with the benefits that it provided us. I didn’t have a roster of 14 studs but many of the kids were Jv guys. Give kids opportunities like this if possible! Something teenagers are really good at is talking. When they tell their friends that they got to go to Disney to wrestle it’s going to bring more guys out. I have heard that there are going to be numerous new guys in our room this year which excites me. 

To the retention point it would seem to me  2 to 5 youth athletes a year could be doable. I can think of a couple things that might help. I've noticed in multiple setting (clubs, camps, rooms, academies, tourneys, duals) that the lesser kids don't get the attention that the more experienced and gifted kids get. Hardly insightful, but I think its important if were talking about a handful of kids. I am not saying they are being ignored and getting no attention. What I am saying is they and their parents need 'way more' encouragement and 'way more' attention than the better more experienced kids.
I know that is not natural in any sport, but I can't think of many sports that can be more difficult and "humiliating" for beginners and their parents. I can't tell you how many times I have had to talk first and second year (and sometime later) parents off the cliff during a tourney because some up and coming academy wizard took down, cut, took down, cut, etc, etc. their 11 year old beginner son. Its darn hard for everyone those first couple of years. That in itself does not encourage retention.

Here is what I also see from successful programs (in all sports) is the coaching from the bottom up approach. All programs are going to a few studs. The better programs have 10 or so studs. Guess what???... those are the easiest kids to coach. I see coaches coaching from the top down. Meaning... they spend the majority of time with their suds. Those kids are self motivated, and many times know more than their high school coaches. The successful coaches spend more time with their marginal kids and make them good. This not only builds depth, but makes those kids feel more important to the team. This results in retention, and the strengthening of the program. Show more love to the lesser kids. Let them know that they are a HUGE part of the program, and they are needed. That's another great way to keep kids around. 
Here is something that the vast majority can relate to:
As a youth football coach, I was lucky to have my teams in the "super bowl" every season. All teams have a fairly even draft. All teams have two or three studs. The daddy ball coaches spend the whole practice focusing on their own kids and letting junior and his best buddy run the ball in every practice and every game. The other kids "get" to stand on the line and block. That leads to kids hating youth football and angry parents. Where as the successful youth coaches convince the kids that line play is the most important part of the game (which it is). They also find something that each kid does well, and makes them feel that each kid is the very best at doing that particular thing. The daddy ball coaches just "hide" the weaker kids and focus on junior and the other studs. If a kid is not a striper, give them the rock once a game! Put your studs on the line for a play or two. Let them put their hand in the dirt and help get the "lesser" players a few yards. That approach leads to happy well rounded players and happy parents. Every kid will want to play the following year. The kids will play hard for each other and the wins will come.
I truly think that many of us can do a better job of developing our "lesser" wrestlers, and letting them know and feel how important that they are to the team. Let dem studs "put their hands in the dirt". Let them take a little time to build up the 2nd or 3rd tier guys.  By doing a better job of this (coaching from the bottom up) we will grow depth and keep kids out.
Oh.. by the way... Once the individual tourney starts.... go ahead and play daddy ball, with your best 14!!!! 

I agree with the majority of your post. But, I do, however, know from simple observation, anecdotal as it may be, kids and parents do get humiliated and upset. We've all seen blow-ups at youth tourneys; getting tossed around by another human being is a pretty personal thing. And, not every parent grew up as a wrestler or even an athlete; nor do they all have the "fight through it" mental model.
Having that life experience is good thing, and I am absolutely on point with you, but the gist here was about about retention and keeping them around so they learn that focus. I certainly know every kid has to go through it, all I am saying is when it happens they need more attention and awareness than the better or more experienced kids. And it doesn't always happen. And, retention in any context is built one person at a time.
As an example, we both watch and admire coach Red and his remarkable energy. That guy makes it a point to get around to every kid in that room every single day (and nearly every drill or go). Every one of them gets a personal conversation and a little of his "love." He's a great example of what I mean.
 

I'd watch... 😃

I agree with the majority of your post. But, I do, however, know from simple observation, anecdotal as it may be, kids and parents do get humiliated and upset. We've all seen blow-ups at youth tourneys; getting tossed around by another human being is a pretty personal thing. And, not every parent grew up as a wrestler or even an athlete; nor do they all have the "fight through it" mental model.
Having that life experience is good thing, and I am absolutely on point with you, but the gist here was about about retention and keeping them around so they learn that focus. I certainly know every kid has to go through it, all I am saying is when it happens they need more attention and awareness than the better or more experienced kids. And it doesn't always happen. And, retention in any context is built one person at a time.
As an example, we both watch and admire coach Red and his remarkable energy. That guy makes it a point to get around to every kid in that room every single day (and nearly every drill or go). Every one of them gets a personal conversation and a little of his "love." He's a great example of what I mean.
 

