WeeMom

Ok... Here's my picks... 103 - Zach Wise (PH) It'll be a tough one... but Zachie has a lot of heart! 112 - Mason Todd (PH) Yes, it will go three rounds, 'cuz Blanton never stops moving. But, I don't think the score will be nearly as close as County. 119 - Levi Lanning (AL) Lanning has been known to come out w/ some big wins when he's equally matched. (Just ask me, I should know!) 125 - Justin Eshelman (PH) FINALLY! No more Eppert 130 - Eli Walker (AL) This will be another tough one. Achenbach won at County. But I think Walker will be comin' back for vengeance! 135 - Mason Berryman (AH) How can you argue? 140 - Braydon Alley (HH) Last year's champion. Gotta pick him to win again, considering he has the same opponents. 145 - Montrail Johnson (TC) It'll be a nail biter... but I'll definitely give Nicholson the championship next year. 152 - Sammy Bennett (AH) Again... this is another year for Sammy to shine. 160 - Dylon Gregg (AND) Don't know too much here, so I'm gonna have to pick the #1. He was #4 last year at 140, which was a really tough weight... so he should do well. 171 - Kevin Moats (TIP) Love the way this guy wrestles. Ranked #10 in the state. 189 - Derrick Holpuch (NOB)- Don't know much about the wrestlers here... so again... picking the #1 215 - Kyle Smitherman (PH) It'll be another barn burner. But I think Smitherman has finally got Smart figured out. It might get ugly. 289 - Hunter Prol (PH) This first year varsity wrestler is one to watch. He's raw, but he's not afraid of anybody. The 3rd round may present a challenge, but I see Prol going to the finals and taking it all. And... look at all those kids from Pendleton Heights up there... can you say Sectional Champions?

This sounds great! Organized and well thought out. I wonder.... if something like this isn't acceptable to the IHSAA, is there any reason that it couldn't be sponsored by IHSWCA, but still presented the same weekend? IHSWCA presents the Middle School State Championships, which is why I wondered why they couldn't do the same for the high school girls?

Normally, I wouldn't get into a conversation about ref calls... especially since I really have a huge respect for both these wrestlers. But... I saw the tape, too. (And rewound it again and again in slo-mo, to make sure.... cuz I originally thought the denial of points was a bad call, too.) The difference between the calls was... when Todd was awarded two points, he started the move in bounds, and was still in bounds when he gained control. When Gonzales was denied his two points, Mason was already out of bounds, and then Gonzales had to circle out of bounds before he could gain control. This was a great match though... and could have gone either way. If they meet up again, it'll be a barn burner, for sure!

From the regs: Rule 1-2: "The following sports are recognized and regulated: Boys ? baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, wrestling; Girls ? basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball. Rule 1-3: A championship tournament series will be provided at such time as 50% of the total, full membership schools are participating in that sport at the same time of the year and it is recommended by the Commissioner. NOTE: Applies only to those sports not listed as recognized and regulated in Rule 1-2. According to my interpretation, this reg only applies to IHSAA supporting a State Tournament for girls. Since Girls wrestling is not a IHSAA regulated sport, we would have to have 50% of schools participating in girls wrestling. I would assume that Women's Wrestling would be treated just like any other sport (rugby, lacrosse, etc) that is not sanctioned by IHSAA. Once 50% of the IHSAA members schools are supporting women's wrestling, then IHSAA would sanction a women's tournament, regardless of whether or not IHSAA has actually sanctioned women's wrestling as a IHSAA sport or not. Make sense?

So does that mean that 50% of the IHSAA member schools have to have active female wrestler participation before they will add a State Tournament? This doesn't seem to say anything about whether we can field all female teams or not.

Thanks 215 mom! I've been dyin' out here!!

Nice to see Pendleton up there in the mix with the team scores! I wish I could get some news on individuals. Hey Todd... answer your phone!

I have looked into my crystal ball... but it will only tell me the finals for 112 and 125. 112: Mason Todd vs. Bryan Kuhn 125: Justin Eshelman vs. Justin Keiffer Throw Zach Wise in the mix @ 103 and Kyle Smitherman @ 215 (also both from Pendleton)

Pendleton places in every weight except 140. Takes 7 individual weight class titles. 103 - Zach Wise 1st 112 - Mason Todd 1st 119 - Brian Philbert 2nd 125 - Justin Eshelman 1st 130 - Larry Whitely - 5th 135 - Austin Ray - 3rd 145 - Clint Nicholson - 1st 152 - Tyler Johnson - 4th 160 - Cody Stephenson - 2nd 171 - Jake Stilwell - 3rd 189 - Jasper Moffitt - 1st 215 - Kyle Smitherman - 1st 285 - Hunter Prol - 1st PHHS takes home County Championship Sorry I don't have full individual results or scores. I came late in the day.

I had the opportunity to watch Demi wrestle this weekend at PHHS. OUTSTANDING!! More wrestling like this and the boys will be the ones bangin' the door down to get IHSAA to approve women's wrestling in Indiana... cuz they'll get tired of gettin' beat and gettin' razzed!!

I've noticed that too. Everyone's being all secretive this year. And, I'm just a fan w/ no ulterior motive. :'(

Out here in Pendleton, we snatch 'em from their cribs. I hear they do the same in Yorktown! Seriously, though... we had close to 90 elementary age kids sign up for our youth program this year! Boy is our room ever crowded! Tomorrow night, we are hosting Yorktown, Ham SE, and Elwood kids clubs for a friendship tourney. It sure is fun watching these kids grow up, and then make their mark in wrestling once they get into high school!

