Ed Pendoski

I can't believe this is happening.  

Let's go over a couple of facts here.  

Welchs leave Purdue with stubble for hair. 

They join the most attractive coaching staff in the Midwest at Carmel. 

They leave and are now bald. Humm?

Our new staff has bald, hillbilly bowl, Clooney salt and pepper, afro, ginger and mullet.  Can anyone really even try to top that? 

CHS has a mat that we're looking to get rid of.  It's older and has had it's share of use.  Please conact me asap if you have a new home for this bad boy!

Eddie Pendoski

317.701.1512

ependosk@ccs.k12.in.us

IU Coaches Mike Dixon and Isaac Jordan are both coming to our club practice tonight.  6:45-8:15 at CHS!

We will open this practice up to the public for anyone with a current USA Card.  Please enter door 21 and the wrestling room is upstairs behind the Freshman gym.

We are excited to have Indiana Native and new IU Coach Mike Dixon at our practice room tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 6th 6:45-8:15.

Carmel High School

520 E Main St.

Carmel, IN 46033

Please enter door 21 and wrestling room is upstairs behind the Freshman Gym.

We'd like to invite anyone with a current USA Card to come workout with us!

Please contact us if you have any questions.

ed.pendoski@carmelusawrestling.org

3 hours ago, Wrestling Scholar said:

The Cornerstone of Ed's argument is the Sliga workout partner legacy which resulted in Riley's state success. 

This is exactly what I'm saying.  

3 hours ago, Riley McClurg said:

I believe that Mitch was the catalyst that brought them to Ed, which in return significantly helped strengthen your program for that time period. Do you agree?

And so did Riley.

But if we look at the top 10 teams in the state tourney last year.  Then look at the number of transfers to those programs.  

If those guys all stayed in their home school district.  Can we agree that there's a better chance of them recruiting a 'Seth Riley' to continue/join our sport? 

23 hours ago, Riley McClurg said:

As for the names listed on the thread, I can tell you I see them wrestling on a consistent basis in the off-season with teams that are not their HS - whether its Disney Duals, VB Duals, etc. They are seizing opportunities provided to them by other schools or clubs (Outlaws or someone like Penn or B. South taking wildcards to Disney). I am sure they are expanding their training environment.

My old Polish brain is still confused.  

We both admit Sliga stayed in his home school (this one is measurable, his transcripts prove us right). 

We both agree that the guys in his room benefit from him not transferring to a power program (this on is not quite as measurable, but I'm assuming you don't think it hurt Riley by having Sliga say "come wrestle and you can come to an academy with me if you want). 

I'm assuming we both agree he had a successful high school career. 

We both agree that he supplemented his training while staying in his home school.  Is that correct?

But we also agree that most (if not all) of the guys on the thread about big transfers supplement their training somewhere else besides they home school, correct?

Here's my opinion about the schools you mentioned (definitely not measurable).  Because Bratcher and Duckworth and Cody Phillips did not leave and go to a power program they helped their small schools do this:

• 3rd Place Match - Ben Stewart (Cathedral) 41-2 won by decision over Luke Elliott (Eastbrook) 40-4 (Dec 7-4)

and 

• 3rd Place Match - Jack Eiteljorge (Carmel) 40-3 won by fall over Tucker Coffman (Union County) 43-8 (Fall 1:51)

I'm confused on what you're saying because I read you say that Sliga had success and he included others with his success (in his home school).  You said that he is a bad example because he supplemented his training elsewhere.  But you also said that most (if not all) of the guys on the big transfers thread already supplements their training elsewhere?  They why do they need to transfer at all when they would help the sport as a whole by increasing the popularity of wrestling in a small/weaker program and they can still be successful because they can supplement their training.

My real question that comes from the start of this thread is that does having the strongest kids from small/weak programs transferring to power programs have a long term effect on our sport as a whole.

11 hours ago, brickfor6 said:

At the end, there really isn't a good answer for Coach Ps thought.

There might be answers if we first had consensus that this is truly an issue that if not address, will have a negative impact on the future of our sport in our state.

I'm the Lorax.  I speak for the trees!

One suggestion that I've brought up with the coaches association is starting an Ethic Committee.  We should probably have a different name for it.  If there was a committee inside the coaches association that people could bring up situations happening.  The committee could then investigate.  If it's nothing, then nothing is done.  If it finds out misdoings then it can make it public.  Another big benefit of having an Ethics Committee could be to promote great things happening in our sport.  In the Carmel vs Warren dual a couple years ago we had a match on the JV mat.  Both kids had autism.  Might have been one of the greatest matches I've ever seen (with a score of like 19-17 and 8 lead changes.  It was pretty special).

