lpd096

I know CP is at Lowell today so might get to see Hughes/Schurg round 1. That would be worth the price of admission. Last time I saw them wrestle in a match they were in 6th grade and Schurg won by one. That loss was later "expunged" from the record by Coach Tucker!! Lol. I wish he was my coach, I could have benefitted from a lot of losses being expunged!!

You are funny, my friend.  That was never expunged but rather disregarded due to "blocked weights" at the tournament where they met, Darden would have been in the weight class above Drew.  Drew/Darden will meet plenty of times in the coming weeks, no worries there. Both boys are favorites of mine so I wish them the best!

You guys may think you are joking about Brandi Cash but I'll tell you right now, she could put together a team like NO ONE! If I was IU, I would hire her! She could put a dual team together that would challenge anyone in the nation! She's done it for little tykes, Middle schoolers, High schoolers, and I am sure she could do it for College. No kidding. Give her the control, $$$, and authority....sit back and watch her go!!!

Brother Rice might have had a 4th Champ if not for Rudy Yates transferring to Carl Sandburg this season. Johnson, a Harvey Twister, is tough along with both Blanco boys. Congrats to them. REP'ing the CCL! (Chicago Catholic League)

You see Forte and Hughes wrestle a full out match every week? Well do tell. What is the score?ron

It's like watching paint dry, LOL.  Neither one can score on each other most of the time. Tommy has the advantage on his feet, Drew on top. It's never high scoring which is typical of two good wrestlers going at it. They've been good for each other though, that's for sure. The regular foursome is: Forte, Tucker, Hughes, and Champagne, what's the old saying, "as Iron sharpens Iron"---RWA style.

Forte at 152 now. Possible match between Forte and Drew Hughes.

See it every week at RWA...

Drew hughes wins super 32

I would NOT be surprised at all, Drew has taken his talents and skills to the next level, he's not only extremely strong but also solid in all positions. I am NOT surprised one bit either, he's not only a great kid but will be a TOP 5 wrestler in the nation at his weight class by the time he graduates IMO.

This is what I told a Big 10 coach this weekend.

 

I'll take Indiana's state champs against any state and we'll win 6-8 matches. Our 2nds will win probably 4-7, but past that it gets really ugly. Our depth isn't there, but getting stronger.

 

Place like Contenders, CIA, RWA, Humphrey's and even Maurer/Coughlin and the others are helping the state get better and better. The bad thing is these places are located in our most populated areas and they are still missing a lot of other wrestlers.

 

We are still behind Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, but making good strides. We are starting to have kids that aren't top 4 do well in national level events which shows our depth is improving. Even having success at the college level with DII, DIII, NAIA schools shows we are improving.

 

We still have a ways to go, but the progress in this state over the past 10-15 shows great signs for the future.

An accurate assessment, I agree 100%.

Love that kid! Congrats Brandon!!!!

It appears that Mater Dei and Carmel will face OPRF (#1 in IL, #2 in the nation) at the Washington, IL Super Duals on Dec. 6th. It should be interesting...how do the lineups look for MD and Carmel?

OPRF's projected lineup (from www.illinoismatmen.com):

106.Peter Ogunsanya (So.) *Double Cadet All-American

113.Anthony Madrigal (Fr.) *Cadet Freestyle All-American

120.Jason Renteria (So.) *3A State Runner-up

126.Alex Madrigal (Sr.) *3A State Placer (5th)

132.Gabe Townsell (Jr.) *Double Cadet Runner-up, 3A state placer (4th)

138.Jaime Hernandez (So.) *Cadet Freestyle Runner-up

145.Savonne Bennette (Sr.) *3A State Qualifier

152.Isaiah White (Jr.) *Junior Freestyle Champion, 3A State Champion

160.Larry Early (Sr.) *Multiple Fargo All-American, 3A State Champion

170.Matt Rundell (Sr.) *2x 3A State Placer (2nd, 3rd)

182.Kamal Bey (Jr.) *Double Cadet Runner-up, 3A State Champion

195.Ben Bergen (Sr.) *Winning record on varsity last year

220.Allan Stallings (Jr.) *Cadet Greco Runner-up, 3A State Qualifier

285.Adam Lempke-Bell (Sr.) *Fila Cadet World Team Member, 2x Varsity Starter

INDIANA made the Red/Blue pool, improved on last year I believe. Some tremendous match-ups out in OKC. Team IN gutted through it and my hat goes off to all of the wrestlers/coaches and the ISWA for a great event. Brock Hudkins had an awesome tournament, he looked spectacular!!!! He went 9-0!!!!  :)

Oh boy, that hurts...well lets hope that someone steps up and fills in.

