LittleGiant91

I was just talking to a friend about this yesterday. Obviously, it's a hindrance to not have mat access, but if a wrestler is motivated, there should be nothing that stops him from getting a good workout at home and sweating. Push ups, sit ups, jump rope. Heck, i used to put on sweats and run up and down our basement stairs. Not to mention, there's plenty of snow and ice to shovel / chip. I shoveled for 20 minutes yesterday and I was drenched in sweat! You can shadow wrestle and do hip heists, etc. on the living room floor. Most kids (the ones I used to coach are included!) are just too lazy to do it on their own without a coach there to "make them" do it. They would rather whine about not having practice and not being able to make weight. That reminds me of one of my favorite t-shirt quotes: "I will find a way, or I will make a way" - Hannibal Good luck to all wrestlers at regional this Saturday!!

My Ascics Dan Gable "Super Flex" back in 1985. They were white and you could get red or blue stripes. Mesh uppers were the coolest, most breathable pair of wrestling shoes I've ever had. Unfortunately, they discontinued them when the "Dan Gable Ultra Flex" (vision quest) came out... also a fine shoe, but I preferred the Super Flex. Wore mine, taped up, until they finally gave out on me! Man, i miss those shoes!! Any other old timers remember those? [/img]

Congratulations, and welcome to Montgomery County Coach Swain! You were always a class act as a wrestler and as a coach at Highland. I'm sure you'll bring the same thing to North Montgomery. Chris Ervin

Drooke, Yes, I hung it up at the end of the season after 19 years as head coach at C-Ville. Basically, I'm just tired. I still love the sport, but I don't have the time and desire to do all of the out of season things anymore that are needed to develop a program. Both of my kids are at an age (9 and 14) where they are involved in lots of activities and I don't want to miss them. I will still be coaching the elementary wrestlers in our club (and also coaching youth baseball and football), so I will be involved in the program. I plan to get my officials license and stay involved as much as possible. It is not official yet, but it looks like my long time assistant, Roger Tribbett, will be the head coach next year. He is committed to the program and to the kids and he will do a great job! Thanks for asking. Chris Ervin FORMER head coach - Crawfordsville High School

I am the coach of the opposing wrestler, and I have to say, we were confused by the call as well. Just before that call happened, West head butted McBride (I'm not saying it was malicious, but there was definitely a head to head contact) and there was no call. Dylan was visibly shaken and the refs even gave him a few seconds to clear his head. When they re-started, they hit heads again, and that is when the DQ happened. I didn't realize what they were calling, and when I asked the official, he said that the opponent (West) had intentionally led with his head and he called it a flagrant foul. Dylan felt like it was accidental on Jim's part, and wanted to continue to wrestle. He stated to me "Coach, I don't want to win that way. I want to finish the match!" I told him to tell the offcial, which he did, and he was told that the call had been made and it couldn't / wouldn't be changed. I too, feel bad for Jim. It was a strange situation and one that no wrestler or coach wants to have end his season. I don't know Jim, and we had never wrestled him before, but I will say that he handled that situation very well and showed great sportsmanship after the match towards Dylan and myself. I feel that at the least, he should be recognized as a medalist and awarded the 8th place medal. Without naming names, I saw worse behavior after a semi final and final match and those wrestlers were allowed to stand on the podium. I want to wish Jim the best of luck in the future and congratulate him on a great season. Chris Ervin Crawfordsville H.S.

PHS coach, I totally agree. The "weight loss plan" is convoluted and confusing. In fact, on the online rules meeting this year, there was an example showing a weigh in sheet for one date and another for a date where the kid had lost more than 1.5% in a week. It clearly stated that the wrestler was NOT ineligible, but this was not a qualifying weigh in. From that example, it is easy to believe that Coach Joll (or any other coach that this happened to) might have thought that it was not illegal for the athlete to weigh in that much lighter, but simply that it did not count toward his qualifying weigh ins. The rule (or it's ever-changing interpretation) is very confusing. Personally, I feel that the old rule of having to make a weight for half of your total weigh ins (with a minimum of 5 at that weight) was a better way to insure that kids are keeping their weight regulated. Here's another thought: When all of this weight control started after the deaths 10-12 years ago, my former college coach told me " the only way to stop weight cutting is to put a scale next to the scoring table and have the wrestlers step on it as they check in and make weight in their full uniform." It may sound crazy, but he's right! Adjust all of the weights 5 pounds higher to account for a uniform. No wrestler in his right mind would step on the mat to compete if he was dehydrated or hadn't eaten in two days! Thus, if one really wanted to drop a weight class, the way to do it would be to eat healthier and exercise more so you could make that weight fully hydrated. With today's technology and portable scales, it is becoming a more viable option. I say let's try it!

