maligned

If we want to dig even deeper into this point: I think our whole culture teaches us that being happy is the meaning of life. Which is all well and good. But the way happiness is defined nowadays has evolved into this: "obsessively chase what you think should be yours so you can be happy for you." That's a counterfeit happiness--it's a rigid individualism and potentially narcissism. True happiness doesn't happen on an island. It happens in relationships and in respect of community. Relationships involve self-sacrifice--the opposite of "get mine for me." As a parent, I'm trying to learn better how to teach "chase your dreams" in a way that also involves celebrating others' successes. It's tough to do!!

He's so physical. I did not expect that he'd become such a physically dominating 141. It feels like the sky's the limit for him.

Nick Willham follows suit with a takedown in sudden victory over the 5-seed veteran Nevills of Maryland! He heads to nationals too!

Cayden Rooks with a huge 5-1 rivalry win over Norris of Purdue to get his NCAAs spot.

Conference tournament results for our 18 Indiana natives as of 2:45pm ET on Sunday: Alive for an at-large berth, but eliminated from an automatic bid: Boarman, 1-2 (As the 3-seed needing top 3, loses a 5-4 semi's heartbreaker to the #2 in the last minute...then was up 8-0 in the consi semi's and gets put to his back and pinned with 3 seconds left in the 2nd period. Both were guys he beat in the duals. He earned one of the 3 allocation slots for the SoCon, so he'll have a shot to get an at-large; but he'll be sweating it out for sure with a 1-2 SoCon performance. Sadly, he's one of 7 allocation guys that have lost so far at 133 nationally, and there are only 6 at-large bids. ) Washington, 0-2 (As the 8-seed, falls 10-5 to the 9-seed and 8-0 to the 7-seed. He came in #24 in the Coaches' Rank, but he's struggled so much recently and forfeited out of the 9th place round. It could be dicey for him on selection day.) Sollars, 0-2 (As the 10-seed, falls 6-2 and 8-3 to the 7- and 8-seeds. He comes in #33 in the Coaches' rank and #31 in the RPI. The good news is that there's been a lot of chalk at 197 nationally, so he will be in the at-large discussion. But he's at the tail-end of that discussion, so he too will be sweating on selection day.) Bates, 8th place (As the 8-seed, goes 2-3 to pick up 8th. He's 32 in the Coaches' Rank and 26 in the RPI, and he finished where he was expected in Big 10s, so he's squarely in the middle of the at-large discussion. He'll be hoping for chalk results in the last couple conference tournaments so he stays in a good position.) Eliminated from NCAAs entirely: Wilson, 1-2 Porter, 1-2 Watson, SoCon 4th Filipovich, 0-2 Barket 0-1, needed Top 2 Advanced to NCAAs: Lee, going for 5th Lemley, going for 3rd Mendez, going for 1st Allred, going for 3rd Davison, going for 3rd Baumann, 8th place G. Rooks, 7th place C. Rooks, 7th place Willham, 7th place

Not saying that's wrong, but I don't understand why they're wrestling for 9th place when there are only 8 slots. I'm not sure what the protocols for injury backfill at nationals are, though, so it could be for that. (I'd thought injury backfills were determined nationally, not through the conferences; but I must be wrong.)

They put up a 9th place bracket at 174 now on Track. I think that could only be for the purpose of determining True 8th, since there are only 8 slots. DJ Washington really needs to win a couple matches. It's not looking good for him.

He does get some luck there, but I'm not sure if they'll wrestle back to 9th and do a True 8th match at that weight. Otherwise, he goes loss-bye-forfeit...NCAA bid. Does anyone know if they wrestle back to 9th and do a True 8th at weights that have 8 allocations?

Conference tournament status for our 18 Indiana natives as of 3:45pm ET: Alive for an automatic berth: Bates 1-1 Baumann 0-1 C. Rooks 0-1 G. Rooks 1-1 Sollars 0-1 Washington 0-1 Willham 1-1 Barket (tomorrow) Alive for an at-large berth, but eliminated from an automatic bid: Boarman 1-2 (As the 3-seed needing top 3, loses a 5-4 semi's heartbreaker to the #2 in the last minute...then was up 8-0 in the consi semi's and gets put to his back and pinned with 3 seconds left in the 2nd period. Both were guys he beat in the duals. He earned one of the 3 allocation slots for the SoCon, so he'll have a shot to get an at-large; but he'll be sweating it out for sure with a 1-2 SoCon performance. Sadly, several other 133s that earned allocations have also fallen, meaning the at-large competition will be stiff. ) Eliminated from NCAAs entirely: Wilson 1-2 Porter 1-2 Watson 2-1, wrestling for SoCon 3rd Filipovich 0-2 Advanced to NCAAs: Lee 2-0 Lemley 2-0 Mendez 1-0 Allred 2-0 Davison 2-0

I'm keeping tabs on results and NCAA advancement status in the "Who Gets In?" article thread...please help me add results! They're coming hot and heavy

Conference tournament status for our 18 Indiana natives as of 1:50pm ET: Alive for an automatic berth: Boarman 1-1 Allred 1-0 Bates 1-0 Baumann 0-1 Davison 1-0 Filipovich 0-1 C. Rooks 0-1 G. Rooks 1-1 Sollars 0-1 Washington 0-1 Willham 1-0 Barket (tomorrow) Alive for an at-large berth, but eliminated from an automatic bid: Eliminated from NCAAs entirely: Wilson 0-1 Porter 0-1 Watson 0-1 Advanced to NCAAs: Lee 2-0 Lemley 2-0 Mendez 1-0

Jose Diaz, Gannon, in D2 and Evan Burge, Wabash, in D3 also qualified.

