BlueBolt

If you think I have changed my mind please tell me where.

Go. Ack over your posts and you will see the numbers change. 

Good Call!  Blue Bolt, consider yourself in the "no spin zone."   

 

Geraldo, Miller, Coulter, Blue Bolt....the great ones make it look so easy.

That's the best part of not wearing the west side goggles.  I can truly appreciate the efforts of the kids so many of you seem to be turning your noses up at.   

 

I haven't got BlueBolt going much this year but I still have 3 weeks left!

 

 

Well that would be because watching people "wish 43 of  56 possible " is one thing.  Watching someone change their mind every other post just proves they know nothing about the subject being spoken about. 

Bluebolt break your numbers down by weight class so I can see where we differ.

I have in another thread. 

You better watch what you say.  With comments like that you're likely to get insulted by BlueBolt.

The actual difference is I know Jon is drunk off west side Kool aid,  Wrestling guy is just a parrot that has not posted about 6 different out comes for this one event.    And btw, Jon also knows anything can happen in the 6 minutes these kids are blessed with. 

Just went theough the official brackets and I stand by my prediction.  26 for Castle Sectional, 30 for Evansville. 

I'm sorry, but Schnell will not beat Hoehn at 138 and I'm afraid Allen will see his season end against Oakley from Evansville Central.  I haven't seen McDaniels or Frymire wrestle and don't know any of their results against kids I have seen, so that one I have no clue on.

I am seriously beginning to wonder if you have ever even seen a picture of an actual wrestling match. Much less a match live and in person. 

So you have three from Evansville out at 113, 120, 126 and 145?  Evansville sectional is clearly dominant at those weight classes.  Welch at 120 is the best in that weight class, but I can't see Johns, Goebel or Johnson losing and you're nuts if you think out of Wedding, Vanhook and Pierre only 1 will move on.  At 113 and 145 I have all four from Evansville moving forward.  No question at 113.  You might get one at 145.

You need to read the numbers again. 

Also, have you seen all these kids wrestle this year?  I have  and if you are discounting some of these kids based on their programs past, then you are in for a very long day. 

Bottom line, is the Evansville sectional is stronger without a doubt, but let's get real,

Mater Dei is not as strong as they used to be, Reitz has some real talent as does Memorial, but over all it's up to the 8 individuals in each class to show up and wrestle. 

You seem fixated on 120.  I think I listed the Castle sectional moving one on there.  There are 4 strong competitors in that class.  And all should move on.  But you ask my " opinion" and then tell me I am nuts.  Well duh!  But I  not drinking the Kool Aid and basing my observations on 30 years of watching kids walk out there and make fools of those who doubt them.

With 26 from Castle you are basically thinking two kids per weight class.  I can see a couple of weight classes get 4 through from Evansville, which will make it really tough for the Castle sectional to send 26 on.  I really don't see that, but you might be right.  Can  you break it down into numbers per weight class?

106 - 2

113 -  1

120 - 1

126 - 1

132 - 2

138 - 1

145 -  1

152 - 2

160 - 3

17o. - 2

182 - 3

195 - 2

220 - 3

285 - 2

Looking through the first round matchups I can see 40-42 from the Evansville Central sectional getting through to semi-state.

Castle 26  - Evansville 30. 

Champions will most likely be slanted, but people are really overlooking some kids that have quietly proven themselves. 

106

Kuhn ®

Derr (BV)

Arney (M)

Lutz (P)

Seng (MD)

Pellacer (GS)

McCormick (Ce)

Brown (CA)

113

Baehl (GS)

Stock (NP)

Stocker (WM)

Johnson (MD)

Myers (HH)

Mastison (H)

Utzman (SS)

Davis ®

120

Johnson (M)

Greenwell (GS)

Johns ®

Karges (P)

Goebel (MD)

Miller (HH)

Turi (Ce)

Welch ( C )

126

Coomer (

Hoehn (MV)

Lawlin (TC)

VanHook ®

Doud ( C )

Pierre (MD)

Schultz (HH)

Wedding (M)

132

Moody ®

Meyer (P)

Bouchie (M)

Meiring ( C )

Schroeder (MD)

Alvarez (TC)

Oakley (Ce)

Allen (

138

McDaniels (B )

Frymire (NP)

Wetzel (SS)

Kelley (Ce)

Schnell ( C )

Hoehn (MV)

Dennis (HH)

Lannert (MD)

145

Hayhurst (M)

McKewen ( C )

Bassemier (MD)

Ennis (

Appell ®

Vincent (HH)

Elderkin (NP)

Singleton (GS)

152

Hawkins (HH)

Dallas (MV)

Folz (MD)

Witte (C )

Henshaw (M)

Burden (SS)

Mahoney (GS)

Rueger ®

160

Parkinson (MD)

Foster (T)

Dickens (N)

Koberstein (P)

Lindenschmidt (H)

Beard (TC)

Colavecchia (M)

Oser (HH)

170

Warren ( C )

Peak (H)

Fisher (HH)

Campbell (N)

Burden (SS)

Funke (M)

Taylor (T)

King ®

182

Brandenstein (MD)

Duncan (

Mooney (N)

Martin (GS)

Meyer (M)

Wira (T)

Watson (H)

Konerding (HH)

195

Halbig (P)

O'Risky (NP)

Lytle (T)

Lane (N)

Salkill (SS)

Brown (M)

Bettag (HH)

Maurer (MD)

220

Schnarr ®

Griesemer (P)

Pace (Ce)

Baraclay (SS)

Collins (MD)

Hendrickson (

Barnes (M)

Boehm (HH)

285

Breen (P)

Mattingly (M)

Osborne (TC)

Hohl (Ce)

Allen (HH)

Little (NP)

Kolley (

Wright (MD)

any predictions?