That's the toughest call to make, the "in on a shot and the opponent body locks and tucks for a roll". I understand that the defensive wrestler has to "stop the momentum" of the attacking wrestler but it's much easier explained than judged during a match. Personally, I thought Nick initiated the move, stopped the momentum, and tucked for the turn but Happel gets 4 out of it.

Freestyle is so tough to officiate at times.

Nick doesn't wrestle Hall, Manville, etc. I was referring to his weight class.  I should have clarified.

WRESTLINGUSA Mag rated Carter Happel #1 Sophomore in the nation at 132lbs.

Suffice it to say, he's very tough.

Has it crossed anyone's mind that perhaps the Purdue Admin hired Coach Ersland based in large part on the recommendation of the three current Purdue wrestlers who were part of the interview process? Maybe just maybe it's important that the current athletes believe that he is the guy to take the program to the next level rather than the message board heroes. Where does it say that you have to be a world or Olympic champion to be a good coach? I missed that somewhere.

 

I'm a Buckeye that's fairly well known. I'm also a fan of our kids from Indiana no matter where they are wrestling. I have known Coach Ersland since he wrestled at Iowa. I wish him the  best and I hope the University provides him what he needs to win.

Very good points.

Great job by Nick, C. Happel is the Number #1 ranked Soph in the country.

I know Drew Hughes had a HUGE win over Nationally Ranked Myles Amine, 8-6. Jose Champagne also had a big win vs. a Nationally ranked kid, Colston Diblasi, 2-1, both wrestling for Indiana High Rollers Black.

Later on today, they will have some GREAT matches. 

All the best, Kyle!!! :)

Is there any video footage of Blake's match?

I believe I spotted Bellrs taping the match in the corner. 

Perhaps we could talk her into uploading it to youtube or another site so we can see it again?

Coaches, you are absolutely correct and this is a great warm-up for the Jr. Duals. My son will have a BRUTAL way to go in this tournament but it's great competition. At Junior 145, you have Logan Ryan (Iowa Commit), Mark Voss (FILA Cadet Placer), Wade Hodges (4th in Ohio) and a couple of other hammers including Kenan Carter from IL who is pretty tough also. It should be a great experience! I encourage everyone to register and come out, this is a great way to get better. 

This event occurred today in Downers Grove, IL and RWA put together a team thanks to Mr. Champagne. RWA was in the thick of it as we reached the Championship pool but ended up getting 4th out of 12 teams but took the 2nd place and 3rd place teams to brink.

One of the best freestyle matches I've EVER seen happened between Beau Breske of Wisconsin (Ringers) and Blake Rypel who we adopted for the day as our RWA wrestler. If you don't know, Breske is probably the #1 Sophomore in the country and is ranked nationally among all grades. He is a double FARGO cadet champ.  It started out with Breske taking an 8-0 lead on Rypel. As they went out of bounds and walked back to the center, I saw Blake look at the score and a SWITCH came on. The rest of that period and the 3 min 2nd period was EPIC. Back and forth, crowd going wild, it was just intense.

So, what happened? Blake Rypel BEAT Beau Breske today, folks. The score was something like 18-17 and it was the most entertaining and exciting freestyle matches I've ever seen.

Congrats Blake! 

I'll find out for sure but I can't imagine him NOT going to FARGO...

Jose and his little brother Carlos (who is also very tough) live with their parents in Griffith, Indiana. They are INDIANA residents and have been this entire school- year. Jose attends Marian Catholic HS just over the border in Illinois.

Both boys are eligible for all ISWA events. Both boys will represent INDIANA in all National USA events.

I hope this clears up some questions 

Sportsfangms and Vito need to put those taxpayer dollars to work and get busy mentoring! LOL----

What a great 2-day event! Saw some great friends and was told "You are coaching ILLINOIS INFERNO"...so I did and I only got 1 team point deducted over 7 duals so for me, that's a huge victory! 

John Cook, Jason Cook, and all of the NWCA folks along with Indiana assistants did an excellent job of putting a sheer meat grinder on for all of the wrestlers, fans, and coaches.

We Had him stay at my house one summer many moons ago to attend a summer camp in Illinois, he used to wrestle my son back in the day when they were the same weight class before Blake "grew into a giant". A great kid, I love seeing him succeed. Congrats!!!!!  :) :)