CoachJoyce

It's for team scoring. If there are only 6 wrestlers then the top 2 seeds would only receive 2 advancement points IF he wins the next match aka the semi-finals, while the 3 and 4 seeds(if they win) would get advancement plus bonus. This would mean if the 1 or 2 seeds lose in the semi-finals they will get zero points in the championship side while the 3 and 4 got at least 2 advancement points. In those cases it would be beneficial for your team to have 3-6 seeds instead of a top seed.

If they included Crownpoint, we could just have the state finals a week ahead of time lol 

We were fortunate enough to get a new room last season. Three mats, two attached locker rooms, cardio area, coaches office, two storage rooms, and an industrial laundry room. 

Jennings County Sectional on hospitality.  It's not an opinion, it's pretty much a fact of life.  

Yeah that's my kid at 165. I was a little suprised to see that high of a seeding with his record and limited matches, but not unjustified either.  Semi-state qualifer last year, losses this year came to #6, #9, #15 @165 and #16 @175. Also he beat the #3 seed last year at Frosh/Soph state 11-4.  Not sure if that goes into any factoring, but either way definitely looking forward to some great wrestling.

165 Jackson Haston CN Pinned Ethan Smith #17 FW Snider.
157 Asher Ratliff #12 CN 3-0 Dec Over KeVon Russel #11 FW Snider 3-0
126 Jason Shuey CN 5-2 Dec Over Dylan Bennett #14 
 
 

165 Jackson Haston CN Pinned Ethan Smith #17 FW Snider.
157 Asher Ratliff #12 CN 3-0 Dec Over KeVon Russel #11 FW Snider 3-0
126 Jason Shuey CN 5-2 Dec Over Dylan Bennett #14 
 
 

126 Jason Shuey Columbus north d Dylan Bennett Penn 

This top 10 head of hair program has fallen.  Several forfeits up there now nowadays.  

Does anyone know who specifically was on the State Tournament realignment committee?  I'm sure Mr. Faulkens but not sure who else.  Given Franklin Community was moved out of Mooresville, maybe Jim Tonte was on the committee too?  Not sure if coaches are on the committee.  If anyone knows specifically, thanks for responding.
 
Many of the changes don't make sense to me.  But this post is going to focus on one. 
 
Here's facts regarding changes to Southport and Arsenal Tech sectionals:
 
The latest sectional alignment swapped 4 teams from the former Arsenal Tech sectional with 4 teams from the former Southport sectional. 
 
Here's what participation rates look like pre and post:
I looked at participation (defined as total wrestlers competing at sectional) from last season and noticed that the four schools moved from Southport to Arsenal Tech all have a low participation rate and the schools moved from Arsenal Tech to Southport all have high participation rate.  There was previously a divide in participation rates between the two sectionals.  However, the changes to the sectionals create a much more significant divide than what existed before.      
 
Sectional Participants 2023
Teams in Old Southport Sectional
83
Teams in Old Arsenal Tech Sectional
110
Participant Divide
27
 
 
Teams in New Southport Sectional
120
Teams in New Arsenal Tech Sectional
73
Participant Divide
47
 
Low participation results in forfeited matches and wrestlers advancing due to forfeits and not competition.  If last year’s wrestlers competed in the new Arsenal Tech sectional, there would have been only 17 total matches to determine advancement to regionals.  With only 73 total participants in this new sectional and 56 advancing, that means that as many as 39 wrestlers (70% of advancing participants) will qualify for regionals without wrestling a single match. 
 
Also, in the new format, some weight classes would advance forfeits to regionals from Arsenal Tech.  For example, last year’s wrestlers now in the Arsenal Tech sectional would advance forfeits in both the 106 and 285 weight classes.  Forfeits advance to regionals instead of wrestlers!  This means two wrestlers qualify for  semi state without having to wrestle a match at regionals!  
 
