MattM

According to one of the IHSWCA board members not only did the IHSAA never mention it before as an issue, but at time during previous event Mr. Cox had asked how the scoring was going. From that it seems like it wasn't an issue until the IHSAA need as many selling points as possible to convince people we no longer needed team state.

No change tied with Choice B last year (out of A, B, C) in the voting. So the National Federation decided to not change anything and try again with Choice B this year. So now we have the old Choice B or no change to pick between.

All day Saturday at Center Grove High School Greenwood, IN.

www.ihsaatv.org It's the entire broadcast of the state finals so you will need to forward through the matches unless you feel like watching them.

I though he held up 1 finger in one hand and 3 in the other hand. I would think that would signify the state championship he won and the other three he wants to win. He said in his post-match interview that at the start of the year his goal was to go undefeated and win four state titles.

Yes the Goldman clan as well as some other on the IU staff were able to be present by the last session. They were moving and leaning right along with Garrett in that last match.

After the first round the attendence usually drops as some of the fans that lost the first round start to travel the long way back home. So, even if you don't make it to the first round its worth it to attend during the later rounds to help keep the bleachers full of fans the entire day. The wrestlers that make it to the final rounds deserve the support reguardless of what happens after this year.

Yeah, Brent Smith. I'm guessing a cradle may have even fell into play, but its been a few years so my minds a little fuzzy. He is actually our motivational story for many young wrestlers in the program. A pudgy kid they called Theodore (Chipmunks) with an uneventful middle school career, poor freshman JV year, sub-par JV sophomore outing, average at best junior campaign in the varsity lineup, and then places in state his senior season. Brent went on to wrestle for West Point, leading the team in pins and second in wins his senior year. Captain Smith is currently serving his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The question would be are you arguing for wrestler skill development or improving wrestling attendance numbers. My prosper was in reference to the slow growth of the talent of wrestling at all levels. The attendance issue is a different issue to tackle based on the public understanding, general publicity, and public perception of the sport beyond the meet regulars (family, close friends, old wrestlers). This will also be a very slow growth process to reach the levels other states have. Obviously, the quick approach to fixing attendance is just to over class the individual side of the state. That would easily raise attendance by causing more family members, close friends, and old wrestlers to attend because more individuals made it to state. This doesn't work as much in basketball because of the limited roster and 2 teams per class situation that occurs in state. I'd much rather see the wrestling ability increase in some way then find ways to slowly improve the attendance to greater numbers.

Lets help Y2 out again. I'd argue that while it would water down the competition for the first several years it would eventually prosper to the level of the current one. This would occur as the improved team gains interest from students and more development of the wrestlers. Its almost like if the team is set up in a way to have more success more student will buy into it and program will prosper even further. Man I should have pointed out arguments for the other side earlier on it is more entertaining. But still brings be back to the idea of developing the small school team aspect as so many more longer lasting effect on the school and program long term than the effect of a few individual studs coming through ever will.

That would be pretty good small school percent if we are going off the earlier discussion of total participants. Would seem to me with a number like that the small school individuals may be gaining some steam compared to before that 10 year mark. To help ya out Y2, I'd use the argument about the huge talent drop off of these small schools usually have after the individual state studs. This can be show by the small percentage of their wrestlers competing at the semi-state level. It almost like the team aspect of things could use some ways to grown and improve or something at the small school level.

I knew you were not trying to downgrade Trey which is why I tried to phrase the start of my last post to make it more of a springboard for an alternative view rather than a complaint against your point. By the way last one was actually a rolling scramble to a headlock finish. Not sure about the rest of them.

Usually an accomplishment like that tells me one of two things: They made a commitment to put in a huge amount of work during the off season and in season allowing them to make great strides in their abilities. and/or They had a very daunting task (unlucky draw) in the first or second round of semi-state last year which prevented them from at least qualifying for state last year. Either way it still worth the extra recognition for being able to surpass the veteran state qualifiers to win a state title.

PrepareToWin was right at the start of the season "the south did rise again" And we didn't have to count 3/4ths of the state as south or it all being about the EMD crew to contend with the mighty region or other areas. ;D Nice showing Evansville Semi-state.

