bdavidson

Thank you to everyone who has reached out regarding Preston.  Results of a CT scan and other tests have come back.  Nothing is broken and he will make a full recovery.  
 
As far as what happened, the Mater Dei wrestler had been winning the entire match.  An illegal slam was called.  It was not intentional.  Whether it was an illegal slam or not, I don’t really care.  We were never taking a dive.  Brownsburg doesn’t roll like that.  It goes against everything we believe in.  If I thought it was intentional, It would be a different story.  There is no doubt in our mind that it was just a result of two dudes trying to punch their ticket to state. 
 
It was pretty chaotic as all of this was happening as I’m sure you can all imagine.  Given that it was a neck/head injury, I wanted to give medical people access to Preston.  Once they had time to check Preston out, I took that opportunity to talk to Preston.  There was never any talk or consideration of taking a dive. Preston would never do that.  He was in a lot of pain and upset.  He has had a lot of adversity this season. He tore his ACL at IHPO and has been working through that pain and frustration all season.  I just explained to Preston what had happened and that I was going to forfeit the match.  I told him we were losing…and it would not be fair to take the trip to state away from the Mater Dei kid.  Preston agreed and said he would never do that.  There was no reversal of the call or anything.  I just went up to officials and said we are forfeiting the match.  
 
Whoever said Preston was walking around saw someone else.  He was taken out on a stretcher and to the emergency room. 
 
Snyder 

I'm with Kendrick. 
 
It's not a shot at any team in the Jeff Sectional or anything, the disparity needs to be addressed. 
 
Switzerland County should be at Richmond this weekend
Eastern back to Jeff 
New Albany and Floyd should be back at Jeff
Corydon, Crawford Co and North Harrison to Southridge
 
 
 

Definite no disrespect here, I'm a proud Charlestown Pirate alum that cut my teeth in the Jeff Sectional (w/ Floyd and New Albany).  I have many friends that have kids on the team and am still friends with many of the coaches in the that sectional.     But the depth is not there, right now, and I think they are in for a long day Saturday.  
 
 

Mount Vernon (Posey) would be interested in joining. I sent an email earlier, but here is my contact info 
 
Coach Bethel: bethelaj@mvschool.org

Here is a story that I felt was worth sharing with the community that involved Bryce, I don't generally like sharing stuff involving my kids, but felt he deserved credit for this.
My middle son (8 years old) had lost in the state semi-finals, and was not handling it very well. We were in the cafeteria wrestling area, and he was having a "freak-out" (he needs to work on this) in the area behind the mats. I was trying to talk to him to calm down, but he was not registering what dad/coach was saying.
While this was going on a high school kid was passing through and asked me if he could talk to him.  The high schooler sat down with my son, and told him about how he had never placed at ISWA until this weekend, and he had won it today. He discussed how wrestling isn't just about wins and losses, but about progress.  This discussion caused my son to calm down, stop crying, and go on to wrestle the rest of his matches and place third. As he left I asked the high school kid his name, he said Bryce Denton.  I told him I had heard of him lol.
Anyhow I was really impressed with the maturity and kindness that Bryce showed this weekend. I had never met him. As a dad I was worrying what people thought of me/my son with the way he was acting, and Bryce was awesome in helping to calm him down and put things in perspective.  Also in my opinion it took a lot of bravery to ask a dad that you had never met to talk with his son in a situation like that.  Just wanted to share this and publicly say thanks to Bryce.  I was blown away with how impressive he was in this situation.

Shout out to my friend Dustin Bentz, aka TripleB!!  Dude had a real scare last year, lost about 100 lbs and then decided to step up to the plate and compete at Folk State this year.  Still got it!  Matter of fact, props to all the dudes in this pic and all the masters division wrestlers still willing to go out and throw down! 👏👏👏.  Dustin, Sam’s has the 5 gal pale of flex-all on sale… haha.

No to Purdue…..
 
Not TripleB Approved 

Doesn’t matter…. no excuses… he lost. Hats off to the winner of that match and his coaches!!! 

