Perseverance

I'll just say this, my son & I were faced with this very decision his 8th grade yr. By not redshirting, we knew that we wouldn't be wrestling varsity as a freshman. The 2013/2014 Perry Meridian Falcons were a pretty darn good team, & there was just no way a 125/130lb freshman was gonna have a spot on that team...I mean, we couldn't cut, cuz there was Cottey a 120lb Senior, then you had Aiden Kenny 126lb Senior, we couldn't go up cuz then you had the likes of Brandon James & Cody Lecount. So honestly we had every (sports) reason to redshirt a year. Even still, we chose against redshirting. I mean, my son was an A/B student, he was already 18 months into puberty, so there was no undeveloped issue. The only issue was, we won't make the team. To me that just wasn't enough. Now here we are, Senior in high school, and I ask myself many of times, "DID WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE" ??? Well, here is my answer....Yes
Have we done everything we thought we could do in high school wrestling, no (we still have this year) but my son is a great student, an awesome person, and I wouldn't have him any other way. I believe the mentors he's had in the Perry wrestling program (Coach Schoettle) have helped me mold my son into a fine young man. There is a whole lot more to life than a State Championship. If you asked me, don't you wish you still had 1 more year to try to win that state title. I would tell you absolutely, but that's just not the case, you get 4 years and that's it. If you get it done great, if not, well we damn sure had fun trying, and we are still the same person with or without that title. Wrestling titles or none, has made my son the man he is today. And by God I have a strong feeling we will get the team title tomorrow, so that alone would be just fine with us. And I can guarantee you this, my kid will never go down without a fight. In wrestling or in life, and that is all I could ever hope for...I will add this 1 last thing, that was just our decision, I completely understand exactly why any father would choose the other route & redshirt his son in the 8th grade. It was a very tough decision for us but we decided against it. That don't mean I'm right, that just means, it was what was right for us....

I can remember seeing a 21 year old redshirt in college. Heck i a graduated high school at 17. ( hard to believe)  

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

Those guys are easily replaceable since I would have been available to announce... lol

I guess that it could be like the Spartan Classic every year with blind draws and the pony express to get any updates.

I think most sports dads do have emotional issues...

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

I believe Jordan Slivka moved from The southside of Indianapolis, where their oldest son wrestled at St. Barbara's and Roncalli to Anderson IN because of his families buisness. At the time they heard Shendandoah was the best academic school around so they sent There oldest son Johnny there. The family was also a big wrestling family (John Slivka coached at roncalli for several years) and at the time Shenandoah did not even have a wrestling club, so they sent Jordan to Yorktown wrestling club, which was an equal distance from where they lived to shendadoah. jordan wrestled with Yorktown, Coach McCormick and Coach Dulaney. After a couple years they went their separate ways. John Slivka decided to start a Elementary team for Shenandoah and he take over the head coaching job for the middle school wrestling coach. He started coaching a couple of, now sophomores as they seemed to be the most fascinated in the sport of wrestling. When John Slivka took over the middle school team 3/4 the way into the season, the now sophomore class were 5th graders, and the middle school team went 2-19, as the sophomore class were 6th graders John Slivka and Gary Black Sr. led the team, Mostly filled with 6th graders to a 19-2 Record only losing to the power house Yorktown (only winning 2 matches) and center grove the next year the team went 19-2 with the same exact schedule the next year the Raiders went 22-2 Overcoming Yorktown. As they got into their summer year of 8th grade Jordan Slivka decided to forward his education and Athletic career to Cathedral for their academic and religious purposes, and soon moved down to their house back in Greenwood. As Jordan Slivka left Shenandoah they only worked harder to get better. They overcame a lot of things including a loss in a key wrestler but they didn't let that stop them. As shendandoah had a great team in 2015-2016 they had one of their first or maybe first ever freshmen state qualifier, Hayden Lohrey 113 lbs. now this season Shenandoah has only been climbing higher to the top as they try to get their school their first ever State championship in any Men's sport up in FT. Wayne this Friday!

They have a good, young team. Gary Black is a highly energetic coach that is a fiery competitor. He has devoted a lot of time to them.

