MatChick76

I read the article in the NWI Times...I think this is what he's referring to... "A gimpy left knee hampered Jake Fuqua, who held off Chesterton's Chris Katsafaros 4-2. "I was kind of slow my last two matches, but a win's a win at this point," Fuqua said."

This match was great. Despite the score, Rickenbaugh almost had him stacked and the whole crowd went..."woah..."...but then Welch just used that core strength and got those legs of his to turn his whole body around...beautiful to watch. I can't see anyone stopping him on his way to the top...outstanding wrestler.

They have a series of feeder schools that kids feed directly into MD...this is the same for the public schools in this area...each has a set of schools that feeds directly into them. Marketing and Recruiting are two very different things. I understand your tongue in cheek response...but the "recruiting" that is being referred to on this board is not about marketing, it's about trying to put a black mark on a school full of history and tradition.

Please don't "go there." EMD does not recruit. Period. The feeder league program is great and people who went to school their send their kids there. They are not an ELITE SCHOOL...unless having a harder grading scale, with a tougher curriculum, and less resources than the public schools makes you elite.

Ummm...Mater Dei is a 2A school...and they seem to take Team State pretty serious.

Prayers and thoughts for the Moore family. What a tragic loss.

While everyone seems to be talking about Mastison, I have to ask...where did that record of his come from? In looking through the other Harrison kid's records, they didn't seem to wrestle nearly as many matches as him. Did he go to some special tournaments or something? Just thought I'd ask since I've been curious and there seem to be some Mastison fans in the room.

Eastern should have at least 8-9 kids for the meet. According to the results, they advanced 9 wrestlers to Individual Regionals. If a few of them got hurt that day, and are unable to continue on, that is something I've not seen. This is a tricky situation. I want to see the Team State series continue, so of course, I am going to be upset with any action that threatens that; however, I do understand the desire to give those wrestlers who are "still alive" in the Individual series every advantage...HOWEVER...I bet if you checked in with all of the other coaches entering the Team Regional this week, they will tell you that they too have illnesses, injuries, etc...maybe not to the extent of Eastern, but they have them just the same. I do not believe, as some earlier posts have stated, that this was strictly a coach's decision. Perhaps the wrestlers weren't consulted, but I cannot imagine any AD allowing this decision to be made without their input. I wonder how the school corporation will look at this situation come budget time? Could pulling out adversly affect the budget and wrestling program at Eastern?

Wrestling entire "JV Squads" in an attempt to "rest" those in the individual series because you don't believe you have a chance of winning was one of the things that got the steam really rolling on dismantling Team State, now a Sectional winning team is pulling out of the Team Regional?!?! This paragraph from Bobby Cox..."If your decision resides in an effort to ?rest? or ?protect? these wrestlers in preparation for the individual regional competition, and nine Eastern wrestlers appear to compete in the tournament on Saturday, I deem that behavior to be unethical and not in the best interest of our Association and Eastern High School. It is behavior such as this that further steels my resolve that the team wrestling tournament has run its course and needs to be discontinued."....says it ALL. He is point blank telling him that as soon as those 9 kids wrestle at the Individual Regional there is going to be a big problem. I love the Team State series, it's such a different atmosphere than Individual State. You never know what's going to happen when a team pulls together...I've seen some amazing duals over the years. "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." - Andrew Carnegie

He hit the headlock but time ran out (I think there was only 2 seconds left on the clock). Seng's a tough wrestler, and only a freshman who was in a wrestle-off battle with a Senior at the beginning of the year. I think you'll see good things from him the rest of this season and in season's to come. I don't know if he'll beat Kuhn this year, that kid is one tough cookie, but he's improving every time they meet. Very excited for Sectionals this year. Memorial, Mount Vernon, Central, MD, Reitz, and North Posey all have some contenders. I've still gotta give the nod to Boots over Sandwith, although these matches keep getting more and more exciting. I also think Whetstine looks like a man on a mission, I just don't see him losing to Chamberlain, although again, looking forward to an awesome match. Can't wait to see what MV's Hoehn shows. Wish it was Saturday already!

Wow. Thanks for posting. I've looked at several of the brackets and noticed a lot of FF's. A question for you? When there has been talk about the possible change of the weight classes, do you think if they do rearrange the weight classes to make them heavier that will affect the after Christmas weight allowance that is given? Just wondering.

Amen brother. I think this whole issue got muddled along the way. I never really saw anyone putting down the Van Horn kid or his family, but it's turned into a lot of talk about jealousy, and the real issue has gotten lost in the mix. When I first posted on this topic, I was feeling a lot of empathy for the 140 lber who lost his spot, I have no jealousy towards Yorktown, nor do I think this addition to their team will get them past some of the other teams that will be at Team State (i.e., I don't think this one kid will ensure they win a state championship). I was also feeling some hostility towards the IHSAA, because it always seems like they "pick and choose" at random which cases violate rules, and which ones don't, and I think they need to be more consistent about the rules. I've been focused on the bigger issue, rather than one particular case, it just so happens that at the current time, the Van Horn case is what's in the spotlight. It's nothing personal towards Van Horn or Yorktown. Who's ready for sectionals?!?!