Thank you everyone.  It has been a great, successful season.  I couldn't ask for a better group of kids and parents, as you have mentioned above.  These seniors are truly a special band of brothers and will be missed greatly next season, but we have another group coming in right behind them.  But this year isn't over, and we are hoping to get 4 wrestlers on the podium this weekend!  

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. 
 
 

Place went nuts last year when Jared Dunn stuck Logan Miller in a headlock. 

We're at 12 this year. Most years we start with around 16-20 and by Christmas break we're down to 12-14. This year, those kids that would normally quit didn't even come out. It sucks having the room seem empty but at least it's 12 kids that want to be there from day 1.

Providence
 
Nov 29 vs Paoli
Dec 14 vs Borden
 

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
No matter what happens in the next couple of weeks, Brandon and Donnie Feeler are going to end a journey the same way they started it – together.
 
Donnie Feeler is a senior 106-pounder from Crawford County. Brandon is his father and the only coach he has ever had.
 
“Our situation is a little unique,” Brandon said. “I’ve coached him since he was five years old. We’ve been on this journey for many, many years. It means a lot to both of us, to say the least.”
 
Brandon still remembers the day Donnie came home from school, waving a flyer about wrestling around and begging to be able to be part of it.
 
“Donnie was a big fan of WWF wrestling back then,” Brandon said. “He would constantly watch it on TV. At the time we lived in Scottsburg and he brought home this flyer about wrestling – thinking it was going to be jumping off the ropes like they did in WWF. I explained to him what it was, and he was still really eager to go.”
 
So, Donnie joined wrestling and Brandon started coaching the sport. Brandon had a background in grappling, but he was learning wrestling at the same time he was teaching it to Donnie.
 
The two dived headfirst into the sport. Brandon would drive Donnie to tournaments across the country. They would have hours together in the car, in the hotels and in the restaurants. They formed a strong bond through the sport.
 
“Me and my dad, we’ve had our differences,” Donnie said. “But the sport has really grown us closer. It’s not just me out there. It’s him too. We go through the same emotion and the same stress. It’s not easy being a coach of a son. There are times when I just don’t want to train. But it’s good to have a coach that keeps after me and keeps me going.”
 
Last year Donnie did something that no other kid in the history of his school has accomplished. He qualified for the state tournament.
 
“There were a lot of emotions when he won his ticket round match,” Brandon said. “He punched his ticket. That was just a real proud moment.”
 
Qualifying for state put a new fire in Donnie. He didn’t win his Friday night match, but he started working harder than ever before. He and his dad went to tournament after tournament last summer. They hit the mat hard and pushed like never before. The problem was all that wrestling started to burn Donnie out. He questioned whether he wanted to go on.
 
“I was just burnt out,” Donnie said. “I was exhausted from the off-season wrestling. I just didn’t want to do it anymore.”
 
Qualifying for state also came with some high expectations for Donnie. His focus seemed to change, according to his dad.
 
“To some degree he was wrestling for all the wrong reasons,” Brandon said. “He was trying to be the best wrestler for an audience, not for himself. He contemplated whether he even wanted to wrestle his senior year. He did some soul searching and came back with some confidence. He was ready to unlock his potential.”
 
Donnie said that renewed vigor came from having some talks with his dad.
 
“That relationship with my father, and just speaking with him and listening to what he had to say – that really helped me regain my focus,” Donnie said.
 
This year Donnie is coming off a regional championship. He is Crawford County’s first regional champion, and now he’s a two-time champ. He’s ranked No. 12 at 106 pounds and currently has an unblemished 20-0 record. His goal ultimate goal is to be his school’s first-ever state placer in wrestling.
 
Crawford County has just a handful of wrestlers on the team. In practice Donnie’s only choice is to go up against guys weighing 120-152. But that’s OK. He embraces the David vs. Goliath philosophy. He likes being the underdog. He likes coming from a small school and wrestling the big programs. He likes being counted out.
 
