Justdo^it135

Granted my perspective is nearly 15 years old, but when I was in school I trained at the local wrestling academies Region Elite/Vega/RWA year round starting at age 10.
 
Then every year high school wrestling season would start and I would have to limit myself to just the practices at the high school.
 
In hindsight it was clear that each year I was at peak wrestling performance in November and would steadily decline until February with my worst performances always at State. 
 
I could never understand as a high schooler why kids that I would dominate in the off season were able to pull off close wins against me late in the season. Ultimately it all came down to them improving during their high school season while I declined. 
 
My high school coaches were great men, and I value to this day the lessons in character that I learned from them, and despite that, I certainly wish my parents would have moved me to a different high school program with more gifted/technical coaches and a more difficult strength of schedule. 
 
Coaching, culture, competition, and community are critically important and make a substantial difference. I would not begrudge any parent for wanting to provide the best opportunity for their child. 

Granted my perspective is nearly 15 years old, but when I was in school I trained at the local wrestling academies Region Elite/Vega/RWA year round starting at age 10.
 
Then every year high school wrestling season would start and I would have to limit myself to just the practices at the high school.
 
In hindsight it was clear that each year I was at peak wrestling performance in November and would steadily decline until February with my worst performances always at State. 
 
I could never understand as a high schooler why kids that I would dominate in the off season were able to pull off close wins against me late in the season. Ultimately it all came down to them improving during their high school season while I declined. 
 
My high school coaches were great men, and I value to this day the lessons in character that I learned from them, and despite that, I certainly wish my parents would have moved me to a different high school program with more gifted/technical coaches and a more difficult strength of schedule. 
 
Coaching, culture, competition, and community are critically important and make a substantial difference. I would not begrudge any parent for wanting to provide the best opportunity for their child. 

Granted my perspective is nearly 15 years old, but when I was in school I trained at the local wrestling academies Region Elite/Vega/RWA year round starting at age 10.
 
Then every year high school wrestling season would start and I would have to limit myself to just the practices at the high school.
 
In hindsight it was clear that each year I was at peak wrestling performance in November and would steadily decline until February with my worst performances always at State. 
 
I could never understand as a high schooler why kids that I would dominate in the off season were able to pull off close wins against me late in the season. Ultimately it all came down to them improving during their high school season while I declined. 
 
My high school coaches were great men, and I value to this day the lessons in character that I learned from them, and despite that, I certainly wish my parents would have moved me to a different high school program with more gifted/technical coaches and a more difficult strength of schedule. 
 
Coaching, culture, competition, and community are critically important and make a substantial difference. I would not begrudge any parent for wanting to provide the best opportunity for their child. 

Granted my perspective is nearly 15 years old, but when I was in school I trained at the local wrestling academies Region Elite/Vega/RWA year round starting at age 10.
 
Then every year high school wrestling season would start and I would have to limit myself to just the practices at the high school.
 
In hindsight it was clear that each year I was at peak wrestling performance in November and would steadily decline until February with my worst performances always at State. 
 
I could never understand as a high schooler why kids that I would dominate in the off season were able to pull off close wins against me late in the season. Ultimately it all came down to them improving during their high school season while I declined. 
 
My high school coaches were great men, and I value to this day the lessons in character that I learned from them, and despite that, I certainly wish my parents would have moved me to a different high school program with more gifted/technical coaches and a more difficult strength of schedule. 
 
Coaching, culture, competition, and community are critically important and make a substantial difference. I would not begrudge any parent for wanting to provide the best opportunity for their child. 

Granted my perspective is nearly 15 years old, but when I was in school I trained at the local wrestling academies Region Elite/Vega/RWA year round starting at age 10.
 
Then every year high school wrestling season would start and I would have to limit myself to just the practices at the high school.
 
In hindsight it was clear that each year I was at peak wrestling performance in November and would steadily decline until February with my worst performances always at State. 
 
I could never understand as a high schooler why kids that I would dominate in the off season were able to pull off close wins against me late in the season. Ultimately it all came down to them improving during their high school season while I declined. 
 
My high school coaches were great men, and I value to this day the lessons in character that I learned from them, and despite that, I certainly wish my parents would have moved me to a different high school program with more gifted/technical coaches and a more difficult strength of schedule. 
 
Coaching, culture, competition, and community are critically important and make a substantial difference. I would not begrudge any parent for wanting to provide the best opportunity for their child. 

I missed this match earlier while watching Seng vs Yeager. 
 
Just watched it back on Flo, and I think I must have misunderstood the definition of a stalemate call. 
 
Great match, but kinda like this year’s Super Bowl, in that the official decided the result in the most critical moment. 
 
Thrine is an exciting Freshman; I will be excited to see him wrestle in the finals. 

