coltfan64

First of all I do believe Atwood will probablyy win. I am just saying that he does not look as strong as he has in the past, and he better show up if he does want the championship. I do not care what those records say from those schools up north. They spend all winter beating on each other. Their great wrestlers are going to have more losses. However,this semi state competition looks good for Atwood. Secondly, I may have predicted in haste about only three individuals making it to state. After scrutinizing the brackets a bit longer, maybe 4 or 5 at the most. 112- Floyd will not beat Smith from Lake Central (This kid is a stud) 119- Trujillio - I don't see him beating Hildebrandt from Penn 125- Ezera Penn is one of my picks to make it to state if he can get past Stevens from Mish. Penn (125 is a lot different then the 103 he wrestled last year) 125- Hicks won't beat Shrader from Mishawaka 130- McTigue won't be able to touch Schurg from Crown Point 135- I like the look of Dorris from Pioneer, but I don't think he will beat Lewandowski from Plymouth 152- Minix is anther of my picks to make it out, but probablly as a 4th place finisher 160- I don't see Dale beating Rhein from Portage, but he may have a shot because this weight class is down a bit 171- Rowe from Logan won't beat Berry from Merr. 171- I think McCoy will lose to Sands from Han. Central 171- Atwood should win. (My 3rd pick to make it out of Merrillville) 189- Kepner will lose to Buckingham from S.B.R. 189- I like Kaufman but he won't beateither Keith from Portage or Boyde from Mish. 215- Yoakum has a good record but he needs to be more agressive to win two matches at Merrillville. I don't see him beating the Coleman kid from Portage. However they may have wrestled already at Delphi during the tournament for bad weather. From what I saw at sectionals and regionals I say he loses to Coleman. 215- Tolle from Lewis Cass does look impressive. I overlooked him with my prediction of only three making it out. ( He makes the 4th) 275- I know that I am going to take flack for this one, but I see Everett losing to Anderson from Highland. However, we all know how unpredictabl heavyweight can be. Things to keep in mind: 1. This is only My opinion and I have been known to be full of crap at times. 2. I hope I'm wrong. I would love to see 15-20 guys represent us at Indy. 3. If Im correct that is 4 wrestlers out of 56 going to state. Two years ago only six made it out and last year only 8 made it out. These numbers are discouraging.

Mad Hungarian- I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to have figured that the Twin Lakes sectional was going to flounder at regionals! Hell I'm surprised they did as well as they did considering it is without a doubt the weakest sectional in the state. While we are on the topic of weak, just wait until next Saturday and you will see that the Logan regional is probabally the weakest regional in the state as well. The Lafayette sectional will not do well at semi -state either! I am only seeing maybe three individuals getting out of Merrillville from this regional this year and no champions. Atwood maybe, but he better bring more game than he brought to Logan. I was not even close to impressed, and I am a huge Atwood fan. I have to say that it is a bit of an embarrassment to watch our logan champs get beaten first round every year. I know these young men are doing the best that they can and they too have worked very hard. Something has to be done to strengthen this area of the state.

I too get there early and get great seats. Never a problem. If you get there after 8:15 you are screwed. I am extremely glad they don't allow coolers. That would just mean fewer seats. It may be small, but I bet no other semistate has seating 5 feet from the mats. My seats are always excellent. Crouded but excellent. Semis and finals are very comfortable. I smuggle in food and don't pay their prices. It may suck in some respects, but I wouldn't go to any of the other sites no matter how comfortable it is. The competitive environment at Merrillville is unlike any wrestling tournament I have ever been to. Even at the State finals, as a spectator you are so far removed from the action it is not the same as at Merrillville. I totally disagree with the statement that Lafayette Jeff would be a good venue for this event. The lower level would be closed off completely. They too, only have bleechers on two sides of the gym except very small sections on the other ends. The seating is not good. Spectators sre seated too far from the wrestling. I really don't think that Jeff's upper sections would hold any more than the Merrillvile Gym. I am from Lafayette, and trust me, the people at Jeff most definitely wouldn't be a whole lot more courteous than the two power hungry ladies at Merrillville. That's my input, not that anyone asked.

Three things that made Market Square a much better venue: 1. They allowed pass outs to come and go freely. (This was pre 9-11 security) 2. On saturday when they cleared everyone out between rounds, they would let you save your seat so you didn't have to go through that rat race to get a good seat which I hate. 3. Organ music was fantastic. Just my opinion.

Under most circumstances, I would agree that it would be a bold statement to say that anyone will walk through a regional tournament. However, I have seen everyone wrestle at 171 that will be in the Logan regional. And I can tell you that Atwood will most definitely walk through this weight class. McCoy from McCutcheon is a good grappler, but not near the quality as Atwood. Won't be close!