I agree completely, that our children should not be learning that "life is not fair" from disreputable leaders in their lives...however...it happens like that more than we want to admit. Do I think this situation is completely absurd? YES! Do I think the IHSAA, School Board, Principal, Coach, etc. will do anything to rectify the situation? Nope. My kid has learned that lesson the hard way more than once...my heart breaks for him everytime, but everytime it makes him more determined to succeed despite of the obstacles. What I was saying was that this kid will succeed in spite of this coach, not because of his coach and that seeing the support of people on the boards should make him see that this situation is not in any way fair...but, unfotunately, I don't think anything is going to change before Saturday.

There is a lesson to be learned from this - "Life is not fair." It's a simple one, and one, unfortunately, our children will have to learn if they want to make it in the "real world." The way a person responds to adversity is a true test of character, and what they take away from a negative experience can provide invaluable building blocks for success. I don't know who the 140 lb wrestler from Yorktown was prior to this move-in, I don't know if he's a Senior, if he fought for the spot, or was the only one at that weight...what I do know, is that he will learn from this experience, and it will make him stronger, and seeing the empathy and support from wrestling supporters across the state can only help. History has proven time and time again that those who are "handed" everything, have a very hard time with the complexities of the "real world."

I dug out my notes from the MD Duals...I stand corrected, I have a 5-2 win for Brandenstein over Warren...the pin occurred in the match prior to that.

Coach Schaefer is from MD...Coach Mattingly is from Memorial - and yes - they were both upset, because the match wasn't being officiated properly...and probably because the long break took the wrestler out of the action for too long...it's hard to be stopped when the adrenaline is pumping and you're fighting it out....I felt sorry for both of those young men.

When they weren't wrestling against MD, I was cheering for kids from Reitz, Memorial, Central, North, and even Castle. When your kid is a multi-sporter, you play sports with kids from all over...when they aren't wrestling an MD wrestler, man, I just want to see those kids I know win. And even though you love to hate those on top...I love to watch those Welch Twins wrestle, and just can't bring myself to hate on them. But you're right...come Semi-State, I'm for every area wrestler...and come Conseco....man it's just awesome to see area kids doing well - I don't care what school they come from!

Have Hohl and Little wrestled each other this year?

Really?!? Stalling in his other matches?!?! Schroeder v. Pye - 47 second fall.....Schroeder v. Mandel...57 second fall.... I think you got some faulty information...when could he have possibly had time to stall in any of his matches on Saturday?!?!

What I meant by "I don't know what happened @ 171" was that it did not look like Brandenstein out there. He's a much better wrestler than that...and I saw him pin Warren earlier this year (in a splaedel if I recall correctly). As for Moody, "coasting the rest of the match" has been what he's done a lot - and I think he's a good wrestler, but blocking and putting in the legs and riding it out will only get you so far...and Henderson coming out of the ride was beautiful... I will agree that if Wedding had been there, it would have been a great finals match-up with him and Welch...

You're right...I just looked at my brackets again, and Taz Cassidy (North) did indeed place 4th.

Let's see how Sectionals play out first...

Some thoughts on the SIAC... First, yes, the reffing was inconsistent at best, they seemed slow to react when kids were on their backs and very inconsistent when they were calling inbounds vs. out @119, Van Hook deserved to get a stalling point from Welch, this match should have been battled in OT - can't wait to see these two match-up again @ 125, the eye poke definitely changed the pace of the match, Moody didn't have that 1 point lead to play with, so he seemed at a loss as what to do after that...I have seen him wrestle several times this year already, and although I will say Moody is a good wrestler (great build for a 125 wrestler), his M.O. has been to get that escape and then circle and block against wrestlers evenly-matched with him (look at his matches, several are 1-0 wins) @189, the reffing was horrible..backpoints before takedown, then no escape, but a takedown awarded...it took them forever to figure out where they went wrong...then a coach comes across from another mat, when there are already 2 Memorial coaches on the mat....it was crazy, but the removal of the 2 points was the correct call Other thoughts.... The Welch Twins...so solid...not sure if anyone in this area can touch them - so skilled, only wish we could see them on the mat for longer periods of time...lol! Central has got some solid wrestlers coming up...can't wait to see how they progress in the years to come... Did you see how many Memorial wrestlers were going for 3rd & 4th? I know a lot of them were Seniors, but several of them weren't...they came in 2nd at the JV Invite @ MD...and if Coughlin continues to be one of their coaches, they will only get better and better MD Freshmen finished 2nd & 3rd @ SIAC...not too shabby...and I'm not sure what was going on @ 171, but I don't expect that match will go that way again or that the score will be that close Just loved how Castle fans cheered for anyone wrestling against MD ...some things never change!

There is a level of maturity, yes, and that can make a difference, but just because someone is older when he enters college, does not mean he'll make better decisions. He may, but if this is his first time away from the parents and on his own, well..let's just say, I don't think this is the only reason for the decision to hold the young man back.

I don't think this kind of lifestyle, moving from town to town, would be the right choice for me, but I can see where someone with the means would try to create as many opportunities as possible for their children. Many Olympic athletes live and train far away from their families to become members of the most elite gyms and training centers, to work with the best coaches, and compete with the most elite athletes in their fields, at least in this situation, his family is actually making the moves with him. I do, however, have issues with the student continually being held back. It's one thing for someone to have their child start Kindergarten a year later, so they'll be one of the older kids in the class (and this is often done for athletic purposes), but seriously, he's kickin' butt against kids way older than him already, why does the dad feel the need to keep holding him back? I mean, there are no rules that say a 20 year old kid will make better decisions in college than an 18 year old kid (it's about the freedom - getting away from the parents, not so much an age thing)...so that excuse just doesn't fly with me.