I am positive what I am about to say will not be popular with many of you, but the truth often causes that sort of reaction.
For years the south western wrestling scene has been dominated by 4 programs. Mater Dei ( obviously) Castle, Memorial, and Reitz.
As of late, programs have really began to step it up and produce competitive teams and strong individuals.
The conferences of the area (Big 8, PAC, and SIAC) have become increasingly competitive and consistenty place representatives in the Semi-State that encompasses the entire Southern Half of the state, not to mention a n increasing presence on the medal stand at the State Finals.
Honestly this is due to the increased parity in the talent pool. By that I mean how incredibly boring was it to show up and basically aready know what the placement of each weight class was going to be? Coaches and supporters of the various programs in the area have worked their cans off to bring us higher caliber wrestling across the board. Personally I feel the best thing to happen to our sport in the local area is teams dethroning the power house programs a debunking the myths of invincibility once so commonly spread by the fans of programs at the top.
Overall the South West is more evenly balanced than I have seen it in many years. Teams are up and others are down. As always this will change with time. But here are a couple of observations that most will either dismiss or over look.
A. In the SIAC. Bosse fielded a team of 6 in the conference tourney, two of which were place winners. Seems like an odd statement, but this is a great thing for their school and for the conference over all!
Both Harrison and North filled all 14 weight classes. The only other schools to accomplish that were Mater Dei and Memorial.
This is a great thing for Coach Mastison and Coach Asay. I think we all know the challenges to even fielding a team in the days of XBox and Playstation 3.
Central has obviously found something g in the North Side water that is producing competitors and a feeder program that is showing signs of paying off.
B. PAC and Big 8 - there was a day that these two conferences would beat each other senseless and you knew the kids that you faced we're going to be well coached and knowdgable in the sport. Sadly some of the programs suffered a bit, but I see a return to the "good old days" . Mt Vernon, Jasper, Princeton, Boonville, and Gibson Southern all have some very talented kids on their rosters.
Tell City and South Spencer have some kids that I am betting you have never heard of, but over looking them would be a huge mistake. Don't get me started on Heritage Hills. With a program that is basically still new by comparison, they have consistently put some very competitive teams on the mat! And they only have 4 seniors.
Over all the point is we seem to be seeing a swing back to a more competitive time in our local wrestling scene. This is a great thing if you think about it!