Everett is a stud. He is just so freaking big. He is quick and fairly technical. He will be hard to beat, but we all know how unpredictable heavy weight can be. Who knows?

I know that the weather postponed some conference tournaments to this weekend which in turn have cancelled some of the tournaments that were already scheduled, such as the one at Hobart. Can someone please post the conference tournaments to be held this weekend and where they are to be held. Any other tournaments would be nice to know too. Since it is the last weekend before sectionals, a lot of schools are resting this weekend.

I too would like to see Brooks take it all, but Wright has a way of elevating his game when it counts.

Can anyone tell me where this tournament is taking place?

In the 70s and 80s, it was a rule in most school corporations to cancel Saturday events when school was canceled on Friday. However, if transportation can safely be provided, weekend events are still on.

I have been under a rock lately. Can someone tell me why Floyd of Delphi and Rutledge of Tipton are not wrestling. I noticed that Floyd did not wrestle at the North Mont. Holiday duals and have not seen Rutledge's name mentioned lately. Just curious. I hate it when good wrestlers disappear from the scene because of injury, grades, disciplinary reasons, or worst yet decide to quit. The quit thing is especially a shame. I don't get it when a kid wrestles his entire life preparing for high school then continues through freshman and sophmore years just to give up when it counts. I uderstand about burn out, but it doesn't make sense to me. This is the reason why coaches get frustrated and quit. Maybe these two individuals are simply injured. I hope to see Floyd and Rutledge wrestling in sectionals.

I see Delphi taking this thing hands down. Delphi will win most weight classes. (Floyd, Atwood, Everett, Delaney just to name a few) Tipton will win a couple if their good wrestlers compete such as Rutledge. Rensselear has Kauffman that could win. Flynn from W.L. could make some noise. B.C. has a big guy named Travis Kepner that should win. I know that T.L., B.C., WL., and Sheridan do not have good teams this year. They may have an individual here or there, but nothing to keep up with Delphi and even Tipton. The match of all matches will be the rematch between Moats of Tipton and Atwood of Delphi. Moats pinned Atwood last year in a headlock I believe. I think it was a fluke, but Moats is a strong and skilled young man. I look for Atwood to actually dominate him this time though. Just a few of my thoughts, but I have been known to be full of crap.

It really doesn't matter how W.C. stacked up against these other teams in head to head dual meets. When it comes to sectionals, some good teams don't seed as well as they should which means a different result in tournament scoring. I would like to see West Central win that sectional, but I aint seeing it.

Last Years Hoosier Conf. Results 103- 1. McIlrath Del. 2. Collins W.L. 112- 1. Floyd Del. 2. Summers T.L. 119- 1. Alderman Del. 2. Joe Flynn W.L. 125- 1. Mark Pore Tip. 2. Back Del. 130 - 1. McDaniel B.C. 2. McTigue Del. 135- 1. Rutledge Tip. 2. Harriger W.L. 140- 1. Munson B.C. 2. Justin Pore Tip. 145- 1. Petterson Del. 2. Rayman W.L 152- 1. Cooper Del. 2. Napier Tip. 160- 1. Moats Tip. 2. Atwood Del. 171- 1. Ayers T.L. 2. Kauffman Ren. 189- 1. Clawson T.L. 2. Delaney Del. 215- 1. Warner Tip. 2. Yoakum Del. 275- 1. Everett Del. 2. Flemming Ren.

I also saw the match where the Moats kid from Tipton stuck Atwood in the Hoosier Conference championship match. He didn't take it well, but he didn't exactly have a meltdown either. I liked the way the kid bounced back and learned from that loss. He ended the season like a man on a mission. If I remember correctly, he clawed his way to a 4th place finish at State. I look forward to a rematch between these two young men again at the conference tournament. I do believe the results will be different this time. But then again, I've been wrong before.

I don't know exactly how small Rochester is but thy had a fantastic heavy weight by the last name of Hummel I think. I would say maybe in the early 90s. I'm not sure but I think he won semistate 4 times. He was tall and thin for a heavy weight but he wrestled like a 125 pounder. Fast and strong. I don't think he ever won state. I could be incorrect.

The Al Smith is obviously one of the most entertaining tournaments to watch in the state. The large number of teams, the high quality match ups, and two full days of excellent wrestling in an individual championship style format. Much better than watching super duals between teams. The main gym is pretty old and a bit dark, but still easy to see all of the wrestling. The only real bad thing that I see is that you have to decide to watch either the light weights or the big guys at least for the first day. They split them into the two gyms based on weight. I understand that with 32 teams, this is necessary. Just hate missing any of the action. They run a great tournament for the size and quality.

Can anyone tell me when this tournament is taking place?