I was disappointed with Official #11 in the Clark vs Jones Match. 
 
It appeared two extremely clear and obvious takedowns were not awarded to Clark. 
 
I am not suggesting bias or intentional corruption, but the incompetence of the officiating cost the more aggressive wrestler an earned win and spot in the finals. 
 
I have no rooting interest, but it was disturbing to watch. 

I was disappointed with Official #11 in the Clark vs Jones Match. 
 
It appeared two extremely clear and obvious takedowns were not awarded to Clark. 
 
I am not suggesting bias or intentional corruption, but the incompetence of the officiating cost the more aggressive wrestler an earned win and spot in the finals. 
 
I have no rooting interest, but it was disturbing to watch. 

Tough stalemate call against frazier at the end. I don't think anybody in the arena was thinking stalemate. There's 8 seconds left, he has his foot elevated and is working to cut across. You call that when neither guy can improve. Let the kids wrestle. We're not there to watch you. 
 
Thrine is a special talent.

Coach Pendowski had a couple great ones too:
-Turds roll down hill.
-Up his skirt.
-Where ya at?
-Abe Lincoln. All Day Long. Abe Lincoln.
-Drop a dime on him.
-Lower your Dupa.
-If you wanna make a man into mouse take his breath.
 
So many good ones. Someone help me out.
 

Friday before semi-state my senior year. Coach Balash gathers us around after a tough weight cut practice. And beckons to us all:
-"Do you want a cookie? "
-My initial thought was, Yeah coach, I'd love one.
-Then he continued to say, "Or...DO YOU WANT A COOKIE!!!"
-At this point everyone is very confused.
-Then he says, "do you have to go to the bathrooom, or ...DO YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!"
-No comprehension from the team.
-Next, he says "do you want to go to state, or ....DO YOU WANT TO GET YOUR BUTT DOWN TO STATE!?!?!?"
 
Coach Balash had the greatest quotes:
-Every season started with, "You guys have a lot of potential, and do you know what potential means? You haven't done JACK SQUAT yet."
-"The harder you work the luckier you get."
-"Do I look like your mom? If so someone needs to slap your dad."
 
-i could continue with these forever.

In terms of coaching your wrestlers to peak at the right time; I have to consider David Maldonado as the best I have interacted with.  
 
Although Merrillville's wrestlers may not always be the most technically gifted when compared to others in the state (this may be in relation to the other subject in this thread), they are always amongst the fittest athletes you will wrestle against.
 
In addition, I have never seen a program which has so many wrestlers out-perform expectations. I always remember thinking that you can never let yourself be complacent when matched up with the Merrillville guy. You may have beat him by 12 early on in the season yet come tournament time you're finding yourself in a 5-3 match wondering how they've progressed so much over one season. Maybe this comes down to mental preparation as much as fitness.
 
Having grown up in the club wrestling system where you were at a different tournament every weekend you pretty well knew everyone that you were going to wrestle throughout the high school season; yet, Merrillville had that knack for always having a wildly successful wrestler come from seemingly out of nowhere. I think this is in large part due to David's influence.
 
So to answer the question; in wrestling where the guy who wins at the highest level is most often not the best wrestler but the best prepared wrestler, if pressed to pick one coach in my corner come Friday night, it is going to be Maldonado because I know he will have me prepared to wrestle at the peak of my potential at just the right time.

Reading through the thread again I am struck by a different thought.  I don't think it is about sissification or political correctness. I think it is about self centered-ness.
 
The pro-booing statements often center around "I paid my money", "I have a right to" and "I am toughening them up".  These fans seems to think the competition is for them and about them. I have a different opinion. It is okay to have an unexpressed thought when watching other people compete.
 
You are not paying your money to the athlete in this case. You are paying the barely comprehensibly small sum of $8 to defray some of the cost of holding the event at an NBA arena. So do not use the payment argument as justification. Admit it to yourself and us. It is about you.

According to the all knowing Wikipedia, booing began as early as 6 B.C.  so good luck putting a stop to it.  Personally, I think the issue is way overblown.  In a perfect world kids wouldn't fake injury time, then miraculously "heal" and explode off the whistle for an escape. In a more perfect world, coaches wouldn't turn a blind eye to obvious efforts at gaining an unfair competitive advantage.  I don't know the ratio, but I am going to guess most acts that get booed are far more deserved than not. For every kid that gets booed for legit blood time, there's far more faking injuries, etc. because they are gassed. 
 
jchas, I get your point but part of me also thinks this is leading to the further sissification of America.... I'm middle aged now so maybe I'm getting cynical and tired of the "poor me" attitude.  You know the kind: "it's not my fault, somebody else made me do it."  Should we stop cheering for the winner because it might hurt the losers feelings?  Of course not, but it's really all the same message.  
 