A great day in the meat grinder! 

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! 

if each sectional advances 4 wrestlers, how can there be 9 in a bracket?   i noticed this in the crown point regional at 106 and at 152.

They are small, hard to keep track of them!

Boonville finishing ahead of Castle had to be a big boost for their program and a bit of a shock for Castle!  My wife teaches at Boonville Middle school and she told me the kids were doing great the past few years. 

 

Congrats to  Boonville and HH!!!

As much as it sucks, it was nice to see Boonville's program coming back to its winning ways.  They put some very quality wrestlers on the mat this year and anyone that over looks them is in for a rude awakening. 

Heritage Hills has a tough line up!  Very impressed with their intensity and skill set

The regional will be much more diverse this year than years past.  There will be a lot of "where did this come from" in the stands this year. 

The "favorites" are strong front runners, but that is why we wrestle te matches. 

Central Sectional will advance 41 out of a possible 56. 

 

106:  3

113:  4

120:  3

126:  3

132:  3

138:  4

145:  4

152:  3

160:  3

170:  3

182:  2

195:  2

220:  2

285:  2

 

160. Castle takes 2. 

132 they have a good shot at 2

106 Castle could take 2 also - Lutz from Priceton is a quality wrestler people seem to over look

285 is anyone's guess.  Heavy weights are Always A toss up.

If anyone is over looking Heritage Hills or Boonville wrestlers, they may find themselves in the stands at the Ford Center on the following Saturday.    I am also betting the upper weights may just surprise some of the Evansville Sectional faithful.  Not saying they will be champions, but the Castle sectional may bring a bit more " new talent" people have not seen or heard much about. 

Just saying. 

Every coach I ever had would have killed us, run us until, he got tired, kicked us off the team, and barred our future off spring from attending school in the county he worked in for even speaking to a ref.  And they would have done it in that exact order. 

My prediction is regardless of what weight the kid wrestles, the announcer will mispronounce Hoehn's last name for half the meet.

I can agree with that. Seems like Jasper seems to be improving a lot and with such a young team will only get better.

Mt Vernon, Jasper, Southridge, Forest Park, Princeton, Gibson Southern, and more recently Heritage Hills have all put quality opponants on the mat for a long time.  The challenges they face are the same as everyone else, numbers and the increasing laziness of society in general.  But they produce high quality competition consistently.

Much improved Yes,  as good as MD or reitz? No. And the average champion from SIAC is supior to the average champion in almost any other conference state wise, let alone just out of the big 8 or PAC. There is those exceptions but as far as the average champion goes, SIAC is stacked in nearly every weight class. Just my Opinion.

I agree in principle with what your saying, but I think it's safe to say the SIAC is down quite a bit from the last few years.  There have been some really fantastic talent graduate from each of the traditional powers that have left some gaps to one degree or another. 

The good news is that has been off set by the rise in performance from some programs that have struggled in the recent past. 

I will go on record as saying some of the Big 8 and PAC programs have really stepped it up and are closing the gap in many weight classes. 

Personally I look for this to be a crazy dog fight.  Depending on how the brackets fall and how the consolation finals go, it can wind up a great day for one of 3 or 4 schools.  Maybe one of the more entertaining Sectionals to watch unfold this year. 

I cant believe what i am reading.... I think Reitz and MD are way overrated and dont let me start on Castle

Uhhhh. Yeah!  I do think some of the teams in both the PAC and Big 8 are much improved, but a "best of each weight class" comparison is going to be a SIAC feast. 

Back in 1983, our coach (who is wearing his typical loose fitting mylon shorts) was in the middle of a typical overly thorough instruction session on the proper sit out position, our coach points out "you all are getting stuck with your left leg pointing to 12 and your right pointing to 3".  At that moment our varsity 167 chimed in "coach, from here it looks like 3 o'clock and 10 seconds".

That was the ONLY time I ever recall that particular coach being speechless. 

Scott Miller - be thankful you have a football coach who encourages football players to wrestle .

If he does then eventually you may get big kids, but if he doesn't you never will.

Football and wrestling go together like no other two sports.

It's too bad most football coaches don't get it.

Amen!

Wierd day of wrestling with what seemed like an unusually high number of forfeits, scratches, inj. def., etc. 

 

I'm skipping my Sectional picks and going right to my Regional Locks:   120 Welch (Castle), 132 Moody (Reitz), 138 Lannert (MD), 152 Rueger (Reitz), 160 Oser (HH), 195 Maurer (MD)

 

 

Honestly, Everyone looked REALLY flat to me.  Not sure if some of the kids maybe look towards next week or if the area is just down this year over all.  It was nice to see some schools that have had some rough times in the recent past show signs of coming back around.  Over all a good day of wrestling, but NONE of the teams should be overly thrilled with the performances.  As always, just one mans opinion.