There is absolutely no good way to award a team title in the current format, because no one has their team there.
Anything they do will be a bad option. I think it is a waste to worry about the best bad option. Y2 compared one of the alternate proposals (adding points from all four rounds) to adding up the points a football team scores in the season. The current format is akin to picking the best team by adding up who has the most all-staters on their team.
There is no getting around the fact that the current format assesses the team based on the performance of a few individuals. That is the antithesis of the team concept. So trying to make marginal adjustments around that core concept is meaningless. Accept that the team title means little in the current format and lobby for a true team championship with whole teams represented. They do it next door in Illinois, why not in Indiana?
Mike Reiser has been doing the rankings for four years now. Here is the breakdown of ranked kids in the final rankings by year
2015- 172
2014- 171
2013- 171
2012- 170
Also this year he had 166 kids ranked in the preseason that went to state. Take into account move-outs, kids graduating early, injuries, etc. and that is pretty darn good in my book!
Brock Hudkins is hoping his bad luck is finally behind him.
The Danville junior 120-pounder has had untimely illnesses and injuries throughout his career. He broke his hand as a freshman, suffered from a severe case of dehydration at the state tournament as a sophomore and just recently recovered from a fractured finger.
“Brock really has had a lot of bad luck,” Danville coach Steve Pugliese said. “He broke his hand his freshman year, and then he was sick at weigh-ins at state and couldn’t wrestle as a sophomore. This year he was working out on a Friday and ended up smashing his finger severely and had to lose a month of the season.
“But he doesn’t let it affect him. “He understands that as long as he’s OK for the state tournament series, he can be a force.”
When he has been on the wrestling mats, he’s been dominate. He missed a month of this season, but has advanced to Saturday’s Evansville semistate with a perfect record. Hudkins is currently 25-0 on the year.
Hudkins started the season out as the No. 1 ranked 120-pounder in the state. Currently he is ranked fifth.
As a freshman Hudkins finished fifth at 106 pounds.
“I went into my high school career with the goal of winning four championships,” Hudkins said. “I finished fifth as a freshman. Everyone was telling me that fifth was a big deal. They would congratulate me on winning regional and semistate. But that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted a state title.
“I felt like I let myself down. I set my sights on winning the next year, but the cards didn’t play in my favor at all when I got sick at weigh-ins. But now, it’s all I think about. I want more than anything to get under those lights.”
While most high school juniors enjoy video games, movies and having fun – Hudkins said his fun is wrestling. There is nothing else.
“I completely believe that,” Pugliese said. “He has earned his success. He is always training. When he says he doesn’t do anything else, it’s true. He’s not just saying that. I think in the summer he probably wrestled 50 matches across the country and I don’t think he got beat.”
Hudkins has a total of three losses in high school, yet he knew there were plenty of things to improve upon. According to Pugliese, he’s done that.
“He has gotten a lot better on his feet,” Pugliese said. “We work on that 90 percent of our practice time, and it’s really showing now.”
Pugliese feels that wrestlers at the elite level that Hudkins is at, have a certain quality that most wrestlers don’t exhibit.
“When I took this job, Hudkins was in fourth grade,” Pugliese said. “Everyone talked about him and talked about him. Finally, when I saw him compete I found out why they were hyping him so much.
“For him, like a lot of elite wrestlers, attitude is everything. He gets out in front of a bunch of people, and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care who’s watching him. He knows what he can do. He knows he’s earned his success. He knows he deserves to win the match.”
Pugliese also said that Hudkins is never arrogant or cocky about his abilities.
Hudkins truly loves wrestling.
“I love everything about it,” he said. “It’s fun. It’s the main reason why I wrestle. But I also love competing against other people. You don’t have to rely on teammates. It’s you and one guy in the middle of the mat going at it. Best man wins.”
After high school Hudkins hopes to wrestle for a Division 1 school. He is still contemplating his educational goals, but he’s narrowed it down to either a lawyer, a physical trainer or an engineer.
Hudkins will face Evansville Memorial sophomore Nolan Schaefer (27-18) in the first round of the Evansville semistate on Saturday.
If you have a #WrestlingWednesday feature idea, please contact Jeremy Hines at jerhines@cinergymetro.net.
One of the biggest problems with this is the fact that everyone wants stalling called, as long as it's not against them. More stalling should be called, especially in the first two periods, but coaches have accept that it is going to get called against them and stop complaining so much when it does.
Do you guys not know that james has already dominated cash & lee , not to mention is the only kid in the state of Indiana that has beat red????
James is a lock at 138!
I agree. I couldn't find the updated rankings either. I eventually figured it out. Both the state rankings and Merrillville updates are listed as week 2, week 3, etc. Ft. Wayne still listed as week 1.
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.
JimR658 got a reaction from barrydjr in Goshen Regionals
JimR658 got a reaction from Jimtown 138 in Goshen Regionals
JimR658 got a reaction from hunters dad in Goshen Regionals