CoachW33

I think a 2 class system would be a start. It would give us an idea of the the affect it would have on teams throughout the state. At the beginning of this topic I asked the question, how do we put this in motion, so again I ask, how do we put this in motion? I understand that everyone isn't for classing, but some are and I think if it was explained to every coach and the facts were presented, we would have more coaches than not in favor. It would be nice to have a vote, maybe send a document to every AD and coach in the state with this information and get the numbers for those in favor and those who are not.

Wouldn't getting more kids into wrestling help the sports popularity. I think we've already decided class wrestling would get more kids involved. I think by following in the footsteps of Wisc and Iowa maybe we could close the gap in popularity and become known for more than basketball in the Hoosier state.

Y2, I'm at a cross roads. For a while I've read your posts about classing state and how Garrett and other small schools are at a disadvantage because they just don't have the numbers to compete with larger schools. I have never liked this argument. Being a young minded person, I may be a bit naive due to a lack of experience I have, but I say build your program. Since I was young the thing I desired most was to take a team and build it to the likes of Mishawaka. I talked to a group of coaches awhile ago about what they felt was important in building a strong program. One of the top things they stated was a strong feeder program. I have thought this through over the last year and understand the amount of work and time that is required. Starting with the elementary students, if you got three kids in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade (9 total) to join a club wrestling team by the time they reach middle school they will have a solid foundation. I also understand by the time the years get to middle school half or more will drop off, however I believe if you play your cards right, the number of kids in the elementary program will grow as well. Creating a foundation and getting kids interested at a young age will help build a program. I look at Jimtown High School, they have a very respectable program and Coach Kern does a heck of a job getting kids involved. These kids start young and by the time they are in middle school they are solid wrestlers ready to make a jump from middle school to high school. A side note, look for Jimtown to have a very good team for some time to come. It has been because of this mindset I have disagreed with you on classing the individual tournament. However, since the topic of keeping team state in place came up I've thought more about the growth of wrestling. I believe classing the team portion would give Indiana growth in wrestling and would still allow us to have a tough individual series as well. I also began to think about classing the individual side of wrestling in Indiana. Three of the top teams in the US in wrestling have classed individual tournaments. Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Iowa are all classed and it would be hard to find someone to argue against their dominance compared to other states in the sport of wrestling. Many of the top teams in each class still face off during the season and many of the top wrestlers still face off on the weekends during tournaments. These states make it work and turn out wrestlers every year that get recruited by D1 colleges. Today I will say I would welcome class wrestling. I believe it would get more kids out for multiple reasons, Y2 has touched on a couple already. The one I think would be the biggest attractor is wrestlers would have more success in the state tournament. Yes, some weights in particular classes would be somewhat watered down, but with time more wrestlers would build more competition in each class. With success come more guys wanting to be apart of success, lets face it success is contagious. You would have three times the opportunities to place at state. Y2, congrats, I'm a believer. My only disagreement, and I'm not sure its a disagreement is that I would like to see team state stay in place. I feel many wrestlers join the team to be apart of the camaraderie that a team provides. I think without the team aspect, some school's practices would become a club of sorts where wrestlers only care about themselves and the wrestlers with the lesser skill set would get left out or behind. This would create a survival of the fittest environment. With the team, each member is worried about helping the team by building the weaker wrestlers up and helping where they can.

What took Wright there? I was pretty excited to see him at IU.

What steps should be taken? I have heard us arguing for the survival of team state for the last couple of days, but I haven't heard any suggestions as to what can be done to help keep it around.

No, I understand after reading my post again that it came across that way. I should rephrase that, I meant you can't blame your lack of success on what you have in your room with you. If you do not have a wrestling partner or a room of studs to push you don't blame your lack of success on this alone. I was pointing out there are ways to find talent and coaching in the off season that can push you to become successful. This doesn't guarantee success, but it sure does give you a better shot at getting better.

I agree that being surrounded by studs is helpful for a wrestler to be successful. However, isn't there a saying that champions aren't made in the winter, they're made in the off season? I would think any state champion or wrestler who?s had success at state would tell you, it was the other 7-9 months they put into the sport that helped them achieve their success. I know for a fact that Coach Snyder has an open room that wrestlers drive to weekly during the off season that rivals most tournaments when talent is compared. If you want to get better you're going to go out of your way to find the open rooms with the talent and coaches that will make you better. This is all my opinion though, and I respect your thoughts on the subject. It is easier to build a great team of individuals when your school has the numbers, but I don't believe it is the only way and shouldn't be an excuse as to why success wasn't reached.

