awood2

He is fighting a guy they call "Uncle Creepy!!!!!" WTH! Is this also a 'To Catch A Predator' episode?

Stalling

10 champs... is that all.

For the record, I am familiar with 3 of the 4 at Memorial today. The 2 of those 3 have not done a state finals yet, but IMO are due. Adam T. and Lars S. have proven their consistency and have refereed many tournaments that I think would qualify them for the state level. The 4th certainly proved himself today in what can be a very challenging environment for officials. Veteran coaches, knowledgeable fans, and evenly matched wrestlers can make for a very volatile mix for some officials. This crew went unnoticed for much of the day. You can't ask for much more. #PainRV

Caleb, all of Elkhart County is working Saturdays right now. Memorial had some stellar champs; not down at all. This whole county has wrestling on the brain right now. The fan base from every school was outstanding. Jimtown brought a bus full of hammers. They put on a show today. The Baugo Bad Boys clearly have the whole community behind them. You guys are YOUNG and MEAN. Jimtown is in the hunt for the Goshen regional for sure. Same is true for Northridge, Goshen, Northwood, Central, Memorial, Fairfield... #PainRV Class A tour bus of hammers is coming down US 33 next week to make some noise in Goshen next week! And if they run out of ice cream before the 3rd round this year I am gonna have an out-of-body experience. C'mon Redhawks!

Ooohhh! Somebody has been around awhile. One, if I get my knees as high as his head anymore I need a surgeon. Two, if he had not called me for stalling in OT it would have never happened. I couldn't beat the guy I was wrestling, so I did a WWF move on the ref and it worked. For those of you who aren't sure yet... 1994 quarterfinals at 189#'s You could ask him about it but he doesn't remember...

Interesting thought... Who are the most 'senior' officials still active. Tonight, I had the chance to re-hydrate with the veteran Jimmy Troyer from North Manchester, IN. He has been refereeing for as long as I have been alive! I am pretty old.

Sorry, no venting. The IHSAA was very kind to the Elkhart Sectional - they weren't terrible.

Sara, I have been a fan since you were in middle school. I tell young people (and grown adults, HELL anyone that will listent) your story all the time. You are such a great role model. Keep breaking barriers. Keep raising the bar. We are all behind you!

Elkhart Sectional: Central 182, Northridge 180, Jimtown 177 Congrats to Elkhart Central for winning the Sectional for the first time since 1989. This tournament was decided on the very final HWT match. I know many of the kids on the team personally. This is a very good group of nice kids. Huge kudos to the coaching staff. This group has come a long way from when they started. I knew Central would have an effect on the outcome, but many of us in the stands were amazed how the day unfolded. As a fan, referee, and coach this was the best tournament I have ever watched. Every match was important from start to finish. I made a comment about 2 Jimtown vs. Northridge matches in the first round that I thought could be key in the long run. At the start of the final round the top 5 teams were separated by 12 points. The final 4 shuffled thru the whole final round. My first impression is that the 5/6 place matches had a profound impact on the final score. It was a treat to watch. Hats off to all the teams who competed. IMO, every school in this sectional currently has built a program. Jimtown, Goshen, Northridge, Memorial, Central have been consistent for years and years. Fairfield, Concord, and Northwood are just starting to build some momentum. Overall, $5 was a deal for kind of wrestling that was on display today. Goshen Regional could be even more entertaining!!!

Congrats to Elkhart Central for winning the Sectional for the first time since 1989. This tournament was decided on the very final HWT match. I know many of the kids on the team personally. This is a very good group of nice kids. Huge kudos to the coaching staff. This group has come a long way from when they started. I knew Central would have an effect on the outcome, but many of us in the stands were amazed how the day unfolded. As a fan, referee, and coach this was the best tournament I have ever watched. Every match was important from start to finish. I made a comment about 2 Jimtown vs. Northridge matches in the first round that I thought could be key in the long run. At the start of the final round the top 5 teams were separated by 12 points. The final 4 shuffled thru the whole final round. My first impression is that the 5/6 place matches had a profound impact on the final score. It was a treat to watch. Hats off to all the teams who competed. IMO, every school in this sectional currently has built a program. Jimtown, Goshen, Northridge, Memorial, Central have been consistent for years and years. Fairfield, Concord, and Northwood are just starting to build some momentum. Overall, $5 was a deal for kind of wrestling that was on display today. Goshen Regional could be even more entertaining!!!