Will better wrestlers advance?
I looked at the regional qualifiers from each of these sectionals last year and put them in the new sectionals.  The change in sectionals would mean that 80 of the 112 total qualifiers (71%) would now be grouped together in the same sectional. 
 
Regional Qualifiers 2023
Teams in New Southport Sectional
80
Teams in New Arsenal Tech Sectional
32
Qualifier Divide
48
 
With 56 wrestlers advancing from each sectional, this means that the new format would eliminate 24 of 80 of last year’s regional qualifiers at the sectional level because they are now all in the same sectional at Southport.  These 24 more skilled wrestlers would be eliminated early, thereby losing a week of their season and the experience/accomplishment of advancing to and competing at regionals. 
 
What is the impact to drive time?
The change in these sectionals creates longer drive time for schools overall, and significant greater mileage for schools moved to the new Southport sectional. According to GPS, the new proposal requires Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, North Central and Mount Vernon to collectively drive an additional 42 miles to attend sectionals.  The schools moved into Arsenal Tech sectional save only 23 miles in drive time. 
 
Are there Regional and Semi State Implications?
There are additional impacts at the regional level and Semi State level.  For example, if we look at last year’s 220 weight class at the New Castle Semi State, 6 out of 8 “blood round” wrestlers from last year would now be in the same regional.  This means that 2 wrestlers who completed in the “blood round” (one round away from making it to state) would have been eliminated at the regional level.  We are dangerously close to eliminating state caliber wrestlers at the regional level with this sectional realignment.  106 is another weight class where you will see a similar dynamic.
 
I think the current committee is making mistakes and not using data that's available.  I also think they're not listening to feedback from coaches who have good ideas.  No system is ever perfect, but there are parts of this realignment that don't make sense...at least not that I can see.  Would love to hear from the committee why they would change Southport and Arsenal Tech the way they did.
 
Coach Hughes
317-753-7786
 

I brought this idea up at the coaches clinic a couple years ago. We need to adopt the NAIA model where each team can enter 2 extra guys into the state tournament. That will allow teams that have outstanding varsity 2 guys an opportunity to get them into the state tournament. It would add one extra round to sectional I would assume. I think this will help schools of all sizes. Yes, i’ve coached at a small school so I know the struggles felt there but I do think having multiple entries would help small schools as well. When I coached at a small school, we had back ups that were varsity level but just could not crack the line up. Plus more opportunities for kids to compete at sectional is always a good thing. This will definitely help keeping the football kids in the sport as well. Most football kids over 200 pounds decide not to wrestle once they see the writing on the wall that there are only 2 available spots to make the line up. 

Some quick thoughts/questions that come to mind right after reading this news.....
 
 
 
Soooo just not gonna fix the Mooresville (semistate) problem? 
 
Just gonna keep two of the nation's best teams in the same regional. 
 
How does franklin community get to move clear down to Jeffersonville.  Indian Creek goes to Bloomington. Center Grove, Greenwood, and Whiteland go to Mooresville. All from the same county.
 
Some sectionals still have 8 or 9 teams in it while others have 12/13. 
 
13+13= 26 (Jennings county/ Jeffersonville)
 
8+9= 17 ... that's a whole sectional worth of teams difference.
 
Honestly I know it'll never be "perfect" just seems like a missed opportunity.
 
The indy school shake-up is also interesting with Cathedral and Perry/Southport.
 
Makes the "city tournament"  matches a little more relevant. 
 
Poor Rochester I feel like they have moved back and forth several times. I know they are right on the border... but still.
 
Ft Wayne Snyder lost some hammers, Rochester leaving as a team... we will get a new semistate team champ. Jimtown?
 
Tippe valley and Rochester are really close.
 
Speaking of small team HAMMER'S  tell city goes clear up to Bloomington.... but franklin goes to Jeffersonville.
 
Do high-school coaches sit on this board? 
 
Lawrenceburg should go to Evansville (maybe not)
 
Brownsburg should be in Ft. Wayne semistate. (Maybe not)
 
Gonna be fun year..... wonder how this changes the coaches association team state race.
 