“I want to win it all,” Feeler said. “But no matter what happens I’m going to give it my all. If all else fails, we gave it a good run and had a fun four years.”
 
For Brandon, the next few weeks will mark the end of a journey.
 
“We started his career together and we’re going to finish it together,” Brandon said. “It’s going to be an emotional time, for sure. But we’ve had a heck of a ride.”

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Enjoy everybody, I'll be either at Bluegrass Nationals w/ Little 3B or staring at ice out my window. See everybody next week at Evansville, the night before party will be at Bally's, bring your own weapon and don't wear a Yankees hat (RIP Pingleton) !
 
Evansville Semi-State Regional Feeders - by the numbers
 
How many Semi-State ranked Wrestlers are left per weight?
 
106 - 16/16 
113 - 14/16
120 - 15/16
126 - 14/16
132 - 15/16
138 - 16/16
145 - 16/16
152 - 13/16
160 - 16/16
170 - 15/16
182 - 14/16
195 - 16/16
220 - 15/16
285 - 15/16
 
Total - 210/224 = 94%
 
Mooresville - State ranked wrestlers: 48 Semi State ranked wrestlers: 66
Castle - State ranked wrestlers: 27  Semi State ranked wrestlers: 52
Bloomington South - State ranked wrestlers: 25  Semi State Ranked wrestlers: 54
Jeffersonville - State ranked wrestlers: 16  Semi State ranked wrestlers: 35

 
Mooresville:
 
Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR)
 
106 - #1/#1 Jake Hockaday, Brownsburg vs. #14/#9 Gavin Ash, Monrovia (Curtain Jerker!!)
120 - #8/#2 Braden Haines vs #9/#5 Trevor Hott, Martinsville (Charles Barkley Turrible Draw and Curtain Jerker!!)
120 - #8/#7 Seth Syra, Avon vs #22/#11 Luke Bechert, Franklin
132 - #2/#1 Brady Ison, Brownsburg vs NR/#14 Lane Faulkenburg, Monrovia
138 - NR/#15 Maleec Stansbury, Pike vs #22/#8 Silas Stitts, Center Grove (Curtain Jerker!!!)
145 - #13/#4 Braedon Spears (3B TRAINED), Plainfield vs NR/#16 Brayden Johnson, Whiteland
170 - #18/#7 Lucas LeClerc, Plainfield vs. #19/#10 Vince Tinoco (CURTAIN JERKER!!)
182 - NR/#11 Lucas Murphy, North Putnam vs #1/#1 Drake Buchanan, Center Grove
195 - NR/#9 Jakobe Leavell, Pike vs NR/#16 Pete Sells Decatur Central
220 - #24/#6 Royce Deckard III, Center Grove vs NR/#12 Jackson Sarjent, Brownsburg
285 - #1/#1 Leighton Jones, Brownsburg vs NR/#15 Javian Jones, Decatur Central
 
Best under radar Match - 120: Dominic Mcfeely, Cascade vs. Keith Parker, Ben Davis. Coach Q has to go against one of his old students……. 
 
Best wrestler You’ve never heard of - Sam Allen, Whiteland. A Semi-State Quarterfinalist at Hwt as a frosh. He sat out last year at Franklin and then lost a ½ season of eligibility when he moved to Whiteland. Allen might be on the podium in 2 weeks at GainBridge. 
 
Mooresville Storyline - Getting to meet up with the ELITE crew of @TeamGarcia, @Mattyband @JMILL….. Not really…. The 2 year feud of Ison and Schoeff will keep on moving towards Evansville. Last weekend ended in a controversial DQ. Can Schoeff cook up the recipe to knock off Ison this weekend??
 
