lpd096

I don't think any of the True Freshmen are on the roster yet.

The Best of Luck to Jesse!! #GoUSAWrestling

If you are in the NW Indiana area this Sunday, take a drive out and watch some great freestyle wrestling! It was at this tournament a couple of years ago where Wisconsin's Beau Breske was defeated by Indiana's Blake Rypel in the best freestyle match I've ever seen. (I believe the score was 23-22?). Martinez Fox Valley Elite (MFVE) has 4 Indiana kids on their team. (Carlos Champagne, Jake Tucker, Jose Champagne, and Drew Hughes) From the Tournament Director: IL Freestyle Club Cup- THIS SUNDAY, APRIL 17TH This Sunday, Downers Grove South will host the 7th Annual IL Freestyle Club Cup. There will be twelve teams from four states, and it looks to be a great day of freestyle wrestling in a dual team format. Wrestling will be in the DGS Field House and will start by 10:00 AM on Sunday. Teams will wrestle a total of four duals in five rounds and the 2016 IL Freestyle Club Cup Champions will be crowned. Team Poeta looks to defend their title, but there are some other teams that will certainly challenge them. There were at least eight Club Cup Alums wrestling in the Olympic Trials last weekend, so this is certainly an event with some quality wrestling. Come on out for a great day of freestyle wrestling!!! Adults: $3 Students: $2 2016 IL Freestyle Club Cup Field: Dubuque Wrestling Club (IA), Fluffed and Feathered WC, Fox Lake WC, Harvey Twisters, ISI, Izzy Style, Martinez Elite, Modus/MXW (MI), Real Circle Wrestling, Ringers (WI), Suburban Sprawl, Team Poeta

Region Wrestling Academy has continued to get better and better, the coaches are SUPREME. The rooms (little tykes, middle schoolers, and High Schoolers) are stacked with talent. Congratulations!

I predicted 6-0 Decision, Drew winning of course, when I texted his Dad. I also knew he'd flatten Clingenpeel, the Semi's was the title match IMO and it was NO match. Way to go, Drew! 4 or 5 runner-ups out in Iowa over the years and he broke through with a BANG!! That was Sweet!

Illinois' Jack Jessen 2x Fargo Runner-up vs. Drew (Hughes) is a match-up of Top 20 Nationally Ranked wrestlers this morning in the Semi's out in Iowa. Jessen was at 182lbs for the HS Season, how he made 170 is beyond me? He's a big 182lber! Go Drew! Go RWA! Go Green!

It was requested of me to copy/paste this to your forum: From: PapaBearSlim Mr. Tucker feel free post this over there. Who knows if he would have gone undefeated if say he attended a IL 3A school with a national schedule. There are so many land mines along the way over a 4 year stretch and so many highly regarded studs that were unable to accomplish this feat in IL that it's easy to see why IL folks would be quick to say it wouldn't happen. That's not a knock on Indiana, Red or minimizing his accomplishment. You could be the best in the country and still lose on any given day (bad call, sick, not 100%, got game planned perfectly, made a mistake, just wasn't your day...) and that likelyhood increases when you wrestle the top 5% of the country week in and week out as opposed to 2 or 3 matches a year. Things to consider: You have to be careful not to project senior Chad Red on to freshman/sophomore Chad Red as I'm sure he's a lot better now than he was then. What weights did he wrestle the last 4 years? What wrestlers were at those weights in IL, at the Dvorak, at the Clash, at the Cheesehead, at the Ironman, etc? If you take all those thing into consideration and still think he's undefeated that's ok but don't take offense if others don't agree. Having had numerous chances to watch him 1st hand I'm an unbiased believer in his skill. http://illinoismatmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59705&page=2

Thank you! We have been blessed, we are grateful for Jake's success and all of the lessons that he's learned throughout his HS career. We are looking forward to the future.