 

Yeah not the best timing for those needing to get matches against new sectional opponents. 

Someday they will let people that know what they’re doing do the realignment….
 
 

I have pretty strong opinions about Tacos... Columbus has an unreasonable number of excellent taco places. Most of them reside along State Street. My favorites are Sabor De La Vida and Panaderia y Taqueria La Espiga. 

I have pretty strong opinions about Tacos... Columbus has an unreasonable number of excellent taco places. Most of them reside along State Street. My favorites are Sabor De La Vida and Panaderia y Taqueria La Espiga. 

I have pretty strong opinions about Tacos... Columbus has an unreasonable number of excellent taco places. Most of them reside along State Street. My favorites are Sabor De La Vida and Panaderia y Taqueria La Espiga. 

Here is the final leaderboard for Team State qualification. 
 
"Returning" = Sectional starters returning
 
* = Injury adjustment to points
 
Teams in purple are in line for automatic bids. If you read the procedures document for this year, you know that both final wildcards in all classes will be voted on in December instead of one happening in the spring.
 
Team State 2023 Qualifying Leaderboard.xlsx
 
If you're on a Desktop, use the linked XLSX file. If you're on a phone, you can click several times to zoom in here:
 

My sources tell me - 
 
Wednesday night...... Gorilla Radio..... TripleB will be dropping knowledge
 
Thursday ...... The only surviving SS print preview that is still out there will be dropped.... the 19th annual TripleB SS Spectacular. 
 
 

Unfortunately coaches would rather "win" the seeding meeting and argue for crappy seeds than do the right thing. 

Tishner gets revenge from his Friday night loss and beats Goss 9-1

Nick Borta North Montgomery. Unheard of kid who possibly  had a losing record freshmen year (I can’t remember). Made it to semi state that year and had a controversial loss. Senior year finished 6th, giving the eventual state champion his only two losses of the season. 

Howe did he do at the Olympics?? Because Howe… although he didn’t make it, also lost in OT to several gold
medalists. If Howe could claim
serbian or Canadian or any other country and make it to the Olympics he would have medaled. 

Saw Roy Bruce Jr. took over at Bloomington North. 

1. Mostly yes, basically anyone that I have had that was a qualifier since 2006 did some off-season. Note more on this later
2. Depends upon the kid. Some with a lot of experience and mat time at a younger age didn't need or require a lot. Some needed more, it's really dependent upon the kid.
3. Small if you aren't honing the skills. Things have changed drastically in the past 10-15 years.
 
4+
Much like anything in life, there is no "cookie-cutter" solution or even an easy way to analyze what is needed for each kid. Putting in time is always good, it's what you define as time. Some kids love to train and would rather just practice and do very little competing. Some love tournaments and will be going places every week. Some are a little of both.
 
There are so many different avenues to stay crisp with wrestling in the off-season that it takes a great balance between training(RTC, home club, academies), competitions, camps, and even spending time in the weight room. Even playing another sport, especially a contact sport, will help a kid develop as an athlete. 
 
Many kids(and even coaches) like having something short term to work for. I really liked going to Disney and other June dual events because it kept something in front of the kids as a goal to work for. Working in May and June for November seems like ages away.
 
As kids get older off-season competition may not be needed as much. Many kids have been through the grind since they were young and only need maybe a handful of off-season events to keep them hungry and ready. In general I have had a lot of kids that started early that we have lessened the load of competing or even training in the off-season. Some of those times burnout and hating the sport was creeping in and I let them go do other things and didn't bother them as I knew once the season came around they would be refreshed and ready to go.
 
We all want our kids to be 24/7 dedicated to wrestling whether we want to admit it or not. At times it is needed to let them be kids, let them do other things, or even let them fail. The hardest thing to do as a parent/coach is to let a kid fail or see a kid fail when you know the potential is there for great success. Many of our best lessons are learned from failing.