AGREED

Totally agree with this post, and this is why I would like to see the wrestling community undergo a shift in mindset toward mat time at the youth level and away from crowning champions. Heck, you could even do pooled groups, wrestle round-robin, and still give the undefeated kid a medal at the end of the day...but allowing the struggling kids to wrestle other struggling kids is important for retention, growth, and learning of the sport overall. It is just as important as having the gifted kids wrestle other gifted kids...even if it's just one match out of the day.

To the retention point it would seem to me  2 to 5 youth athletes a year could be doable. I can think of a couple things that might help. I've noticed in multiple setting (clubs, camps, rooms, academies, tourneys, duals) that the lesser kids don't get the attention that the more experienced and gifted kids get. Hardly insightful, but I think its important if were talking about a handful of kids. I am not saying they are being ignored and getting no attention. What I am saying is they and their parents need 'way more' encouragement and 'way more' attention than the better more experienced kids.
I know that is not natural in any sport, but I can't think of many sports that can be more difficult and "humiliating" for beginners and their parents. I can't tell you how many times I have had to talk first and second year (and sometime later) parents off the cliff during a tourney because some up and coming academy wizard took down, cut, took down, cut, etc, etc. their 11 year old beginner son. Its darn hard for everyone those first couple of years. That in itself does not encourage retention.

To the retention point it would seem to me  2 to 5 youth athletes a year could be doable. I can think of a couple things that might help. I've noticed in multiple setting (clubs, camps, rooms, academies, tourneys, duals) that the lesser kids don't get the attention that the more experienced and gifted kids get. Hardly insightful, but I think its important if were talking about a handful of kids. I am not saying they are being ignored and getting no attention. What I am saying is they and their parents need 'way more' encouragement and 'way more' attention than the better more experienced kids.
I know that is not natural in any sport, but I can't think of many sports that can be more difficult and "humiliating" for beginners and their parents. I can't tell you how many times I have had to talk first and second year (and sometime later) parents off the cliff during a tourney because some up and coming academy wizard took down, cut, took down, cut, etc, etc. their 11 year old beginner son. Its darn hard for everyone those first couple of years. That in itself does not encourage retention.

I agree that the best usually come from that group. What happens, though if we create an environment that allows for more growth at the youth level? Would we be able to increase the number of kids who identify themselves as wrestlers? That really is the key. When a kid looks in the mirror and sees a wrestler, that's when we keep them. And it doesn't really matter if they're great, average, or even not very good. They keep with it because it is part of who they are. I have seen plenty of kids who play basketball until high school is over, and are never very good. They just see basketball as part of their identity. If we open the door to more kids getting more mat time at the youth level, maybe we will get more wrestlers of all levels, which is necessary for the long-term health of the sport.

It appears to me their JV is going to be a Top 20.

It appears to me their JV is going to be a Top 20.

I can say without any hesitation, Kyle would win well over 30 matches as a 106 right now. He is going to be a beast in High School.

You need to be promoting that Dillon Graham kid instead of monkeying around promoting Freshman. Seems that Graham kid has beaten several of the kids that made the list.
On a related note have you seen the size of Mr. Ocampo? He used to be in my son's weight class for years. He's a tad bigger these days
 

Petition to the NFHS: NFHS Petition Against the Change to 12 Classes
 

What are the main issues we are trying to resolve in Indiana high school wrestling? Rules changes should be directed towards fixing those issues. Reducing FF by removing opportunities seems like it is contrary to growing the sport of wrestling.

No, I wouldn't want that. It is what it is. I think your proposed jump is too drastic, and would simply reallocate, what you perceive, as 'unfairness.' I thought wrestling prided itself on being a level playing field where the outliers could compete.
While there are no doubt a number of very good upperclass wrestlers sitting because of circumstances (Brownsburg, Perry, Mater Dei, etc), I would bet they're a number sitting simply because they have not put in the time and effort that their varsity counterpart has. 
I am only pointing out it depends on your perspective, and asking you to recognize there are a number, not just my son, of smaller underclass wrestlers that have some talent, have put in as much, if not more, time and effort, and are equally deserving as any upperclass backup. And, I'm pretty certain that if one could to equalize weight, Cernus and Cotty could compete with, say, the HWT finalists.
As far as cutting, you and I are of like mind, but I don't see that changing anytime soon.