Steven Morgan

There has been some occssional questionable actions in the past when it was clear the champion went regardless. With an added grey area I would say there will be more. Having said that I am for putting together the best team.

The intent of the idea is good, however there is much to consider. Potential abuse of those who will make these team rosters decisions for personal, political and/or financial gain. Trying to get the best team together to represet Indiana is great but taking the matter from a black and white scenario of champion goes to a subjective matter based on opinions of some who may benefit from their decisions is not good. With another wrestling organization in Indiana competing with ISWA we probably want to make sure everything is transparent and honest. People with nothing to gain and with the interest of Indiana wrestling only, should make these decisions.

A little late on this but anyhow, The Glogouski family, {time to Anglicize that surname Dan, how about the "Glogs"?}, to the Lee family of Evansville-great showing at state for all three. The wrestlers in the finals at 84lbs, Tommy Cash and Jake Tucker, I knew that was going to be a tough match. Connor James and Bailey Lahue, man those guys have grown and look good on the mat. Kayla Miracle- great technique and an even better attitude. The state tournament was very well run. Didn't care for the Italian restaurant on I-69 and 26? Maybe it was 24, I don't recommend it for next year. Not a fan of - the 7 pound increment at the lower weights. I haven't seen the numbers of wrestlers for the weight classes that increased by five pounds and averaged them out and compared them to the number of wrestlers in weight classes that increased by seven pounds and averaged those out, so maybe I should hold judgement until I do. It's just that percentage of body mass difference between some wrestlers is going to be nearly twice that of some other weight classes. I also think there should be 10 Olympic weight classes and 11 or 12 college weights, so maybe I am wrong. Thanks to those who worked at state!

Thanks Tim Spray, Dan Glogouski and Eric Guhl for all the work you guys did! The All-American accomplishment for the second year in a row is a tribute to your hard work. Things I'll miss or remember about Tenn. next year - - The local people - very friendly! - The Tenn. coach's comment; "I'm not saying the boy isn't smart but when I drive down his road at night I always see him sittin on the front porch starin at the light countin sqeeters with his mouth hangin open." - Another Tenn. Coach comment; "We got him where we get all of our great wrestlers in Tenn., his Mom and Dad moved here from Pennsylvania." - Nickname for North Carolina HWT. "Puddin" "Get'em down Puddin" still rings in my ears, pretty funny. - All the gear we got and the meal for everyone {parents included} for only $150.00. This had to be subsidized by someone, thank you. - The Crazy Tomato, that was some great pasta! I have heard this name before, maybe it's a small chain. I'll have to research to see if it is, if so, then road trip. - The wrestlers and parents.

440.5 points and a ton of champions. This was the biggest margin of victory by any team in the 15 year history of the tournament. Congratulations Falcons!

Thank you. It would be nice to have our sport benefit from this pwoer struggle, instead of being engulfed by it.

The DOE putting together a board to oversee H.S. athletics is an unknown entity that scares most of us to say the least. However I don?t think this new board could rule entirely as an oligarchy. The elected officials who would put these people into their positions would like to stay in office and would be sensitive to any unjust or controversial decisions made by this board. Will public opinion help shape decisions and actions by this board? This would be a good question for someone to ask a representative from their voting district. I have heard from older coaches how in the past the IHSAA would be indifferent to requests made by the coaching association. Perhaps we could contact Blake Ress and ask him, what is he willing to do in order to win over the support of the entire wrestling community during this political battle to keep the IHSAA alive? Is he willing to listen to his wrestling constituents who want to see wrestle backs put into place? Is he willing to consider repealing the outdated travel rule for teams who want to compete outside the state against the best teams in the country? It would be nice to hear what he would like to say to us, the wrestling community.