Castle 
 
Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR)
 
106 - NR/#13 Brady Byrd, Washington vs NR/#15 Joe Anderson, Evansville North (Curtain Jerker)
106 - NR/#14 Makenzie Smith vs NR/#12 Caleb Reed, Evansville Reitz (Curtain Jerker)
160 - NR/#11 James Vaughn, South Spencer vs. NR/#13 Cale Johnson (Evansville North)
220 - NR/#15 Mason Hines, Tecumseh vs #2/#1 Nathan Cricthfield, Evansville Mater Dei
285 - NR/#10 Jacob Kyle, Evansville North vs NR/#16 Jed Ambs, South Spencer
 
Best under the radar match - See the 106 matches above. Don’t be late!!
 
Best wrestler You’ve never heard of - Hey sometimes we miss kids, it appears that I’ve missed Mt. Vernon 182lber Derek Hollinger. He brings in a record of 34-2 and won a tough Evansville Central sectional last weekend to put him in the driver’s seat this weekend. 
 
Castle Storyline - The concession stand and Beer timeouts in the parking lot be damned! It’s all about 1-9-5!!! Sollars/Purdy 3!!! Can Willman play any type of spoiler?? Another controversial match last weekend. What will happen this time?!?!?!
 
Bloomington South 
 
Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR)
 
126 - NR/#15 Logan Moore vs. #24/#11 Kelby Glenn, Tell City
132 - NR/#9 Xavier Horton, Southridge vs NR/#13 Coy Bender, Terre Haute South
145 - #17/#6 Nicholas Castellucio, Bloomington South vs #23/#5 Tyler Lee, Northview (Curtain Jerker)
145 - NR/#13 Jakcson Neibert, Indian Creek vs NR/#14 Carson Niehaus, Southridge (Curtain Jerker)
152 - NR/#5 Logan Cain, Owen Valley vs. NR/#6 Ian Geisler, Jasper
170 - NR/#16 Rylan Hendricks, West Vigo vs #2/#2 Codei Khawaja, Floyd Central
220 - #18/#7 Garron Jenkins, Floyd Central vs NR/#11 Dalton Simmons, Northview
 
Best under the radar match - 106: Rollin Douglas Floyd Central vs Luke Neibert Indian Creek
 
Best Wrestler You’ve never heard of - 152lber Jaden Grant of New Albany, the Senior Bulldog has quietly put together a brilliant senior season. He had a great sectional knocking off sectional favorite Geisler from Jasper and state ranked DuPont from Tell City. If he makes the finals at regionals he will have the tall task of Delaney Ruhlman of Bloomington South. 
 
Bloomington South Storyline - There are two storylines here - Last weekend Bloomington South was quietly knocked off of the Sectional Champ podium and by Terre Haute South (congrats Coach Cook!) and actually finished 3rd behind uprising Owen Valley. Add in Floyd Central and Tell City this week and there’s a 5 team banger for the Regional Championship, literally almost every match will have some type of impact on the team race. It should be a great day of wrestling!
 
The other story line is 126 - I’ve received emails and messages all year about Branson Weaver (He’s being slept on), Paul King (I’ve never witnessed a kid so motivated), Harrison May (That May kid is slick and really good), and Kelby Glenn (Sleeper). So Saturday, Lettttttssss Gettttttt Readdddyyyyy Tooo Rumbllllleeeeee……

 
Jeffersonville 
 
Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR)
 
182 - NR/#16 Noah Phelps, North Harrison vs #14/#7 Jaden Durnil, Columbus East
195 - #12/#5 Evan Clayton, Jeffersonville vs NR/#15 Bryce Abner, Columbus North
 
Best under the radar match - 132 - Noah Cain Jeffersonville vs. Jason Shuey Columbus North, potential 4 over 1, Shuey is a returning regional runner up.
 
Best Wrestler You’ve never heard of - Lody Cheatham, Borden. Cheatham is a Cambellsville signee and is just a second year wrestler at a second year program. He’s comprised a record of 54-6 in 2 years and hopes to becomes Borden’s first ever State Qualifier. In a sneaky weight class loaded with veteran wrestlers, he should be the favorite


 

Phillips is headed up to 170.  