Lots of good news coming out of PH!

Now we are getting somewhere... The whole essence of wrestling hinges on this topic. EVERY sport has a talent gap. There is disparity in every sport, in every state, in every talent pool of every school. Wrestling is better/different b/c despite where fate has placed you in terms of school you have a choice of ways to better yourself. If you think summer wrestling is for you - do it. If it's more conditioning - do it. If you think a lower weight is your best chance - do it! If that doesn't work you always have a chance to go for a surprise move & a pin!@#$%&* Most importantly, wrestling teaches us all that no matter what God-given gifts you were born with the most valuable is often times a stubborn, no-quit, break my back kinda grind work ethic. On the other hand, along the course of developing young athletes they need to find levels where they can compete. That is up to the coach. It seems most people that host a tournament tend to invite teams for a specific reason - competitive level. Whether you host or join a tournament it doesn't matter who is there you can't guarantee that your kids won't draw a 'hammer' at some point in the season. My coach used to have code words for when I was about to encounter one. It wasn't until much later in life that I cracked the codes: "He is a good athlete," meant my butt was about to get kicked. It's a lesson equally as important as standing on the top tier of podium at dinner time. In life, the playing field is not level. Jobs and the people charged with completing them are not equal. Let your athletes get the most out of our sport and allow them to dream big, always fight hard, and like 99.9% of us - get their butts handed to them. The best coaches I ever had really shined when I lost and they had to put me back together for the next challenge. It is times when life is kicking my butt when I am the most grateful for and give the most thought to my best coaches. Why would you ever want to limit those opportunities for you athletes? IMO, that is exactly why Penn is so successful in everything. That whole district, starting at the superintendent and the assistant super, focus on individual growth and setting very high standards. The expectations are high across the district. Every staff member supports every student towards growth; and the wins take care of themselves.

The only thing I would change about you post is that I would not mention any school by name. I think that some people will see the name and give all the credit to the size of the school. Having 2000+ students in the building doesn't make any one of them faster or better technique. They are all kids who need recruited and developed. Meanwhile, back to your point. There are programs like this that are a model for how to grow your program. There are 100s of kids in that program b/c they have opportunities to perform ('JV' at a varsity tourney). To your other point - why are you still considering them a JV team if they are competing with your varsity? I was a product of Memorial HS (Jim Nicholson) and Manchester College (Tom Jarmen). At both of those schools there was a culture in the building/campus that the wrestling program was something to be revered. Everyone knew that if you were part of that program you were something special. Both coaches were going to push you and you were going to have to compete. When we walked into weigh-ins we certainly didn't think of ourselves as JV or varsity. We were the guys who were going to wrestle to win every match we were assigned. If we didn't we were expected to perform well, follow the system, and fix what we did wrong! Isn't that more important than knowing who is the JV or varsity? When did we take that mentality away? The greatest label bestowed upon any of us was 'wrestler'. To me that means you don't care about any other label b/c you were going to get my best effort no matter what.

Can't wait to see this program grow even more.

Evansville Mater Dei won 11 (team) state titles from 1995-2007 against the much larger Indy schools and the giants from up north. They won b/c of the culture in that school building. I don't want to cast anyone in a negative light, but many of the dominant programs today were not so dominant in the recent past. Did those programs have a sudden spike in enrollment or DID A NEW COACH COME IN AND CHANGE THE CULTURE?! Trace the success of the dominant programs back today to when the present coach took over. Enrollment and/or classes won't make your kids a better wrestler. Putting all this time and effort into handing out more medals is ridiculous. If your concern is for making Indiana wrestling stronger and creating better human beings then LOGOFF and go open up the room, take the test to ref, and put in some work b/c that's what makes a champion NOT CLASSES. **Definitely not saying small school coaches suck.** What about all the 5A high schools who never win a wrestling state title...?