Did I boo on Saturday?  Guilty as charged.  I booed the kid who faked an injury to attempt an unfair competitive advantage.  I booed the ref who allowed the kid to back up with 2 seconds left in the match after he'd already been warned for stalling and backed up with 7 seconds left.  And I booed the obese ref who was too lazy to get down into position to count near fall. And for full disclosure, I booed Jack Robinson West for fielding a team of ringers and no one can convince me those kids didn't know their actions were wrong. They cheated.  Period.
 
I know that's not a popular thing to say, but it's how I feel. In my opinion, there's just a little too much political correctness right now in this world.  I'm going to focus on my own shortcomings, and keep on supporting Indiana wrestling for as long as I can (and hope it stays classless!!).

The excessive use of injury time must stop. There is a difference between being injured & being hurt or tired. As a wrestler you are going to feel pain and be fatigued to the point where you believe you can not go on; and then you will push further. That is part of what makes wrestling the greatest sport in the world. With that said coaches need to govern their wrestlers better than this.
 
Once in an offseason tournament I was losing 8-4 in the third period and i signaled for injury time to catch my breath. I was 14 at the time and had seen other wrestlers do this. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough, as after the break I went on to win 12-9. My coach told me there was nothing honorable about what I did, and had me forfeit that match. He told me I was done for the day and I should reflect on why what I did was wrong. That was the only time in my wrestling career that i used injury time and the lesson hit home.
 
It taught me that in wrestling and in life you are often presented with an easy way out, and that the type of man you are is determined by what you do in those situations. I am just grateful that I had wrestling and those coaches who groomed me into the man I am now rather than the man I could of been without.
 
So unless you're in a situation like Jay Jaggers in the '08 NCAA finals, don't use Injury Time:

The excessive use of injury time must stop. There is a difference between being injured & being hurt or tired. As a wrestler you are going to feel pain and be fatigued to the point where you believe you can not go on; and then you will push further. That is part of what makes wrestling the greatest sport in the world. With that said coaches need to govern their wrestlers better than this.
 
Once in an offseason tournament I was losing 8-4 in the third period and i signaled for injury time to catch my breath. I was 14 at the time and had seen other wrestlers do this. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough, as after the break I went on to win 12-9. My coach told me there was nothing honorable about what I did, and had me forfeit that match. He told me I was done for the day and I should reflect on why what I did was wrong. That was the only time in my wrestling career that i used injury time and the lesson hit home.
 
It taught me that in wrestling and in life you are often presented with an easy way out, and that the type of man you are is determined by what you do in those situations. I am just grateful that I had wrestling and those coaches who groomed me into the man I am now rather than the man I could of been without.
 
So unless you're in a situation like Jay Jaggers in the '08 NCAA finals, don't use Injury Time:

The excessive use of injury time must stop. There is a difference between being injured & being hurt or tired. As a wrestler you are going to feel pain and be fatigued to the point where you believe you can not go on; and then you will push further. That is part of what makes wrestling the greatest sport in the world. With that said coaches need to govern their wrestlers better than this.
 
Once in an offseason tournament I was losing 8-4 in the third period and i signaled for injury time to catch my breath. I was 14 at the time and had seen other wrestlers do this. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough, as after the break I went on to win 12-9. My coach told me there was nothing honorable about what I did, and had me forfeit that match. He told me I was done for the day and I should reflect on why what I did was wrong. That was the only time in my wrestling career that i used injury time and the lesson hit home.
 
It taught me that in wrestling and in life you are often presented with an easy way out, and that the type of man you are is determined by what you do in those situations. I am just grateful that I had wrestling and those coaches who groomed me into the man I am now rather than the man I could of been without.
 
So unless you're in a situation like Jay Jaggers in the '08 NCAA finals, don't use Injury Time:

The excessive use of injury time must stop. There is a difference between being injured & being hurt or tired. As a wrestler you are going to feel pain and be fatigued to the point where you believe you can not go on; and then you will push further. That is part of what makes wrestling the greatest sport in the world. With that said coaches need to govern their wrestlers better than this.
 
Once in an offseason tournament I was losing 8-4 in the third period and i signaled for injury time to catch my breath. I was 14 at the time and had seen other wrestlers do this. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough, as after the break I went on to win 12-9. My coach told me there was nothing honorable about what I did, and had me forfeit that match. He told me I was done for the day and I should reflect on why what I did was wrong. That was the only time in my wrestling career that i used injury time and the lesson hit home.
 
It taught me that in wrestling and in life you are often presented with an easy way out, and that the type of man you are is determined by what you do in those situations. I am just grateful that I had wrestling and those coaches who groomed me into the man I am now rather than the man I could of been without.
 