Why should a Junior or Senior move on from 103 or 112 if they are naturally at those weights? My son is naturally about 115, but can maintain 112 without too much of a problem. He is a Junior in high school who comes from a family of short people. I'm 5'4 and weigh 108 lbs. My father is only about 5' 8" and so is my grandfather. We had a kid on our team who wrestled for 3 years at 189. Should he have moved up, just to give someone else a chance to wrestle 189?

Where can I find Yorktown's line up... and I'll tell ya!

Okay... I hope Sarah doesn't mind me throwin' her name in... but since I have such a HUGE respect for her as a wrestler, I hope she'll forgive me. Since my son is in a lower weight class, he has had more than his fair share of opportunities to wrestle girls. The first time, he was SO SO SO nervous. His first female opponent was Sarah Schletweg from Rushville. (Sorry about the spelling.) AWESOME wrestler. Now, if you've ever seen Sarah, she obviously takes wrestling very seriously. You could tell tell she put in her time at the gym to muscle up those arms of hers, to compensate for any perceived weakness in her upper body, compared to her male counterparts. Sarah was definitely intimidating. She did look like she could whoop my boy's butt! The boys on my son's wrestling team started to give him a hard time... One kid even told him, "If you lose, I'll start bringing your meals out to you in the woods, because that's where you're gonna have to move after this!" I imagine she's sent quite a few boys to live in the woods, because she was a Regional Qualfier @ 103 last year. At any rate, my son did end up winning that match, but it wasn't without a huge sigh of relief. He was genuinely scared he would have to give up wrestling if he lost. Since then, he's wrestled several other females, and doesn't get nervous any more. He's learned for the most part, to treat them like any other wrestler. He's even bloodied some of their noses. In his mind, and in my mind, if a girl goes out on the mat to wrestle boys, she knows what she's getting into. My son was once asked by a coach to take it easy on one of his female wrestlers. I am sure Andrew smiled in reassurance, but in his head, he probably thought, "Not likely." You may get some male wrestlers who take it easy, but not often. Their pride is at stake. Now that's not to say my boy is brutal to the females he is wrestling. Just like anyone else, he can tell w/in a few minutes, what level of wrestler he's been matched up with. I have actually see him gently place his female opponent on the mat in a "slam". It was kind of humorous. But, for all I know... it may have been humiliating for his opponent that he exercised so much caution. Anyway... the point of my story is this... to Demi's Mom. People who think that girls should ONLY wrestle girls are probably concerned about a couple things: 1) the bruised ego of the boy who loses 2) the girl getting hurt and 3) hands being placed in embarrassing places. Here's my answer to those three things 1) the boy needs to spend more time wrestling year round so he won't get beat 2) the girl could just as easily get hurt wrestling other girls... after all boys get hurt wrestling other boys... and 3) Get over it. Why is it any less embarrassing to execute a crotch lift on a guy? I'm just sayin'! As I've said before... I have no problem w/ females wrestling on boys teams, but I would like to at some point, see a high school women's division. I too think it would be nice to see the girl's experience the same kind of rewards (state level accolades and recognition) that the boys get. I definitely think there would be a lot more interest from the girls if the opportunity were made available.

Darren: Thank you so much for the wonderful job you are doing so far. Never met you... and I don't have any girls who wrestle... but I am a big fan of wrestling in general. I have seen more discussion of women's wrestling this month, than I have ever seen. It's awesome that you are putting this in the forefront!! Lorrie Wilson

Just looked at the results, and noticed two scores beside each match up. Do the women wrestle freestyle in college?

Funny cdpd8b... I said the same thing on the high school board. Build it and they will come. I agree 100%. If it's available, I think girls will flock. There has been increased girl's participation in the youth divisions, I have definitely noticed that. And... I have had several parents tell me about their girls' desires to wrestle... but then I never see those girls actually go out for their school's team. I am sure it is intimidating for girls, especially beginner wrestlers, to come onto a team full of boys, many of whom have been wrestling since they were wearing diapers. Texas and Hawaii (and maybe one other state) have women's division wrestling, and their programs have become very successful and respected. I don't know about the numbers in Hawaii, but Texas has over 150 women's teams in their high school, with full season competitions, and sanctioned state tournaments. Gotta love that!

"If you build it, they will come..." With 150 girls high school wrestling teams in Texas... its hard to argue that we couldn't make it work here. (150 girls teams reported in 2003 - 2004. Not sure what it is now.) I am sure that we would have a lot more interest in wrestling by the girls, if they didn't have to wrestle with those sweaty boys. Of course, that's tongue in cheek... but I do believe there is a certain feeling of intimidation a girl feels being the only female on an all male team. I would LOVE to see women's wrestling grow to the point where we could have all girls teams, but I don't think it will grow to that point UNTIL we have all girls teams. (Does that make sense?) I also agree that there should still be an opportunity to wrestle on the boys teams if a girls team does not exist at their school.

And... per the Anderson Herald Bulletin. http://www.heraldbulletin.com/archivesearch/local_story_321233121.html

Hey! I don't get violent or anything! But... I will be the one in the stands acting like every single PH wrestler is my son! I always fee like I've gotten a good work out after a super six. There should be some really good wrestling here. Can't wait to see the matchups.

New Castle Delphi Lawrence North Bluffton Yorktown South Adams Martinsville

Very cool! Thanks!

I enjoyed the blog we got from Nick Kraus, and am hoping we get more like it, this year. Would love to hear from collegiate wrestlers of all levels, to see what the difference in programs are.

I took this survey - and am wondering - Do most D1 sports expect a year long committment to practice and compete? With practices beginning in the fall and competitions not ending until April.... This may not be a big deal to our wrestlers, as most of them are so committed anyway, they're accustomed to wrestling year round (Folkstyle, Freestyle, Greco)... but I was just curious as to what colleges typically expect from their athletes.