Nathan was asked to be on Cliff Keen's Next level team, out of Michigan. This is the team that had Taylor Masa last year and Ben Whitford this year, along with others that are standouts across the country, Jacob Schmitt, Zach Hall, Bryce Brill, Brandt Schaefer and one of the best Hwt.'s at any age. The team was all Michigan but Nathan and one other wrestler. The team was seeded second but lost a close bout to PA. blue. They didn't get any calls their way and still lost a really close dual. After that they won two more and lost two more by a total of seven points. They won the team title at Battle Creek Michigan this past dec. with only half of their starting line up. In New Jersey this past weekend they had all but one starter in the line up. That shows how tough it was out in New Jersey this past weekend. The Cliff Keen Next Level team hasn't decided if they will return to the Danville duals to defend their title. It would be great to see Indiana go to the Virginia challenge duals or the Wildwood duals in New Jersey. IMO and the coaching staff of the next level team, this is where the toughest national duals are. Hopefully we can get a team to go there soon. Best venue I have ever seen, built right on the beach, the arena had all glass on one end that over looked the Atlantic Ocean, pretty neat to look at while wrestling or watching wrestling.

He went 80 in New Jersey but I am not sure if they will stay at that weight anymore.

Nathan Boston - Went 10 - 0 this past weekend at the New Jersey Middle School National duals. There were four P.A. teams, each one was loaded, three New Jersey teams that had studs at almost every weight class, Team Kolat and many other outstanding teams as well. The 6th place team was one point away from the runner up team, a great deal of depth, super tough wrestlers abound from almost every team there {16 total}. Nathan not only went 10 - 0 against this level of great wrestlers but he pinned eight and majored the other two, never gave up an offensive point during the three days there. He was awarded the tournament's Outstanding wrestler award. This tournament was made up of many Tulsa National champions and Nathan stood out above them all. Very impressive! Nathan has more Tulsa trophies than he knows what to do with. He's also a gifted student in the classroom. It is hard to say what is more impressive about him, his technique, his work ethic, his athletic ability or his desire to be the best. Nathan just recently turned 13 and is a 7th grader at Fall Creek M.S.

Right now we are leaning towards 80.

For state folkstyle- Patrick Spray looks like he has improved, probably be at 70 or 75.Hunter Jones making big gains but I'm not sure what weight he'll be at. Tristan Tonte seems to have improved a great deal. Mullinix and Wilson will be banging heads again I bet, should be fun to watch. Rypel is growing out of the middle division and into the big boys weights. Good luck to all.

I agree with you MCKAJC. It should be up to the parents of the wrestler but with them knowing there is no bases of legal standing against the governing body in case of injury to their child.

Jacob, I had enough success in wrestling that I am not living it through my son. I do however have aspirations of him attaining personal character traits that come from only having been a wrestler and not a spectator or parent, such as, discipline, ethics and hard work to name just a few. I'm not saying wrestling is the only way to acquire these traits, only that if you do wrestle long enough, you will acquire them. Burn out? I don't believe there is such a thing. There is a change of priorities, that happens all the time, and that?s ok as well, it's a part of life and growing, but I doubt it will happen in H.S. Since we don't compete as much and practice the same number of days as everyone else {or less} I doubt seriously we'll become burnt out. It's not how much or how often you train, but the quality of your training/coaching/technique. My son reads and plays video games more than anything else, and he can continue doing so as long as his report card keeps looking the same as it as every grading period. Having coached the sport at the H.S. level for five years, M.S. level for fourteen years and being a teacher, I think I know when to push harder and when to pull back the reigns, especially for my own son. Your comment on Indiana catching up with other states, Michigan, PA and New Jersey were the top teams at the Virginia Challenge this past month, they allow 5th graders to compete on their M.S. team. Two 5th graders were on Michigan's team that took second. This is the same team that won Danville last year. They said that the Virginia tournament was by far tougher than Danville. If these elite states are going to these tournaments and using 5th graders maybe we should. Just my personal thoughts on wrestling.

My son will not because of the IHSWCA rules and those who are interested so far probably will wrestle in it but might not be considered favorites. So I guess it will be made mostly of kids who want to go but might not make the team, but are still good wrestlers who wish to compete. No big guys have contacted me so far.