So unless you're in a situation like Jay Jaggers in the '08 NCAA finals, don't use Injury Time:

The excessive use of injury time must stop. There is a difference between being injured & being hurt or tired. As a wrestler you are going to feel pain and be fatigued to the point where you believe you can not go on; and then you will push further. That is part of what makes wrestling the greatest sport in the world. With that said coaches need to govern their wrestlers better than this.
 
Once in an offseason tournament I was losing 8-4 in the third period and i signaled for injury time to catch my breath. I was 14 at the time and had seen other wrestlers do this. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough, as after the break I went on to win 12-9. My coach told me there was nothing honorable about what I did, and had me forfeit that match. He told me I was done for the day and I should reflect on why what I did was wrong. That was the only time in my wrestling career that i used injury time and the lesson hit home.
 
It taught me that in wrestling and in life you are often presented with an easy way out, and that the type of man you are is determined by what you do in those situations. I am just grateful that I had wrestling and those coaches who groomed me into the man I am now rather than the man I could of been without.
 
So unless you're in a situation like Jay Jaggers in the '08 NCAA finals, don't use Injury Time:

With all the talk of state this weekend, I began thinking about some of my favorite state tournaments. Remembering favorite matches, stories, and such. Eventually I found myself asking, what was the greatest state bracket I had ever seen. With that in mind, I'll post my favorite below and ask you HS wrestling fans on the messageboard to reminisce along with me and tell me which bracket you think was the best ever or just your favorite ever.  
 
My Favorite:
 
2008-2009 119 lbs. Weight Class
1. Camden Eppert (Anderson Highland) 3-2 OT
2. Brandon Wright (Indianapolis Cathedral)
3. Alex Johns (Evansville Rietz) 7-5
4. Casey Kenney (Jay County)
5. Justin Brooks (Warsaw) 5-0
6. Derek Bevans (Yorktown)
7. Justin Kieffer (Roncalli) 19-8
8. Daniel Bradley (Knox)
 
Qualifiers:
John Petrov (Hanover Central)
Ethan Raley (Indian Creek)
Marquis Williams (Fort Wayne Snider)
Jeffery Stotridge (Charlestown)
Steve Duncan (Beech Grove)
Oscar Trujillo (Lafayette Jefferson)
Justin Fuller (Brownsburg)
Alex Filer (Elkhart Central)
 
Here is a link to that year's state brackets: http://www.ihsaa.org/Portals/0/boys%20sports/wrestling/2008-09/0809IndvStateBrackets.pdf

With all the talk of state this weekend, I began thinking about some of my favorite state tournaments. Remembering favorite matches, stories, and such. Eventually I found myself asking, what was the greatest state bracket I had ever seen. With that in mind, I'll post my favorite below and ask you HS wrestling fans on the messageboard to reminisce along with me and tell me which bracket you think was the best ever or just your favorite ever.  
 
My Favorite:
 
2008-2009 119 lbs. Weight Class
1. Camden Eppert (Anderson Highland) 3-2 OT
2. Brandon Wright (Indianapolis Cathedral)
3. Alex Johns (Evansville Rietz) 7-5
4. Casey Kenney (Jay County)
5. Justin Brooks (Warsaw) 5-0
6. Derek Bevans (Yorktown)
7. Justin Kieffer (Roncalli) 19-8
8. Daniel Bradley (Knox)
 
Qualifiers:
John Petrov (Hanover Central)
Ethan Raley (Indian Creek)
Marquis Williams (Fort Wayne Snider)
Jeffery Stotridge (Charlestown)
Steve Duncan (Beech Grove)
Oscar Trujillo (Lafayette Jefferson)
Justin Fuller (Brownsburg)
Alex Filer (Elkhart Central)
 
Here is a link to that year's state brackets: http://www.ihsaa.org/Portals/0/boys%20sports/wrestling/2008-09/0809IndvStateBrackets.pdf

I Agree with you, but a close runner up would be a young field @ 112lb in 2010... The Top 6 in this weight had some very stellar HS Careers, and even some Qualifiers wound up having huge success just a few years later...
 
1. Kyle Ayersman - 3X Champ, 4X Placer
2. Paul Beck - runner-up, 2X Placer
3. Brenden Campbell - 2X runner-up, 3X Placer
4. Jared MCKinley - 2X Champ, 3X Placer
5. Mason Todd - Champ, 3X Placer
6. Brian Harvey - Champ, 4X Placer
 
*Nick Crume and Luke Welch were also Qualifiers, as freshman, in this tough field
 
Bracket:
http://www.ihsaa.org/Portals/0/boys%20sports/wrestling/2009-10/0910IndividualStateBrackets.pdf