It's a family decision, IMO. Others will have their opinions either way but it all comes down to the wrestler's decision. In Jake's case, he made the decision himself. He shadowed at MC and it's an hour up to Chicago from Lowell so his school days for 4yrs have been: up at 5:15am (up at 4:45am on morning practice days) and back home at 8pm at night, every night. I assumed and totally expected him to say "thanks but no thanks" after his shadow day. I made him go through a typical day of getting up early and coming home late, etc. so he would know what it was going to be like for 4yrs. I figured after the shadow day it would be put to bed. The first thing that came out of his mouth when I picked him up was "that's where I am going, that's my school". There was absolutely no pulling or tugging from me or my wife, he made that decision on his own and we love the decision he made. It's not for everyone but it was best for him. We love our friends in Indiana and we spent all of his formative years in wrestling in Indiana and we wrestled a lot in Illinois and all across the country. As for the actual wrestling part of it? Jake would have been fine if he stayed in IN or went elsewhere because of the nature of our sport, it's all about national tournaments and who you are competing against and defeating/staying close with. Jake's coach at MC is a 4x AA and an NCAA D1 National Champion. He coached at Overtime for 11yrs, he coached Andrew Howe, Alex Tsirtsis, Angel Escobedo, etc. and is probably one of the best technicians in the country. With that said, Bobby Howard at Lowell is also a great technician and Jake would have succeeded under him as well plus Jake has always been an RWA kid, working with Tsirtsis, Hawkins, and the gang for years. There are so many people involved in the success of a wrestler, it's just not black/white on any decision to attend a school. One of the many aspects that I loved about IL was the culture for wrestling and the dual team series. We are going to Dual Team State this weekend and after coaching 3 straight undefeated middle school teams at Lowell, the team aspect of our sport really appealed to me personally and for Jake. Being ranked nationally at #12 is a thrill and I wish there was some way for IN to bring back the dual team series in the IHSAA. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't include my wife in this conversation. She is a South Side of Chicago girl, grown up and raised in IL. MC was very important from the faith-side of it (we are catholic), it's a big deal for her son to go to a school like MC and it may mean nothing to most people but it meant a lot to her and her family...but she still left the decision up to Jake. She was like me, she never thought he'd be able to keep a strict regimented schedule of getting up so early every day and getting home late, etc. I could go on but it's safe to say that we love our friends/wrestlers in Indiana and we also love the decision Jake made by going to MC. I hope this answers your question.

Jose and Jake made history by becoming the first Indiana residents to win an IHSA-Illinois High School State Wrestling title. (Jose placed 3rd in 2A last year, Jake placed 5th in 3A as a Soph two years ago...these were also first time feats). These Indiana boys fared pretty well in Illinois. Great job! Carlos is super talented, I can't wait to watch him in the future. Jake is excited to join his longtime club/middle school teammate--Drew Hughes at Michigan State. Exciting times ahead!

Your son is in great hands! Coach P is one the best coaches I've seen in my 40 years of being around the sport as an athlete, coach, and parent. He not only focuses on wrestling but on valuable life lessons as well.

Great win for Coach P and the team! There is something of note here: Washington was missing 3-4 starters, three of which are highly ranked in the state and 2 of which are ranked NATIONALLY in Keeley and Meneweather and Carmel won those 2 weight classes plus another FF by Washington at 126lbs. You can't blame Carmel for missing wrestlers however so Kudos on the win!

BRice is way down this year, H. Johnson is it for them. Team-wise, they are not in the Top 35 rankings for IL 3A. If Blanco, Rudy Yates and others would have stayed, they would have provided a major punch but as it is, Rice's team is depleted.

Congratulations to Lowell's Drew Hughes on his verbal commitment to the Spartans of Michigan State. Drew has worked very hard since the age of 5 to be one of the best in the country, he's certainly done that. Now he joins New Head Coach Roger Chandler next year to start a new chapter in Michigan State Wrestling. Great job, Drew! You a have a wonderful future ahead of you.

Should be an entertaining dual, at PENN vs. Oak Park River Forest, IL Not sure of the date but would like to see this one...