Galagore

There was a rule update that states the logo can appear on each ear cup, but no dimension can be more than 2.25 inches. Does this include the diagonal? We have headgear with a logo that is legal on length and width, but is 2.5 inches diagonal.

Does anyone have any information about middle school state qualifiers for this season? They are listed in Track, but there isn't any information on the ISWA nor the IHSWCA page about them currently.

If anyone with a strong MS girls program wants to do a good deed, it would be very beneficial to have a scramble-type meet for MS girls. That way teams with just a handful or fewer girls could still get them an official girls meet. This would be a big help in growing upstart programs. PS, Culver fits into the upstart category, not the strong category.

Our numbers are all over the map, but right now about 14 are signed up for varsity...hopefully we can keep about half. We generally have between 12 and 20 for MS. We started a school-sponsored 4th/5th grade team last year with Triton (and guest appearances from Knox, Glenn, Valley) that had about ten. We also have intramural wrestling for grades K-3, and that has about 40 signed up this year. We are starting a girls team this year, but only about 4 on that and they'll practice in the same time and space as the boys. We have one real wrestling room and one kinda rigged up wrestling room next door. We can't have one big one because the wall separating them is load bearing. Our problem isn't so much space as it is the fact that I am head coach for the varsity boys, varsity girls, intramural, 4th/5th, MS, and club teams. Our AD says that he'll coach MS if his son tries it out this year...so, If you know Mike Zehner, tell his oldest to give the sport a shot, haha. Wow, now that I read it back, that answer was really long.

Yeah, I believe we corresponded via email. How is that working for varsity matches? Will all count as varsity matches? Or will having multiple entrants in one class from one school have an impact?

Thank you. Do you know how this affects varsity win/loss records? Say Team A has two entries, and a wrestler from Team B wrestles both...would both be considered varsity matches?

Is there an IHSAA rule regarding tournament entries for a mid-season tournament? Specifically, is it up to the host school to determine if teams can enter more than one wrestler at a given weight?

@UncleJimmy, does this grant me permission for a hijacking? Not sure I can be blamed at this point…

Class wrestling? Who discusses that anymore?

Culver Community may be interested as well. We have two girls right now who may try it out this season, and my feeling is that could lead to more.

That makes sense, but I think there are some differences between band, choir, and sports. Band and choir are co-currricular activities, so their trips are more akin to multi-day field trips. As for FFA, I think excessive long trips by those clubs is also not a great idea when it is purely a club. Once a year for a national convention or if you have to travel great distances because of a state or national organization's competition is a different story. Also, more and more schools in our area are incorporating Ag programs into school curriculum, which would put those more in line with the band/choir model. For the record, I think traveling that far for any school sponsored standard/regular-season competition is a bad idea, be it band, choir, FFA, sports, or a tiddly winks. However, I am open to having mine mind changed in the face of a compelling argument.

I agree with IHSAA on this. Not only does this create a potential competitive imbalance, but it also further distorts the appropriate place of athletics in a student's life. However, it is silly that Indiana teams cannot attend an event that also hosts a team traveling a great distance. What other schools and states allow their teams to do should not impact the competitive opportunities of our athletes.

As long as we're still allowed to tend headgear as many times as we want to with impunity, we'll be fine.

That’s pretty accurate. Additionally, it would be pretty intimidating opening postseason with a tournament that large.

My gut tells me the super sectional would be detrimental to struggling programs from small schools.

Sheesh, my poor kid is going to graduate at 17...bad parenting haha

Fair warning, long post with mostly just fluff that we all agree on already:} Today our MS team participated in their conference tournament. My son made the finals battling two really tough kids in the quaters and semis to get there. He wrestled to a tough 2-2 tie in regulation, losing in OT. At first, both of us were really disappointed and let down with the day. After some reflection, it happened again. I fell in love with wrestling. Someone wins, someone loses, that's the way it goes. You can do everything in your power, and if the other wrestler is doing the same, sometimes you just have to tip your cap and say, "good job," and move on. No hiding, no time-outs, no substitutions. Maybe this will always be the way for my sons. Maybe there will always be someone who is a little bit stronger or a little bit quicker, or who is just plain a little bit better. And you know what? That's OK. Climbing to the top of the podium is fantastic. However, climbing to anywhere on the podium can be valuable. This sport teaches things that no other sport does. Someone (non-wrestler, actually) once said to me that wrestling seems even harder than boxing or MMA because, in those sports, you at least get to hit someone. If you are so frustrated you are freaking out, you can (at least attempt to) strike someone to release some pressure in your brain. Not wrestling. Wrestling makes you take it, and take it, and take it. You can't fully promise someone that it will eventually pay off because maybe the other person is in the exact same situation you are. And that's OK. As hard as this sport is, it is probably the easiest sport to clearly define the benefits of participation. In closing, there is honestly no real point to this post except that this is the one place where I know people understand what I am saying. So, thank you to Joe and to everyone on here for creating a community for people in Indiana who love wrestling. And thank you to anyone who read to the end of this rambling post. Typing this out was very cathartic.

And that’s ok. But I’m not going to stop trying:}

There's nothing wrong with promoting off-season wrestling, building youth programs, and having a fair post season individual tournament. Sounds like a recipe for some great wrestling in the Hoosier State to me.

TLDR: Class wrestling is important because, while 40-0 wrestlers keep is relevant in D1 and world competitions, 18-22 wrestlers keep our sport from becoming a niché club sport. We all like how it is now. We all like the pageantry of our state finals and how many Indiana wrestlers we see on Big 10 Network. However, is the system productive? Is the system fair? If one looks at what is happening from the middle on down, it does not appear that our current system is productive. If one looks at the disparity in resources between small schools and large schools, it does not appear that our system is fair. Small school athletes often must shift focus in the spring, summer, and fall to other sports or those sports won't have athletes. Wrestling in the off season means wrestling while you're trying to give another team your best. That will not lead to retaining the wrestlers we need...We need the wrestlers who "like" and "love" the sport in order to maintain. The wrestlers who "live" the sport will do so regardless of what system is in place.

The reason our team state championships are a big deal is because that is the only team dual championship going. If we had each of the class champions wrestle each other to determine the "true" team champion, we would probably see a similar pattern follow in wrestling as did in basketball.

If I didn’t know better, I would swear one of them was Jonah Hill.

A few thoughts... 1. Let's not get ourselves back into the routine of sarcastic responses, assuming the worst of people, and general negative debate tactics. It most certainly feels good and will get you quite a few "Hell Yeah!"s from your side, but it is not productive in a problem solving or mind changing sense. 2. Everyone is free to like our current state tournament from a fan perspective. Everyone probably does like our current state tournament from a fan perspective. However, liking something from a fan perspective does not make for adequate reasoning when deciding on a contest between children. 3. Small schools need help - this is true whether we have one class or 6 classes. If you are from a bigger, more successful program, consider looking a town or two over. Maybe there is a program that needs some help from a person who has been part of a winner. It's easy to stay in the comfort zone, and it's always fun to win. It's especially fun to win with people you've been working alongside practically your whole life. However, for the good of the sport, consider looking up a small town or struggling community that's close and see if they could use some of your experience with success.

Well, we can definitely agree that our state tournament is a great atmosphere. It just doesn't seem like the best way to make these kinds of decisions is a cool tournament. We also agree that this is a healthy conversation. For those who hate the debate, understand that sometimes when you debate one problem, you indirectly find solutions to other problems. Or at least find common ground and can begin working toward solutions for other problems.

Can you please define "bad product"?