I saw Streck, Blubaugh, Mejia in D2 and Gavin Layman, Joey Langeman, Jesse Herrera, Cole Cervantes in D3. Am I missing 1 in each division?

It's very easy to exploit in terms of getting a timeout, but they put pressure on wrestlers to get back to wrestling quickly and will hit cautions quickly if they are dragging. They're also quick to award a point to the other wrestler for repeat stoppages, even though the way the rules are written make it seem easy to get multiple timeouts or long timeouts. This is from the rules: "If a wrestler is clearly injured/bleeding, the bout must be stopped immediately, and the wrestler must be attended to by medical staff. Coaches are allowed to attend to the injured or bleeding wrestler but must not interfere with the medical staff or use the time to coach the wrestler. The unaffected wrestler must remain on the mat at all times but can be attended by coaches. The medical staff will determine bleeding management versus injury time and take appropriate actions. Bleeding time is limited to Four (4) minutes from the time the medical staff declares bleeding time. If the bleeding time exceeds four minutes (4) the bout is awarded to the opponent as a medical default. Clean-up time is not considered part of the Bleeding time. Injury Time is unlimited if the medical staff requests the time and the referee grants the time. The medical staff must determine when the injury is assessed and recovery time is completed. If the medical staff allows the wrestler to continue, the wrestler must be instructed that any additional stoppage for this injury in the bout could result in a point being awarded to the opponent in the 16U categories and older. It is the refereeing team’s discretion to award a point to the opponent for an athlete who repeatedly stops the match for injury management. Medical staff will only serve to assess and treat injuries and determine if a wrestler can safely continue in the match. The coach may not request recovery time and abuse could result in the refereeing team issuing a yellow card. " Again, it seems willy-nilly, but because the medical staff could unilaterally stop the match; guys are usually quick to get back going and show they're ok. Also, like I said, they don't allow them to drag. So if a guy keeps dragging, he either takes a second injury and risks getting hit with a point or getting the match stopped by medical staff--or he doesn't take a timeout and risks getting hit with "caution and 1" penalties. So there's less abuse in the practical application than the "unlimited" time makes it seem. But there's no stopping a guy whose engine is less than his opponent from crying out in pain late in a match, taking a minute to recover, and gaining another burst of energy.

I just know that Gomez is always explosive in spurts but can fade. He came out blazing at the beginning, post-break, and post-injury timeout when he hit the 4-pointer. I think getting put to your back like Nick did always takes a lot out of you mentally and physically, especially late in a match. In retrospect, I'm sure Nick would say he was a little rattled and should have taken a moment to gather himself physically and mentally, instead of launching blindly into all-out attack mode with a minute still left.

For D3, it was a rough regionals in terms of advancement for Manchester and Trine, and most of the Wabash qualifiers aren't native Indiana kids. List of D3 qualifiers from Indiana looks like this ( I think!): Gavin Layman, Ohio Northern (Chesterton) Joey Langeman, Trine (Carmel) Jesse Herrera, Wabash (Highland) Cole Cervantes, North Central (Griffith)

I think it's just the three highly ranked Streck (Central Oklahoma, Merrillville), Blubaugh (UIndy, Bloomington S.), and Mejia (McKendree, Elkhart Memorial [RIP])that got thru to nationals in D2. Is that right? Those 3 are title contenders, but some bad luck for most of UIndy's Indiana natives that were potential AAs. Mulkey, Combest, Gray all miss out for different reasons.

1995 Leavell sucked down to catchweight 147 vs 2024 Leavell

If nothing else, I'd guess he'll be in by summer when seniors drop off.

Jonathan Kervin is a national champion! Coming in as the #3 seed at 165lbs, facing the #4, he wins the final, 10-5, after being down 4-0 early in the 2nd period. Calhoun falls, 5-4, in his final at 174.

Jaquan ends up 6th at 174. Great showing for the IHSAA third placer from last year

Most of these guys won at least a match. Jaquan East won a couple tight consolation matches to get to AA status. Congratulations! He'll compete for 3rd to 8th today.

Kervin also got into the finals! He and Calhoun will wrestle back to back at 165 and 174 in the finals on ESPN+ tonight.

Caution and 1 for leaving the mat. There's always a step out point when you're not trying to go out. But if you just leave like that, it's a caution and 1 on top of it. Like the technical violation in folkstyle, but much stricter in its application.

Walker, Critchfield, Erb, and Wagner will wrestle in the blood round tonight, attempting to join Calhoun and Kervin as AAs.