I'm using your comment more as a springboard for my post more than trying out debate your view. I agree a tech falling all your state level competition is very impressive. I would say that everyone could get caught if he just did it one time to a good opponent, but Reece did pin some of the top best 215 pounders in the state in one day. I would assume they were little better than average, so in essence it would would seem he did a little more than catch them. The difference I see between a tech fall and a pin is really the time it takes to accomplish both. If you can get your opponent to break position while you are in the right spot you can get a pin quickly at any point in the match. However, a tech fall would take time to build up since you are scoring just a few point at a time. With most opponent going into block/defense mode I would say a tech fall at the state level would be hard to get mostly due to time constraints more than anything else. A tech usually shows your just that much better at one aspect of wrestling than your opponents, but doesn't always show much more. We have seen more people tech their way through state on take down ability than we have seen people pin their way through state. So, its hard for me to think that tech is more impressive. If those guys were so much more dominate in every aspect you would think after a large point lead they would be able to easily turn and pin their opponent by the end of the match too. Either many of these tech guys couldn't find a way to pin their opponent once they changed to block/defense mode, so went back to their bread and butter techniques to get the pin. Or they have also been instilled with the idea that the tech is more dominate than a pin, so they have lost their drive to work on mastering the pin fall against top level competition. Pinning shows you have to out wrestle your opponents in one position followed by placing them on their back in a different position. Not down grading the tech fall since it is ultra impressive at the state level but as a pure accomplishment I would say finding a way to pin all of your state level competition is just as amazing. Heck, no one wants to get pinned in state even if they are getting dominated by their opponent.

During the online broadcast they made special mention of Mckinley's goal to someday teach and coach at the Indiana School for the Deaf. It's nice to see people think outside a little the normal job parameters to select a goal such as this.

It's kind of scary the number of programs that at one time had wrestling talent who could beat the best in the nation (or even the best internationally), but have since folded due to athletic issues, conferences putting focus on the importance of other big name sports, and Title IX. Example would be Jimmy Carr (Olympian before attending college) wrestling at the University of Kentucky (then Alabama). This should have been a big push to build either program, but the schools let the opportunity slide and the conference agenda caused it to faded away.

I've said for several years it would be very impressive for any wrestling to pin his way through the state tournament. Hats off to Reese for accomplishing this very hard achievement. Any new on how many other pins he had during the entire tournament series?

The top 2 or 3 wrestlers in Kentucky are at the level to be legit state finals placers in Indiana. After that there seems to be a much bigger drop off. Indiana is some ways is still behind as a wrestling state, but Kentucky wrestling is just now moving past their "toddler years" in many areas. I believe at this point some of their other state placers would be decent semi-state talent here, so they are quickly starting to close the talent gap.

Would love to see ISU and Ball State develop their program again, so we have more DI school in state. But, that is unlikely to happen based on the current college climate. Not sure where these programs lost there way, but ISU's extra draw from Illinois and Ball States from Ohio should have gave them enough of a pool of talent to compete within a midsize conference. Since Indiana has several options in the north now I do see a useful need for a DII, DIII, or NAIA program in the southern parts of the state. If successful it could draw from our state, the growing Kentucky talent, parts of southern Illinois or Ohio.

I think it was part of Brands plan to help keep his in experienced teams confidence building to peak in the post season more than just maintaining the dual win streak. By not risking getting put out in the early rounds of the National Duals he can keep them thinking they have a a chance at finishing higher than the pre-season polls were telling them. Plus, skipping the National Duals it also gave them the extra time needed to formula the best game plan to contend with #3 Oklahoma St and #2 Penn State which they also had later in January. Iowa faces several of the top 10 teams, so I'm not sure they are flat out dodging teams by not attending one event. They are just working the old Gable mental strategy of designing a schedule to get the most out of what you have. Clearly it must be working with with recent team wins that have put them back in the top 5 team rankings (a spot most thought they would be out of this season)

Well Raley in his post win interview made mention of having 2 other IC kids in the final "being a big accomplishment for a small school". So he must be to much of the talk too.

I'm a big fan of their Buffalo Chicken Pizza with some stix on the side. Love the saying they put on their products too.

The entire 112 weight class for that matter too.

Several of the #1 ranked guys in the state we kind of expected to beat their #4 place semi-state opponent with little trouble. And for the most part they delivered. A few other things I noticed though. Almost all the 112 winners were on fire today and will need to be early tomorrow too with who is left at at that weight. Neal Molley from Danville at 130 had a little hickup in the middle but showed some super speed at the start and then tons of back point scoring options the whole last half of the match. Blanton from Alexandria at 125 had plenty of answers for Binion's moves in the middle of the match. It will be interesting to see if he can replicate that mat sense tomorrow. Weekly from Jeff at 145 showed some big time speed and then changed it up with some athletic power, as well. Quiroz from Chesterton at 160 opened the score up and proved he's back in contention after last years early exit. Most of 160 winners were on a mission and will need to be tomorrow with the field that is left. Lynde from Delphi at 171 came out and just ran through his guy in seconds. Several mobile HWT left in the field and some very willing to get in on a leg if the opportunity presents itself. That's always a plus when watching the big boys.