jetwrestling

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

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. 

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. 
 
 

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. 

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 

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 

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 

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 

yes. 

I think you have to be careful about assuming where posters are from. Adams Central is the first school listed so you need to change that to select a school on your profile. There are way too many people on here that looks like they are from AC when in reality most likely are not. I would like to think we would not have posters knocking other programs when we are striving to get to their level. So I think folks need to ease up a little on their assumptions of where posters are from.
 
I know Matt and would never take a shot at him or anyone that puts as much time and effort into this sport that we all love.
 
Great weekend by all the kids who participated. It is a great accomplishment to earn a trip to the state finals. Those are the elite kids in the state.
 
Tony Currie

In the match you stated, there was a little extra at the end that was inappropriate and the wrestler was reprimanded. We do not teach nor condone that. It is an emotional sport and at times, high school kids make the wrong decision in the heat of the moment.

In the match you stated, there was a little extra at the end that was inappropriate and the wrestler was reprimanded. We do not teach nor condone that. It is an emotional sport and at times, high school kids make the wrong decision in the heat of the moment.