Congratulations to Trent on being named Coach of the Year. He is a tireless worker for both the Yorktown program and for Indiana wrestling in general. Congratulations also to all of the regional coaches of the year. This was a great addition by the IHSWCA this year. It gives several coaches around the state the chance for themselves and their programs to be recognized. Good luck to all participants and coaches at the state tournament. I'll see you at Conseco. Chris Ervin Crawfordsville H.S.

I guess I was misinformed. It's not the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Thanks, Steve, for setting me straight! By the way, good luck at Conseco. I'll see you on Friday. Chris Ervin C-Ville

Tin Can, I agree that Tri West has some good wrestlers, and i wish them the best of luck. I could be wrong, but I believe Tri West has had a state placer in the past. Danville Coach Steve Pugliese and his older brother were both state qualifiers (or so I've been told) in the late 1980's for Tri West, and I believe one, if not both, placed. They were both outstanding wrestlers for the University of Indianapolis in the late 80's and early 90's as well. Regardless, it has been a long drought for the Bruins, and I agree that they have a great chance of breaking it this year! Good luck to the Bruins at state!

I thought the officiating at New Castle was good too. We had a solid crew and they did a great job from what I saw. Nice job, stripes!

Congrats to Dylan McBride of Crawfordsville on winning his second straight New Castle Semi State at HWT! 3 pins out of four matches, including one in the finals. You were a BEAST today! Dylan is the only 2x Semi State champ in C-Ville history. Let's have a great week and finish under the lights next weekend! Coach E.

Terry, I'm sorry to hear that you are banged up. Take care and get well soon. I hope to see you at New Castle or at least at Conseco next week! My prayers are with you! Chris Ervin

Dylan McBride #17 HWT - Crawfordsville H.S. State Qualifier and Semi State Champ - 2 way starter in football: O-Line / D-Line; played baseball last 3 years. Not sure if he'll play this year or not. Pretty talented big man!

midget5589, FYI: LittleGiant91 refers to the fact that I graduated from Wabash College (mascot = Little Giants) in 1991. Yes, the mascot name is oxymoronic, but there actually is a story behind it. I won't bore you with that right now, though. Chris Ervin

Just for the record, I am for class wrestling. I think it would be great for the growth of our sport. However, just because there are people who think we need it, doesn't mean we should take it to the IHSAA as an association yet. The topic has been polled several times among IHSWCA members and just like on the discussion board, there are vehement supporters on both sides of the issue. As I remember it, the polls have historically been around 50/50, with a slight edge going one way or the other from time to time. (Perhaps it IS time to discuss it / poll it again amongst coaches?). The IHSAA has repeatedly told our representatives that they want to see overwhelming support from the coaches (like 85-90%) for a proposal before they will consider it. So, even if we get 60%, 65%, or even 70% of coaches in favor of class wrestling, the IHSAA will shoot it down because we don't have all of the coaches on board. Furthermore, the IHSAA has set the precedent that they don't want to talk about taking the "individual" sports to classes. Even if 95% of wrestling coaches were in favor of it, the IHSAA would not change JUST wrestling to classes. To them, it's all or nothing, meaning that they would also change track, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, etc. In order to really get the IHSAA's attention, there would probably have to be a coalition of coaches' associations from the "indidvidual" sports show support for classes in their sports and promote the idea together. I'm not saying that this can never be attained, but it's not as simple as just deciding that we as wrestling coaches want class wrestling so it's going to happen. That is why, wrestlebacks, for instance, have been proposed several times (in different forms) by the IHSWCA. Most coaches agree that this would improve our sport and our state tournament. Even WITH overwhelming support of high school coaches, the IHSAA has repeatedly shot us down (why, I don't really know, other than the fact that they don't like change!). Class wrestling may one day come to Indiana, but if and when it does, it will happen in stages: 1) a large majority of coaches in Indiana need to be convinced that there is a need for class wrestling (judging from the discussions that I have read, we are a long way from this right now). 2) once wrestling is solidly in favor of classes, we would need to get to work with other coaches' associations of tennis, golf, swimming, track, etc. and try to convince them to support classes for their sports as well. 3). Finally, if 1 & 2 are achieved, the IHSAA MAY listen to a proposal, but I would still be sceptical of it passing until the powers that be were convinced that it is THEIR idea. I know this may sound like a defeatist attitude, but my point is that it is pretty clear from the historical stance of the IHSAA that proposing class wrestling right now would be something akin to "peeing in the wind" for lack of a better description. Therefore, the IHSWCA has been focusing on changing / improving the system that we DO have to work with. I agree, though, that class wrestling is a hot topic and this discussion board is a great place to debate the virtues / vices of classes and to begin convincing those non - believers that it would be good for our sport. Chris Ervin Crawfordsville High School Head Wrestling Coach

I'll be there in Big John Schattner's group! Y2, are you doing NCAA Pick em's this year, or did I miss that post? They've been a lot of fun in the past!

spiralride1, you make some good points, especially about getting more big guys to come out for wrestling. Maybe that would work, but my concern at the HS level would be filling those classes. Right now, I find it difficult to fill 215 and 285 with quality wrestlers. More often than not, my 215 is a 189 pounder wrestling up. That is one reason that I advocated going to 198. I still feel that more smaller heavy's would make the weight class more interesting, not take away opportunities from anyone. I'm sure at some of the MIC schools (3000+enrollment) there are plenty of big kids, but at smaller schools, we just don't have that many big guys walking the halls, especially ones willing to wrestle. If it were determined that a "middle" ground was needed for HWT, I think moving 215 up to 225 or 230 would be a better solution than adding another weight class.