For those 16-20 teams, it has grown their fan base and helped students join the team to be apart of something special. Now lets think, if we broke team state into three classes we just tripled the number of teams the team tournament affects. Instead of this affecting 16-20 teams we have it affecting 48 - 60 teams and fan bases for these team growing as well.

I am very much in favor of keeping the team tournament. I also am in favor of classing the team portion of state and keeping the individual portion classless. I believe having 3 classes would help promote the sport on many levels. For an example, last year a team like Jimtown may have made it to a small class state and competed well, but instead they had to meet a very successful Mishawaka team at regionals. If both of these schools had the chance to make it to state, twice the fans would attend. However, I feel if the only way to class the team portion of state is to class the individual tournament, then I'll pass. My question is how would you do both? Class the team portion while keeping the Individual portion classless? If you shuffled sectionals around by team size, how would keep from watering down the Individual tournament? It?s no secret the bigger the school the better chances you have at fielding a full lineup. With smaller schools in one sectional you may have weight classes with 3 or 4 wrestlers, allowing all of them to move on to regionals.

I think there would stil be excitment in the wrestle backs. At some point you will have two wrestlers fighting for their ticket to state, it just might not be the first two rounds like it is now. If I understand it correctly, it could be similar to how the regional was set up with wrestle backs before the change to four going through.

Alex and Jason Tsirtsis have to be up there.

Just a little excited to get the season underway. I find myself looking at last years sectional results, filling in team line ups, and thinking about the wrestlers I'll have the opportunity to coach. This is how I have tried to fill the void until middle school football is finished and preseason practice starts for me. How is everyone else handling the countdown?

Could we say that Andrew Howe is Indiana's greatest? I know he only has 3 championships, however, who did Alex wrestle his freshmen yr in the championship? Was it a 3x Champ? What about Lance?

Do we know when this film will actually be released?

Alright so we've heard what makes a great wrestler/coach, what about an overall program. What does it take to build a relatively weak program into a program with quality wrestlers year in and year out? A program that is contending for championships and sending kids to the Conseco regularly? A program that is a class act and respected throughout the wrestling community? Any thought or opinions?

Very interested to see how the Mishawaka/Penn match turns out. Penn has a team that has been in the making since Harper took over. Mishawaka has successfully reloaded year after year. Should be a heck of a dual.

Also a great story about former Elkhart Central state qualifier Drew Walters making a name for himself in the MMA scene. * Jared Brooks (Warsaw) def. Zach Sterling (Muncie), submission, second round http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?ID=520413

According to a to a close friend Brooks is still living and training (MMA) in Warsaw. I just saw him win an MMA fight in Elkhart. Kids tough. According to my source he hasn't heard him discuss moving or attending CP. I would think if he was indeed going, he would have been there by now, and if he was already there he wouldn't be driving back to Warsaw to train. But I could be wrong, it sure wouldn't be the first time.

Congrats on a heck of a fight tonight!

I'll throw out Mishawaka and Crown Point. I'll say if rumors are true I'll take Crown Point in the top two.

Alex Dolly - Mishawaka

GenerealsDad, I understand why you would think sports should be the first thing cut, however, for a large number of students it's these sports that keep them in school. Without sports many students, whether we like it or not, will drop out because schools just isn't for them, or so they say. Cutting education is the worst thing that can happen. Just think, less teachers equal larger class sizes. I don't know if your a teacher or not but going from 25 students to 35 in a class is a large jump and much harder to teach. If students do not get an education they come out of school dumber and less prepared to contribute to our economy. This results in more crime and more government support because if I can get a good paying job im either going to find a way to get more money (selling drugs, stealing, robbery, etc) or they think why work a job where im only making minimum wage so Ill just sit on my bum and collect welfare. Cutting education is the worst idea, if you can tell me a situation that results in a worse scenario I'd like to hear it.

Wildcatcountry97, What was your career college record?

Jesse Witkowski is serving in the United State Air Force, he is currently over seas serving his country. Jesse was a Ft Wayne Semi State qualifier in 2009 and was a couple points, if I remember correctly, to making it to state after sitting out the first 3/4 of the season.

Duck and Run, seriously your an idiot. I have read too many of your irritating posts to hold my tongue any longer. I feel like you sit at home and think of things to cry about or cause a stir. This is a forum so you are entitled to your opinion but honestly, I think every person on this board would like to see Y2 delete your account. Do everyone a favor, turn your computer off, and leave us alone. Sorry for the negativity I'm bringing to the board right now but I think if we could vote on it you'd never post on here again. Congratulations to all the coaches winning this award! Some may not agree on the picks but they are all deserving one way or another.