Well said, Rookie78! The point I am trying to emphasize here is that there is something special about winning any tournament. The state tournament is, and always should be, the most special. Adding more opportunities to call ourselves a state champ seems counter intuitive to me. The most successful wrestling programs teach kids to set goals, work hard, and how take your lumps along the way. The program at Prairie Heights is, as you say, fortunate. Instead, what I see is a program that emphasizes personal growth and accountability. I have know idea how many state champions you produce out of that school. More importantly, I see your kids go full tilt no matter what size the school your facing, JV or varsity. I can list many programs in my area that have the same goals and teach the same lessons: Rochester, Goshen, Prairie Heights, Plymouth, Northridge, Jimtown... Programs like these are wildly successful at raising a community of young men that will succeed b/c of their character. When someone suggests that it would somehow make wrestling more relevant or attractive if we handed out more medals at state I get a little bent out of shape. The most successful programs are the ones who empower kids to improve themselves everyday, work hard to meet your goals, and treat all challenges with the same respect.

For the referees... YES Jimtown - freestyle tourney Peru - long walk to get there, hidden gem SB Washington Culver Military Academy - best cafeteria food EVER, Dead Poet Society ambiance Plymouth Lowell

No stats to report. Just a gym FULL OF HAMMERS. Many young kids who are finally ready to take a spot on the porch with the big dogs. Most of the field faced off at the NLC conference tourney last week in a very tight race for the title. Add to that mix Jimtown (aka 'hammer' factory). Central & Fairfield are primed to make some noise too! Gonna be some surprises and hurt feelings in the fieldhouse come dinner time Saturday in E-town.

?????? The IHSAA has one goal when they use the words 'wrestling state tournament'... 14 championship metals on Saturday night at Bankers Life! Football - you gotta beat the team you draw. No play your way back in. Basketball - same. Baseball - same. Track & Swimming - lineup and go faster than everyone in the field at that moment. In wrestling the IHSAA wants to crown the last man standing and that's all; and I agree. I don't (have never) understand why we make wrestling so complicated. Tournament means we are looking for someone to rise to the top. Life doesn't always give you a fair path or an equal start to your dreams. In most cases, you fail. Quit whining. Let's weigh them, line them up, and let them wrestle. Saturday's should be about ONE THING - IF YOU AIN'T FIRST, YOUR LAST!@#$%^

This post deserves a metal. This whole topic feels very condescending. Trust me, no one up north feels sorry for the Jimtowns and the Prairie Heights of the world. The reason these, and other, small schools are so successful is b/c they would never allow their kids to take any challenge lightly. They would never prepare their kids differently for a JV tournament then they would a varsity tournament. Shame on anyone who takes a varsity team to a tournament and lets them hang their heads for getting beat by a 'b-team' or 'JV' team at a varsity tournament. When you start qualifying ever tournament and wrestler as varsity, JV, or a class system you are diluting the most important lessons our sport has to offer. Wrestling forces you to focus solely on YOUR accountability. There is NOTHING WRONG WITH FAILING. This time of year I spend a great deal of time talking to generations of wrestlers about what the sport has meant to them and how it shaped their lives. VERY FEW of those conversations take place with state champions. However, the themes are always the same... Wrestling taught us how to pick ourselves up (and each other) when you think you can't fight any more. Wrestling taught us how to face challenges in life head-on. That's what makes wrestlers different than any other athlete. We don't care about seeds, rankings, varsity status, depth charts... Wrestlers give it hell no matter what the odds, time left, or semantics. I didn't get up Monday and say, "Boy feels like a JV tournament Monday, so I will give it a JV effort." It doesn't make sense. The real problem here is that some of us in this community are focused solely on the hardware and not how we can hard wire these young athletes to successfully deal with the adversity. The real rewards at the end of each season is the measure of how much effort we have put into improving, not the color ribbon in our hand. Making changes based on the thread would only change one of those rewards/results - the WRONG ONE.

Where can we find said video...? Probably just have to wait for the Dateline episode.

Stalling

Valentine's Day has always been a trip to the Circle City! Music and dancing at the Slippery Noodle (after wrestling on Friday), shopping at the mall Saturday (while I watch the semi's), dinner Saturday night (just before introductions), and... 10 hours in an arena watching the state meet! Her lawyer told me she misses it

Way to do, Chase! Go SPARTANS!