16 hours ago, Riley McClurg said:

I’m saying that it did not matter in Sliga’s case. It would not have mattered if he went to Spring Valley Community High School. He supplemented the vast majority of his training under your watch at CIA. His family was able to afford that monthly fee to get elite training. You were able to provide him with wrestlers like Michael Duckworth, Jackson Bratcher, Austin Neibarger, and let’s not forgot the bazillion private workouts that you were able to provide him with as a separate entity from Fishers HS. So, what I am saying is that Sliga is a bad example. Seth Riley attended the right school at the right time, and he followed Mitch’s footsteps to your academy. Did he benefit from Sliga? Heck yeah. So would have the other kids at any other high school he attended because of the time, effort, and money he spent to be under your training. 

I'm still confused, because to me it sounds like you're using examples that top kids transfering to 'power programs' is not good for the future of Indiana wrestling as a whole.

It didn't matter that Sliga stayed at Fishers.  If he would have transferred to a power school, he would have had a similar career.  And by staying at Fishers, he brought another Fishers kid's level up.  

I think that says two things.  It says that you can still be successful without transfering to a power school.  It also says that staying within your feeder program increases the chance of another athlete's development/enjoyment of the sport that might not happen otherwise.

You also brought up 3 other guys that did the exact same thing.  They stayed in their feeder system, helped grow their home school, and still had very successful careers.  Not sure if you could say HSE was not a power program.   They were quite competitive in Austin's years.

3 hours ago, Riley McClurg said:

we both know that Mitch Sliga spent 2x more time in CIA's room than he did Fishers. He did not need to go searching elsewhere to receive support or partners because you provided that to him through CIA, and he was in there on a year-round basis. Seth trained with us from middle school through high school. Do I believe Mitch was the reason why? Damn straight. Do I believe Seth could have been a state placer without Mitch? Very possible because he was an athletic specimen, but I am not very good at "what ifs". I do know that Mitch nor the CIA room taught him to throw people on their heads like he was at the state tournament in 2013. I'll give that credit to Greco-Roman master, Coach Herald.

As for the names listed on the thread, I can tell you I see them wrestling on a consistent basis in the off-season with teams that are not their HS - whether its Disney Duals, VB Duals, etc. They are seizing opportunities provided to them by other schools or clubs (Outlaws or someone like Penn or B. South taking wildcards to Disney). I am sure they are expanding their training environment.

Maybe I'm not reading correctly.  The way I'm reading this, it sounds like you are giving examples of kids don't need to transfer from smaller/weaker programs and that there are benefits to kids staying local.  Would you agree that Sliga staying at Fishers played a part in Seth Riley's success and if Sliga didn't transfer that part of Riley's success was there because Sliga stayed in his feeder program's high school?

I wish I knew the moderator well enough to control this conversation thread!  hehe

The theory i'm trying to bring up is the long term ramifications of quality transfers going to power programs and the result it will have on the smaller/weaker schools over time.  

1 hour ago, Riley McClurg said:

He goes to where he can improve and get the attention of college coaches. Yes, Eddie, there are the Mitch Sliga's of the world. Let's not forget the room where he was supplementing his training for the other 8 months out of year (Seth Riley happened to attend a good bit as well). However, not every kid's family can afford to pay $200-$300 per month for a private academy. Not every kid has the training partners at their expense

We hope that the room at CIA helped Sliga improve his game in the time he was there, and you are absolutely correct that Sliga introduced Seth Riley to our room also.  Again, we hope we helped supplement his training too!  

But doesn't this help make the statement of spreading out the growth of our sport in many schools is better?  If Sliga would have wrestled for a different school than Fishers, do you really believe that Seth Riley qualifies for state?  Wouldn't this be a quality thing for wrestling as a whole?

If we look at the list of transfers on the other thread.  How many of the names listed attend an academy similar to Sliga?  

1 hour ago, Riley McClurg said:

The open enrollment rule was implemented by the State of Indiana. Families do what they think is best for their kids

I'm the Lorax.  I speak for the trees.

If families "do whats best for their kids" and transfer from smaller/weaker programs, is that going to be the demise of smaller/weaker schools to drop their programs.  What has happened to our failing public schools since they started open enrollment?  Can we use that number and an example of what could happen to wrestling programs in our state?

I really like this anaolgy.  If i could invent a machine that could instantly fix broken arms with no pain whatsoever.  The only downfall is that this machine cost $700 trillion dollars to make.  If somone's kid broke their arm, I would say, "I bet that hurts like hell" because there's not chance I would be in favor of ruining  America's economy to make a machine that would make a kids broken arm go away.....but if my daughter broke her arm you can bet your ass I think its a good investment!