This is typical of Evansville semi-state.  Just a meat grinder….  But the real story is… Look at the quality of wrestlers coming out of Invicta this year… Phillips, Law, Conway and May all have trained there since middle school.  Coach Knable and Coach K are producing some studs.

Prayers to Charlestown Wrestling and the VanGilder family as they lost Kamm VanGilder over the weekend. Kamm was Charlestown's 106lber and was set to have a magnificent wrestling career for Coach Adam Doherty and the Pirates. The staff at IndianaMat would like to send our condolences to the VanGilders and the Charlestown Pirates.  I didn't personally know Kamm but I go way back with Adam and the staff at Charlestown and as a parent to 2 teenagers and a coach my heart is absolutely gutted and wrecked. Life is precious, tell your kids and wrestlers how much they mean to you because you just never know. 
 
Kamm's obituary can be found here - https://www.scottfuneralhome.com/obituary/Kamm-VanGilderKammo?fbclid=IwAR2cGUcZol822fqzCan6eMZC_In4Ol0lb3GpfjbtJ62Ojra_TXKnMD1sL-Q
 
A GoFundMe page to help the family offset costs can be found here - https://www.gofundme.com/f/kamm-joseph-vangilder-memorial-fund?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf share-flow-1&__FB_PRIVATE_TRACKING__={"loggedout_browser_id"%3A"42e83bfc0b750afcb3d4a7dd7ee4a533e455cb48"}&fbclid=IwAR0w6PRqUumelKXecWnJiZ7oNEgY5K7bJkWEaY7wjBu9AMaZEGBi5peHDLU
 
Credit @arizonawrestler for the pic and organizing the GoFundMe page. 
 

Congratulations to J Conway from Floyd Central for signing with Missouri. Projected to wrestle 165.
View full signing

@bdavidson.   Providence High School in Clarksville, hosts a tournament on this day. 

Quite a few of these leave me scratching my head. For example, why does Floyd Central and New Albany not go to Jeffersonville if it is just down the road? It would make more sense send North Harrison and Crawford County to Southridge. Would seem to cut down on costs as well for school systems (in terms of gas).

Big shout out to the ISWA. State was a great success and pleasant experience. Take what worked and implement it going forward. I bet it was expensive having it at fairgrounds, maybe a corporate sponsor or something can be locked up so we can keep it there. I'd gladly pay 10 bucks more per kid if that would help. 
 
 

CHO CHOOOOOOOOO
 
Starting this week - March 4th.  
 
Thursdays at 6pm!   Enter door 15 at Brownsburg High School.  Leave mask on until practice starts.  Please stay home if symptomatic.  
 
Room will be full of current and future hammers of all weights.  We will continue with the same format that has worked so well in the past - some elite technique and then the gloves come off for a lot of live!
 
First clinician is some random dude I hired after watching him wrestle a dog in an alley over a scrap of pork chop.  The dog won but I was impressed with his effort.  
 
Kyle Ayersman 
4X State Placer
3X State Champ
193-2 in high school
Starter at Purdue
He says he was an alternate to a world team, but I’m pretty sure he just made that up.  
 
#PainTrain
 
Come get better!
 
Snyder

^^THIS^^ 
 
At the highest level BJJ tournaments, you must wear street shoes to the bathroom. If spotted not following this rule, you can be disqualified. Similarly, if spotted wearing street shoes on the mat, you can be disqualified. I would even love to see coaches who are on the mats pre-tournament either bring a pair of wrestling shoes or at least be in their socks.
 
Another big difference this year was that fans, parents and siblings didn't have access to the competition floor. This significantly cut down on the number of kids running about on the mats and Cousin Larry showing off the move that worked for him in the 1987 Nowheresville District 2A qualifier. The mats are for the wrestlers. 

Allowing spectators?

Crawford County- Donnie Feeler 
 
450 students 
 
Donnie the 1st State Qualifier from this school as announced at Jasper SS and I think he’s going to give #1 ranked Bailey fits Friday night. Would not surprise me if he wins and becomes their 1st State Placer as well .