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Too bad it's not on trackwrestling

Does OPRF have two Varsity teams?
 
Also, cut Fabio some slack, rivalries die hard! (Yes, I am defending the not so big "big boy".)

Doubt this would happen. I mean who would actually teach kids how to wrestle for FREE??

I just feel in Chico's last two years, 106-0, found ways to win the close matches. That's why I gave him the nod!

Thank god for clubs. Clearly, none of these aforementioned guys' high school coaches are any good.

Both great kids and glad this match happened. This arguement seems pointless. If you don't want the ref to call a pin that wasn't a pin, don't be on your back.
 
I hope Joe wins the next 3 years and think he will, but tommy won this year and we should applaud this great young man.

Well, I sat with most of my wrestlers from Hamilton Heights who had never seen a state championship. I can tell you, it was a match they will never forget. This match taught them a lot of lessons on both sides and what an exciting match for them just to be apart of and just to watch as a fan of wrestling. My wrestlers go through the same Regionals as Tommy so they were able to connect a little with him and cheering him on. We were front row most of the tourney and 3rd row for the Finals. Tommy's match they talked about all the way home. Not one comment was made about the pin but instead how great Indiana wrestling truly is. Two great young men that we should all be very proud of as they were the ones center mat battling for the most prestigious title Indiana has to offer.

Come on, in this day and age there is no video of this celeb!?

A couple come to mind:
 
Hudkins rushing back from what probably should have been a season-ending hand injury, refusing to quit after hospitalization forced him out of the state finals last year.  Comes in ranked #5 and wins the deepest weight in the state.
 
Stevenson of Franklin refusing to take the state finals off when he's got a banged up shoulder and a newly torn ACL.  Even with a state championship already to his credit and such a small chance of success, he wrestles every single match with grit--even his wrestleback and placement matches that anyone with even a mosquito bite seems to default if they didn't reach the level they hoped.

My first one was in 91 and have not missed one since.  I remember that first one like it was yesterday.  Most memorable moment for me had to be the NO TAKEDOWN call against Jeff Jorge.

Black and Reitz could be the top 2 in the weight, but they haven't faced any of the top Evansville guys this season. Likely not even many common opponents. And there are probably very few people that have been able to watch multiple matches from the best Evansville and Merrillville kids due to the distance, so it's hard to gauge how they'll all compare with each other.
 
Regardless, it will be the most fun weight at Banker's Life where the top 8 could go just about any given way.

I made some new friends sitting close. I met triston Rodriguez from culvers grandma she was awesome I gave the schurgs dad some aspirin a lady gave me my brother and the trianas some cookies it was a pretty awesome day. The first 2 rounds aren't the best but you have to make the most of the situation. I think Amy Beckham does a nice job. She comes from a wrestling. Family and know what it takes to run a tournament.

Everyone knows the brackets get released on Sunday. That's how it's always been. I'm sure whoever released the formula at merrillville did not have the authority to do so. Whoever posted the brackets last night should have realized that and not posted them, and instead should have waited until Sunday for the ihsaa to officially release them.

Hates these threads so much he has posted 3x now with a 4th to follow!

DITKA

Here are my thoughts...
 
Pros:
Awesome competition at all levels, I hope we can continue to attract this level of out of state competition with the relatively low support shown from Indiana teams this year. Very nice venue, the exhibition halls were huge and the arena seemed very nice. Showed the HS and younger wrestlers that there are plenty of non-D1 colleges that offer very competitive wrestling at the next level.  It was great to hear the crowd go crazy during some of the college placement matches. The announcers did a great job of highlighting some of the premiere matchups going on through the college division.    Cons:
Price... I'm not sure about the team fees, but for a spectator, it was very expensive compared to a local HS event.  $5-$10 to park, $20 admission, plus very high priced concessions.  My opinion is if you're going to charge a ton for admission, then concessions should be reasonable or vice versa. Although the exhibition halls were massive, they did lack a little bit of seating around the HS mats.  Basically, it left the parents to stand around mat side... then security would come by and ask everyone to step back.  It would have been nice to have some additional seating around mats 23 and 24.  Overall, I'm glad our team was exposed to the competition at this level.  The boys battled their best and I sure hope we are back next year with the same level of out of state competition.
 
 

3-2, Lost to Brighton and Lowell. I have the results posted for Merrillville and Brownsburg on the results page.
 
Had a really great dual with Brownsburg, 30-28.  Hats off to them, they wrestled really tough, but that should be no surprise given their current coaching staff.

I have coached kids who were not as talented and would get beat 9 out of 10 times by a certain wrestler and once down 13-0 threw a head lock and caught him.  Even as a coach you cheer, chuckle, wipe the sweat from your brow and thank goodness luck was on your side that day.  Then you hope you dont wrestle that kid again because you probably wont get lucky like that again.  If that is a scrub mentality I guess I am a scrub...lol So I think they were wanting to know with the original question was if both the wrestlers looked equal prior to getting pinned or was one wrestler being dominate before the pin.  Being a realist is a far cry from a scrub mentality. Sorry to interrupt, dont know much about either wrestler, just wanted to add my 2 cents. 

"This year, Region teams would not have made much impact at Team State (IHSWCA 3A Team State, for short).  Portage appears to be the best team in NWI.  They were defeated by Penn, 39-24, who finished third at Team State. It also seems unlikely that Portage would be able to beat Warren Central.

 

Portage has beaten Cathedral, who tied for ninth and Franklin, who finished seventh.

 

Portage would have been the fifth or sixth best team in the field, last Saturday.  Crown Point or Merrillville would not have cracked the top eight."

 
 
The Portage/Penn Dual could have gone either way with multiple matches decided by 2 points or less & both teams having key wrestlers out. The 39-24 score does absolutely no justice. Kudos to Penn for being the better team that day, they earned it. But my point is Portage very well could have went to the IHSWCA 3A Team State & placed in the top 3. Your assumption above is completely wrong!

Classy.

Guys, I cannot speak for everyone on our staff but I know that I greatly appreciate your kind words and support. A couple of years ago we knew it would be a long journey to bring this program up to snuff but if any two people were crazy enough to do it I would say me and Darrick top the list. But it isn't just us. We have a remarkable staff who all buy in to the same philosophy as well as an administration that gives us nothing but support.  Our youth program has always been pretty good but hasn't been able to get over that hump to the next level until just recently. Not to mention the wonderful support and dedication from our wrestlers and their families. It's been a heck of a ride the last two years and I can't wait to see what is in store for the future. I never though I would bleed anything else than Maroon and White, but I am pretty sure its a solid shade of purple now. Again thank you guys for your kind words and good luck to everyone throughout the season!

Paul Maldonado
Asst. Coach Merrillville