14 hours ago, Mattyb said:

Again... with alll of this said... are you to suggest that the parents just stick with the course that they were on???? I say no way!!! No way this family sacrifices opportunity for their child to get better coaching, partners, and education just because some other people think that a handful of kids moving is going to “kill” high school wrestling. 

A phrase I say to our team often is "just because someone says something adamantly, doesn't make their opinion more correct".  I could see why people have this opinion too. Cody Phillips, Michael Duckworth, and Mitch Sliga are guys that are examples of wrestlers that stayed in the district of their local feeder system.  They stayed in their dirstrict, used the tools that they had available, and had pretty successful careers in high school. One opinion on this would be if you don't take the easier path (transfer to a district with the 'perfect partners/coaches' then they would be more prepared for difficult situations in matches/life...but that is a different conversation that I hope doesn't take over this thread.

In my conversations with other coaches is usually about what happens to the state as a whole if a portion of transfers to the a power team continues?

I can see the discrepancies of my gymnastics analogy.  Gymnastics has many hurdles in front of them.  It is a very expensive sport and takes up a large chunk of space in a school building, and it is very hard to find a coach....but I do feel like wrestling has it's own hurdles in front of them.  

I'm pretty sure that no one knows what will happen to the smaller/weaker programs if quality guys continue to transfer to the 'power programs'.  My hope of this discussion is that are we really looking at the future of our sport at the high school level?  Should we pay attention to possible long term ramifications? I'm the Lorax.  I speak for the trees!

59 minutes ago, Mattyb said:

This is how I see it.... I would say 90 percent of the high profile transfers are from families that wrestle year round. They spend money on training, travel, gear, camps, etc.... most of these families had no clue that they would become “wrestling” families when they first got married, and moved into the town that they grew up in or that was near their place of employment. With this said, as these kids are getting to high school age (or begin high school) parents are seeing that their wrestler may have an opportunity to get better training, better exposure, better partners, better coaches (that get paid more!), and for the most part a better education at other schools. Not to mention they are moving to communities where their friends, that they have been traveling the nation with for years, reside. These people are trying to that which is best for the family as a whole. 

This is exactly the hypothetical situation I'm talking about.  "I'm doing what's best for my kid".  

But is it going to end high school wrestling as we know it because we are going to become a club when the numbers are so low?

What really got me thinking about the numbers situation was the shortage of refs and what the NWCA is talking about when they promote the sport.  

We are about 15 years away from the worst of what title IX proportionality rule did to college wrestling.  The fact that we're 15 years away means that we have the smallest pool of college wrestlers that would be added to the pool of refs (and coaches).

Looking at the numbers of small schools and then add the number of small school 'potential state qualifier' kid that transfers to a big successful school.  Made me wonder....in a shrinking number of potential coaches.  Is it going to affect the ability to get a good coach at a small/weaker school.  Same thing for getting the athlete to come to the wrestling room.

A great example would be Sliga's workout partner at Fishers HS.  If Sliga left Fishers, there's a much lesser chance of Seth Riley being on the wrestling team in HS.  Let alone qualifying for the state tourney as a senior.

If every time Sheridan HS had a wrestler that had potential, and he transfered to Carmel...eventually Sheridan is going to stop having a wrestling team if they can't get kids out or get a coach to coach them.  One schools start dropping wrestling, there will be many more to follow, in my opinion.

Hence the gymnsatics analogy.

Here's a thought that hit my brain a couple years ago and I'd like to know what other's think.

When a kid transfers school there's almost always three sides of the equation.  Parents say, "The IHSAA should let a family do what's best for the kid" and if the school a kid leaves decides to protest,  they're quick to say "that move was for an athletic transfer which is not allowed".  The school that receives the transfer says, "What am I supposed to do if a kid just showes up?"

My thought here isn't touching any of those statements.  We've all heard enough on Indianamat about this.

Here's my thought that I'd like to know what others think......

What is going to happen to wrestling in the long run as a whole if the number of state placing transfers continues?  Is wrestling going to become similar to gymnastics over time?  How are the small school/weaker programs going to keep up numbers of participants and quality of participants?  What about coaching at a smaller/weaker program?  Wouldn't it be more attractive place to coach if a potential state qualifier was in the room?  

Here is gymnastics program from last year:  http://www.ihsaa.org/portals/0/Flip Book/2017-18/gym/index.html#?page=8

If we continue on the growth in number of transfers, what happens to the smaller/weaker schools?  How long before the smaller/weaker schools start to drop the sport.  Once that starts happening, I'm concerned it will happen with other schools quickly.  Are the number of forfeits from 1a schools increasing or decreasing in the past 5 years?  What happens when a school has 5 guys on a team, and no one to coach them?  