Add another HWT class? No way! If anything, we need to do like college does and get rid of 215. I have always thought that the 215 class took some of the best athletes out of the HWT class and made it a push and shove fest. I think those lighter guys taking shots and wearing down the big guys with their conditioning would make HWT more interesting. Does anyone remember when Kurt Angle won the NCAA HWT championship (1989 or 90?) when he weighed in at 206? Now, that was an exciting HWT! If I had my way, we would keep 14 weights, but readjust them like this: 162 (currently 160), 173 (171), 185 (189), 198 (215), 285. In my opinion, throughout the season about half of the 215's that I see are back up 189's. At Semi State and State, you see some athletic studs at 215, but most of them would be great light heavy's! This way, the guys who could make it would go down to 198, but those big guys that weigh 215 or cut to get there would add a lot of athleticism to the HWT class!

Speaking from experience, some guys just wrestle bigger guys better. Some small HWT's are quicker than the big guys and are able to use that to their advantage, whereas they might just have average quickness/athleticism against some of the better 215's. I have a HWT right now who is like that. He started the season at 235, but weighs under 220 right now. He has done extremely well against the bigger guys, so he stayed at HWT. I was a small HWT myself in H.S. and college, and I know that I would have dropped to 215 in a second if it were available then. I wrestled back in the '80's when we went from 185 to HWT. I had always been smaller, though, and grew into HWT as a senior. I did OK, but I really struggled with the guys approaching the weight limit, so the lighter class would have been good for me. If you can win where you are at, though, why mess with success? For what it's worth, that's the opinion of one former "small" HWT. (Plus, when you grow up as a fat kid, it's kind of nice to be called "small" once in a while:)

Dylan McBride, Crawfordsville HWT is an outstanding OL/DL for the Athenians. Also, Craig Fairley, our 160 (injury defaulted in first match at New Castle) is an all - state RB. The best thing for us is that they are both juniors, so we'll have them back in both sports next year!

Congratulations to Crawfordsville HWT Dylan McBride on winning the New Castle Semi State! Dylan weighed in around 218 and wrestled 4 guys that were 260+ including the last 3 who were all 6-4 + and pushing the limit. You were a BEAST todayDylan! Enjoy the win tonight and then we'll get focused on winning some hardware at Conseco next week! Coach E. By the way, we've had several State Qualifiers, but Dylan became Crawfordsville's first Semi State CHAMPION since 1985 tonight!

189- Dalton defeteated Hodges 5-2

I agree with Y2, there is something to be said for being the ONLY state champ at your weight, but overall, I too have come to believe that class wrestling would be great for the sport. I have had coaches who heard them speak at clinics say that in the last 5 years both Dan Gable and John Smith have basically said that we (Indiana) are missing the boat by not having multiple classes. The overall depth and quality of wrestling would get better over the long run. It doesn't seem to have hurt PA, OH, IA, IL, or MI at all. From what I have read, wrestling is more popular in those states than in Indiana and even though we have been turning out some great ones lately, those states all produce more top level college wrestlers than we do.

I'm not sure how long Clarence Warthan from Frankfort has been coaching, but he has been at it for at least 30 years and probably 35+. I know he coached a few years at Greenwood before going to Frankfort. Great coach and person! Any Hot Dog fans out there know exactly how long Coach Warthan has been at it?

"There are many good coaches throughout the state that won't be recognized on a thread like this because they don't coach a perennial powerhouse team. Its a shame that there are many coaches at the small school level that have done wonders working with less for many years." I have to second Y2 on his reply. Nothing against the "big name" coaches at all, but there are some tremendous coaches out there who do wonders "working with less" (b0th numbers, coaches, and facilities) than most high profile programs. I would agree with another post (I can't remember who) that Rick Overfield, Jamie Welliever and JD Minch are great examples. I know them first hand because I coach in the same conference. Y2 mentioned some great ones, too! I'm sure there are many more out there who could do wonders at a "big school", but have stayed loyal to their schools and communities and stayed put, even through some "lean" years. Maybe this shoud be another thread, but let's hear about your votes for "small school" programs who have great coaches. By the way, before I sign off, I should pass kudos on to Chris Shoaf at Fountain Central, Ron Stateler at South Vermillion and Tom Cook at Seeger who always put tough teams on the mat and produce several state - caliber individuals as well. Chris Ervin Crawfordsville H.S.