They have a really good youth program with a very talented group of young wrestlers.  Black has done a great job at the high school and Jason Barbosa (former Muncie Southside wrestler and 2x placer) has done a great job at the middle school.

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

I can give you some clarity brother. My name is Eric Allred and I'm the father of Silas Allred, our (Shenandoah's) state ranked 170lb freshman. I also have the privilege of being our team chaplain/life coach and take great pride in helping our young men become the best version of themselves possible on & off the mat. I moved to this community from Muncie 4yrs ago when I gained custody of my sons. At the time, Silas hadn't wrestled since winning the ISWA State Championship as a 9yr old bantam

Curious if anyone knows the story on this team.  They look to be really solid, and their rise seems to have came rather quickly. According to the results section they went from 2015 0-7 to 2016 22-4.  Anyone know is it a good class, youth program, new coaching?  Just curious.

Just want to commend you guys on an excellent job. Even being as invested as I am in our team and my own son.......I'm pretty confident that I'll end up leaving Ft Wayne with borderline whiplash from breaking my neck to get a peek at some of these other match-ups! Wow. Good luck to all the teams competing. Safe travels, I genuinely pray for the safety of all the athletes competing, and remember to represent your program and Indiana wrestling with integrity, sportsmanship and humility. Especially after trying to rip your opponents heads off

Just want to commend you guys on an excellent job. Even being as invested as I am in our team and my own son.......I'm pretty confident that I'll end up leaving Ft Wayne with borderline whiplash from breaking my neck to get a peek at some of these other match-ups! Wow. Good luck to all the teams competing. Safe travels, I genuinely pray for the safety of all the athletes competing, and remember to represent your program and Indiana wrestling with integrity, sportsmanship and humility. Especially after trying to rip your opponents heads off

Just want to commend you guys on an excellent job. Even being as invested as I am in our team and my own son.......I'm pretty confident that I'll end up leaving Ft Wayne with borderline whiplash from breaking my neck to get a peek at some of these other match-ups! Wow. Good luck to all the teams competing. Safe travels, I genuinely pray for the safety of all the athletes competing, and remember to represent your program and Indiana wrestling with integrity, sportsmanship and humility. Especially after trying to rip your opponents heads off

Just wanted to share some wisdom with you that I received from a very reputable wrestling mind. I was asking myself, and some coaches the exact same question a few weeks ago. I have a son ranked at 170 and noticed that there were unranked individuals ahead of him n the SS rankings. Currently, there's only 1 ahead of him that meets the above mentioned criteria. What was shared with me was that in my case.....my son is only a freshman. He obviously has never wrestled a semi-state match. So regardless of MS accolades or National success, there's still a ton to prove. Especially when individuals who may have the current nod from a semi-state standpoint have possibly already proven themselves worthy on that stage. Admittedly, I have no idea who the young man is you're referring to, but I just wanted to share in hopes that it may give you some added perspective as it did me. You know man, as dads we want our sons to get all the recognition & dividends they spill their guts for. But at the end of the day brother.......it's a blessing to be in the rankings period. Never lose sight of that my friend. If nothing else, use it as a motivating factor to get your wrestler rolling with an even added purpose and chip on his shoulder. Hope this helped.

Just want to commend you guys on an excellent job. Even being as invested as I am in our team and my own son.......I'm pretty confident that I'll end up leaving Ft Wayne with borderline whiplash from breaking my neck to get a peek at some of these other match-ups! Wow. Good luck to all the teams competing. Safe travels, I genuinely pray for the safety of all the athletes competing, and remember to represent your program and Indiana wrestling with integrity, sportsmanship and humility. Especially after trying to rip your opponents heads off

Just want to commend you guys on an excellent job. Even being as invested as I am in our team and my own son.......I'm pretty confident that I'll end up leaving Ft Wayne with borderline whiplash from breaking my neck to get a peek at some of these other match-ups! Wow. Good luck to all the teams competing. Safe travels, I genuinely pray for the safety of all the athletes competing, and remember to represent your program and Indiana wrestling with integrity, sportsmanship and humility. Especially after trying to rip your opponents heads off

Looks great as always!

I updated the state rankings. These reflect some of results from this weekend. Enjoy and let me know where I'm wrong. OTR

Great job.