I'm the Lorax.  I speak for the trees.

Are we ruining the future of Indiana wrestling with the amount of transfers?....but everyone needs a thneed, right?  

If my daughter has a child that want to wrestle (of course I mean 30 yrs from now, after she gets her MBA, starts her own business, and then is allowed to date for the first time), will Indiana wrestling be a sport with 40 schools and the same 4 teams compete for a title?  

Reminder that last week was our last RTC of the summer!  We look forward to starting up next spring!

1 hour ago, Y2CJ41 said:

We have NEVER had multiple Junior Freestyle champs. We have only had 10 Junior Freestyle champs ever. Just for reference they were: David Palmer, Jeff Pease, David McCubbins, Nathan Moore, Matt Coughlin, Andrew Howe, Cashe Quiroga, Jason Tsirtsis, Mitch Sliga, and Nick Lee.

We have had multiple Cadet Freestyle champs only three times
In 1993 with Chris "way cooler than Darrick" Snyder, James Leavell, and Tim Myers
In 2014 with CJ Red, Nick Lee, and Paul Konrath
In 2011 with Mitch Sliga and Stevan Micic

Vega won a JR Freestyle and Greco title in 1997

Carmel USA Wrestling Club is very excited about welcoming the newest member of our coaching staff: Coach Cody LeCount.  We are thrilled to add one of the best high school wresters ever in the state of Indiana to coach on our staff!  Coach LeCount’s record as a wrestler is well documented.  

IHSAA State Runner up 2012
IHSAA State Champion 2013
IHSAA State Champion 2014
High Schol Career Recond: 183-2
USA Cadet Freestyle National Runner Up 2013

The talent Coach LeCount demonstrated so frequently on the mat as a competitor has translated well to the room as a coach.  In just a few sessions in our club practices, it is evident he has a gift for teaching the sport he mastered as a competitor.  He has already already made an impact on our footwork! 

 

Please join me in welcoming Coach LeCount to our family!
 

Coach LeCount has starting doing individual drill times and has a summer planned of mini camps!  Here is the information on his skill specific mini camps for the summer of 2018


 

CARMEL WRESTLING CLUB

SUMMER MINI CAMPS

Who: Intermediate to High School wrestlers

When: Wed. / Thurs. from 12:00 - 2:00

• June 6th & 7th: Front Headlocks

• June 13th & 14th: Single Legs

• June 20th & 21st: Near Wrist from Top

• June 27th & 28th: High-Crotches / Double legs

• July 11th & 12th: Stand-Ups and Short Sits

• July 18th & 19th: Throws

• July 25th & 26th: Shot Defense / Scrambling

Where: CHS Wrestling Room, enter door 21

Cost: $30 per session (checks payable to CUSAWC)

Questions: Please contact:

Coach Cody LeCount cody.lecount@carmelusawrestling.org

Coach Pendoski: ed.pendoski@carmelusawrestling.org

Carmel is still running!  6:45-8:15 on Wednesday nights!

The Carmel RTC will continue through the summer.  While we might be have the least traffic on instagram (I'm still waiting for this fad called the internet to go away, but apparently it isnt).

We will continue to go on Wednesdays from 6:45-8:15 and now the college guys are starting to come in the room.  Hatch, Timmerman and Doster will be driving over and we will be warming up, drilling and wrestling 3 min goes with 4 min breaks!  

Come battle with us if you're looking to get some matches.

Our room has been tough as nails and will get tougher now that the college guys are finishing up school!  

All with a USA Card are welcome  6:45-8:15

Blue Room will be back at it again tonight!  6:45:8:15!

We'll be back in the Blue Room tonight!  6:45-8:15

We've had over 40 in the room the past three weeks!  Coach Adam Donehue will be our clinician tonight!

Coach Donehue was an All State football player and wrestler in Ohio before wrestling for tOSU.  

Reminder that we will not have our RTC on April 4th, but we will be back at it again on April 11th!

Door 21  

It's by the swimming pool, but the swimmers now call it the wrestling room door.  Blue Room is upstairs behind the freshman gym.  

We had a great room last week and expect even better tonight!  We will have guest clinician Jake O'Neil in our room hoping to teach us his "Eastside Strangler" Headlock!

We 40+ guys last week and we counted 17 of them were wrestlers that were Semi State or farther!

The bigger question of the night will be if Chad Welch takes revenge on Cressel for the rear naked choke from Middle School State!

We are expecting a good group in The Blue Room will be at it tonight!  6:45-8:15