jetwrestling

Adams Central

Adams Central

Adams Central

Adams Central

Adams Central

First off, I didn't realize there were some of these issues. I honestly don't follow who all the other teams roster. My initial gut feeling is that if we go away from the school affiliation/ limited wild cards, then we are just opening it up like all the other summer duals that out there. It would be the travel teams/ training academies dominating. We have entered a team for the last 5 years or so. The first couple was in a one class set up. I know we did not have the depth to compete with the larger school clubs, but we did it anyway. I viewed it as a way to get my kids exposed to the top/ state level kids out there. It was a way for us to take 15-20 of my kids (that wouldn't be going to a state level event otherwise) along with 2-3 wildcards to a high level event. The ultimate goal was to get more of our kids competing at the individual state events and each year we have a few more kids going to those. It is unfortunate if teams are crossing lines to get the win. I figure they have to live with that, not me. We take our team there to compete and will continue to do so. We also do local duals knowing that some teams are basically all stars. I do not get hung up on the wins and losses at this level. I just want my kids progressing. I know that may not really have answered your question, but that is how I view the duals. Full disclosure is that I do use wildcards (per the rules). I have never turned away one of my kids that wanted to go for a wildcard. I always take my kids first then fill in the roster with wildcards. Tony

I know this is a little off the main discussion topic, but our club does not start till end of November. I believe the season is long enough already. 4 months of folkstyle then another month and half of freestyle. I fear of the burnout factor for the younger kids. Also, I am not sure it would fix the "All Star" teams. I think it would be worse as clubs could pull in any kid and just add them as a member.

In our area, 3 schools came together and started friendlies that we called the Rival Wrestling League. We run them on Friday nights from 7-9pm typically prior to a HS super dual on Saturday. So the HS kids set up Friday after practice, then the club kids (pre K to 5th) come in and wrestle, then the HS kids tear down after their event. We mark the kids hands with grade and weight. We just match them up mat side and run as many through as possible. Some kids get as many as 6-8 matches in. The nice thing is that the kids get as many matches as they want and then head out. The "League" has since grown to 9+ clubs. We charge $1 per person or $5 a family. So this is also little bit of a fund raiser for the host site. All the club leaders get together at the beginning of the season to set the schedule. We also have a set of guidelines that we all go by to keep it uniform. I can send you our guidelines via email if you would like.

I think if it is a middle weight, that argument goes away. There were multiple jv kids at every event we went to from 126-160. Not so much at upper and lower end weights.

We had more kids out this year than years past by about 7 or 8. 106 was a forfeit, but I had 8 kids at 138/ 145. A good reason to bring back more middle weight classes.

The other major contributing factor is the multi sport kid at a small school. The pool of athletes is smaller therefore we have to share kids to maintain successful programs. We have a very good football program. 20 of my 27 high school wrestlers played football and a couple run cross country. Come spring time several are playing ball. The hard work argument is not an issue. They work hard, just not always in the sport of wrestling. We try to coordinate our off season schedule with the football guys so the boys can participate in both.

This is the biggest difference and factor between successful large schools and small schools. We are a school of 375 kids. We have a pretty solid feeder program and are pretty successful for our size at the high school level. We have wrestled duals versus Brownsburg, Perry Meridian, Yorktown, Chesterton, Bloomington South, Mishawaka, Bellmont, etc within the last two years. The overwhelming factor is the depth of talent those programs have. Depth is my concern every year. 1-2 kids/ injuries can significantly affect our line up. I personally love the classed state duals. That event has allowed the smaller programs to show case their kids who otherwise may not get that kind of exposure. And it is a good recruiting tool. I also am a fan of the single class individual tourney. I love our state finals event. The only thing missing is wrestlebacks. So we need to really sit down and come up with options that would increase participation across all school sizes. I think that should be the underlying goal. If participation numbers go up, more programs can develop depth, which in turn will raise the level of wrestling, more kids get noticed by colleges, etc. Just my 2 cents. Tony Currie

Just reading quickly, this looks pretty interesting. I think it hits most of the concerns of current system. Random draw pig tails at sectional, time considerations, wrestlebacks. Good starting point for discussion.

My understanding of the IHSAA rules is that HS kids cannot train or practice with kids from other schools during the IHSAA season. So the question is, does the contract refer to in season or after season? If in season, he is trying to keep the kids IHSAA eligible. Somone correct me if I am wrong.