jetwrestling

Adman Central has had a lay head coach for last 12 years. We hold a free elementary camp each season right before club sign ups. This is always well attended and we pick up some new kids for the club each year. We had 75 elementary club kids this year, our biggest numbers maybe ever. Solid numbers for a 1A school. The other big thing is to build relationships and be visible year round. The youth baseball fields is the place to be in Monroe all summer. Visibility and relationships may be a little easier in a small community where the coaches have grown up.

The proposal has 13 classes listed. Looks like they just bumped the light weights a few pounds and took out 195. I favor more middle weigh classes as that is where most HS kids fall.

And for the record, I am not a proponent of classing the individual tournament. I wish they would increase to 24 kids in the state bracket. Ticket round winners place top 4 at semi state. Ticket round loser wrestle to 5/6. This eliminates the death draw issue and basically assures the top kids qualify. Take 6 to state. Add 1 round Friday for 4 vs 5 and 3 vs 6. Semi state champs and runner ups have a bye. Somehow random draw in the first round like they do now. Keep the rest of the tournament series the same. I am a huge proponent of Class Duals.

I agree and appreciate the fact that 6A schools have multiple sport athletes as well and are successful at that. My point is that is is much more common in smaller school settings. My varsity line up: 113, 120, 138- cross country. 126, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220- football. 132 was football until this year. 106 first year kid that was literally the only one I could find to make weight in the school. So if you can tell me that Brownsburg had 11-12 varsity wrestling starters that played a fall sport, then I will stop trying to post about the differences we face. They get much better year round buy in and that is the advantage. I give Snyder props for what he has done. Brownsburg came to our duals for a couple years prior to his head coaching. We actually won the two duals we had with them. Then last year we faced them at the Bellmont main event and took a whooping. He has changed their culture and elevated that program.

Year round wrestling training is the difference. Period. Hard work pays off and those kids that invest in wrestling only are reaping the rewards. Others that invest their hard work in other sports have to play catch up. Enrollment does not matter. The focus of the kids efforts is what does.

I am not trying to make excuses, this is just the reality that small schools face. I am curious of the small school kids that are being listed as examples of being successful, how many have quit their other sports to focus on wrestling only and regularly attend academies. I could be way off here, but I truly believe that is the overwhelming factor that is separating the top from everyone else. Like I said size of school does not matter, it is the other opportunities that does. Whether that opportunity is being able to play football and baseball as well or the local wrestling training academy. I believe I read where Silas Allred had to make the decision to focus on wrestling only. And that kid is a dominant force from a small school.

This was the very point I was trying to make earlier and was jumped on for it. The size of school is irrelevant. The biggest factor is year round wrestling that is being done. I posted earlier that AC has several athletes that work their tails off year round, the difference is that it is in 2-3 sports. The kids that wrestle only are separating themselves. This is a fact and you see it in the rise of the communities that are doing it. This is the biggest factor to their success. A small school kid can do it also, but at the expense of the other sports that they are being recruited to play by their peers and the other head coaches. If we want all our programs to be successful, AC has to share athletes between their sports as there are truly only a set number to choose from in a school of 375 total HS students.

I don’t think true wrestle backs will happen. I think you should take semi state ticket round losers and wrestle them to 5/6. Adds 3 matches per weight to semi state. Take six per weight to state. This eliminates the random semi state death draw issues and pretty much guarantees the top kids earn a trip to state. Start a little earlier and run 2 rounds Friday at state. 5 vs 4 and 6 vs 3. The semi state champ and runner up gets a bye. Everything else stays the same.

Not sure if this is completely accurate, but Carmel has 74 kids listed on their trackwreslting team roster. That seems like pretty solid numbers. No way we could come anywhere close to that. I agree every school faces recruiting issues due to the demands of this sport. I think the wrestling culture in the school factors in big time. If you have solid wrestling culture and support, it is easier to get the borderline kids out. If you have a strong football only or basketball culture, that can be difficult to change. The coaches that can change that culture or bring it to the next level are the ones having the most success.

I totally agree it can be done if everyone works together. I was just trying to state there are different dynamics between schools the sizes of AC (374 kids) and Brownsburg (2643). Different opportunities as well, good and bad. I feel we are lucky to have our student athletes be able to participate in multiple sports. 3 of my wrestlers were recognized on some level for All State in football. I had 80% of my HS wrestlers playing a fall sport. Not sure if Brownsburg had that many or not. The challenges are different, that is what I was getting at. We had 3 kids in our normal varsity line up not play a fall sport. of those, one was a first year wrestler that was the only kid I could find in the high school that could make 106 and another had played football up until his this year. Those kids that play multiple sports at the 6A level are just plain athletes and will compete in which ever sport they choose to participate. Not trying to argue, just stating that there are inherent challenges that we have to overcome to be competitive. Tony Currie

From my viewpoint of a small school coach. The main difference between the large school and small school wrestlers is quite simply one thing: year round training. Yes, small school kids have the exact same year round opportunities. But the huge difference is these small school kids are 2 and 3 sport athletes. Adams Central- Football was in the 1A final four 2 of last three years. 16 of my 24 wrestlers were playing football. I did not get them at all from late July till Thanksgiving. A couple ran cross county. Several are already practicing track and field and more will be going to baseball this week. We have to share athletes to have a successful culture at our school. We do the off season workouts, summer duals, weight room, etc. but the attendance is spotty due to demands of the in season sports. My huge advantage is that we have a really strong wrestling culture and support from administration and the community. A larger school kid is more likely to specialize and take better advantage of the off season opportunities. It has nothing to do with working harder than the small school kids. The small school kids bust their tails the same, just not in wrestling only. The out of season training that has emerged over the last several years has really separated the talent. The top level guys that train year round have distanced themselves from the typical multi sport athlete. I do not want this to sound like excuses, but it is the reality. Our goals are the same as every other competitive program in the state. We just have to figure ways around some of the obstacles and close the gap. We do not say it is ok, that was a 3A or 2A kid. Tony Currie

Not a 4 over 1

Adams Central will have their first official wrestling room by this summer. Just over 3 full mats with an office and storage area connected. We are extremely excited for it.

Jashawn Berlanga from Adams Central. Second year wrestler. 18-9 to 36-3. He won conference, sectional, and regional. Paul Faurote 15-16 to 28-8 and a semi state berth. Monty Hill 10-13 to 17-7 and a semi state berth.

Adams Central 9 with 4 champs.