bell103

Be ready for the response that it is top heavy therefore it is not really a hard regional to advance from...

So three of the 30 teams are from the Jay County Regional but it is considered weak???? Isn't a 3 in the formula used?

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
“We have two from the Patriots of Jay County!” 
Gaven Hare and Mason Winner are back for their second appearance in the IHSAA State Finals “Parade of Champions.”
Once the pre-meet pageantry is over at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis Friday night, it’s time to get down to business for 220-pound senior Hare and 160-pounder Winner.
There’s no more “just happy to be here.”
Hare was a state qualifier at 220 as a junior. Winner placed seventh at 145 as a freshman.
This year, Hare’s postseason path has included runner-up finishes at the sectional and regional tournaments — both held at Jay County — and a championship at the Fort Wayne Semistate.
“This year, I know not to go in there content,” says Hare, who is 38-7 for 2017-18 and 120-44 for his prep career. “I have to stay hungry. “I’ve already lost two title matches (at sectional and regional). I know how bad it feels to lose. I’m not trying to have that feeling anymore.”
It was Hare’s first semistate title and Winner’s second straight (the sophomore also won sectional and regional in 2018).
Other Jay County semistate champions include Glenn Glogas (1982), Greg Garringer (1982), Eric Lemaster (1987), Geoff Glogas (1987), Larry Brown (1988), Casey Kenney (2008 and 2009), Drake Meska (2011) and Eric Hemmelgarn (2013 and 2014).
When Hare earned his semistate title, he impressed a number of people in the Memorial Coliseum crowd.
“I was getting feedback on both sides of the coin,” says fourth-year Patriots head coach Eric Myers. “I had at least 10 people come up to me afterward and say that he was one of their favorite wrestlers to watch.”
It’s obvious to his coach by the smile on his face that Hare is enjoying the challenges of wrestling.
“He likes to compete and have a good time,” says Myers. “Gaven is great for the sport. He makes it exciting out there.” Myers, a former Adams Central wrestler and South Adams head coach, is a seventh grade teacher and he first encountered Hare as a junior high student. It was in that seventh grade year that Andy Schmidt recruited the young man to the mats.
“He was really raw at first,” says Myers. “But he had this athleticism and this innate sense to compete and to win.”
As a freshman, Hare set his sights high and he won a challenge match to take a sport in the varsity lineup.
“He’s always set goals,” says Myers. “ I’m going to be here by such and such time and usually he’s achieved those goals.”
Myers has watched Hare experience some ups and downs in his senior season. He took two losses and narrowly avoided a third at the Carroll Super Dual and suffered setbacks against South Adams senior Isaiah Baumgartner in the sectional final and Adams Central senior Chandler Schumm in the regional championship match.
Those only served to re-focus him.
“He’s been pushing himself just a little harder than he did before,” says Myers. “He was banged up going into state tournament series so he backed off and that showed in his results.”
At semistate, Hare edged Baumgartner 5-4 in the semifinals and pinned Central Noble junior Levi Leffers in 1:58 in the finals.
A three-sport athlete, Hare is also a two-way lineman in football and right-handed pitcher in baseball. He has worked as an umpire and would like to explore coaching, something he has discussed with his Jay County head coaches — Myers in wrestling, Tim Millspaugh in football and Lea Selvey in baseball.
When he’s not playing school sports, he is likely competing with friends or family in basketball, wiffleball, bowling or something else.
“I’m a sports fanatic,” says Hare.
Between all his other sports, Hare has found time to make it to off-season open rooms and works out in practice with assistant coaches like Bryce Baumgartner, who placed seventh at 182 as a Bellmont senior in 2017.
“These older guys give me a good pounding,” says Hare. “They show me more technique and the moves that will get me through the tough matches.”
Myers has two paid assistants in Jeff Heller and Bruce Wood and three volunteers in Baugmgartner, Jon Winner and Chad Chowning. Bellmont graduate Heller was a Myers assistant at South Adams and is also his brother-in-law. Wood and Chowning are Jay Country graduates. Jon Winner is a former Monroe Central wrestler and the father of Mason.
The son of Molly Robbins and Zack Hare and middle sibling between Destiny Hare and Corbin Hare, Portland resident Gaven says he would like to pursue one or more sports in college.
As self-described academic slacker his first few years of high school, Hare pulled a 4.0 and 3.8 in the first two grading periods this school year.
“I’m trying to catch up,” says Hare, who has drawn some interest from college wrestling programs and will wait to see what unfolds this spring on the baseball diamond.
Winner, who is 44-2 on the season and 83-6 for his career, has been around wrestling almost non-stop since he was a second grader. He has traveled extensively with the Indiana Outlaws and trained with the best at CIA and Pride centers and attended Jeff Jordan’s camps.
“He’s a year-round grinder,” says Myers of Winner. “He immerses himself in the sport and so does his family.”
Winner, who topped Fort Wayne Bishop Luers senior Chandler Woenker 3-0 in the semistate finals, is always looking to make himself better.
That’s why he started running cross country in sixth grade.
“It’s whether you want to push yourself or not,” says Winner. “They say that wrestling is 90 percent mental. It’s whether you want do to it or not. You have to push yourself — in running or wrestling.”
Winner has a way of pushing himself and his opponent.
“He’s an in-your-face wrestler that will keep coming at you,” says Myers. “He’s got a quality that is hard to implant in kids. He’ll keep going until he gets what he wants. He’s hard-nosed and mentally tough.
“He has the confidence to keep going after it.” Mason also draws inspiration from his family. Jon and Kimberly Winner have three children — Mason, Mitchell and Mallory. Mitchell is a
freshman and also runs cross country. Fifth grader Mallory competes with the Jay County Wrestling Club and also plays softball.
The Winners are Ridgeville area farmers and have about 50 head of Charolais cattle between their property and that of Bill and Sandra Winner — Jon’s parents.
Both of Mason’s paternal grandparents were too ill to attend semistate.
“I’m wrestling with so much more emotion,” says Mason. “My grandpa has Alzheimer’s (disease). He’s my hero.
“It would mean so much to me to win a state title for him.”
Two Patriots — Geoff Glogas (98) and David Ferguson (105) — reached the top of the State Finals podium in 1987.
Jay County’s state placers:
• Glenn Glogas (second at 112 in 1981; second at 119 in 1982).
• Greg Garringer (fifth at 155 in 1982).
• Kurt VanSkyock (third at 145 in 1984; third at 155 in 1985)
• Larry Wilson (fourth at 167 in 1985).
• Geoff Glogas (state champion at 98 in 1987; fifth at 103 in 1988).
• David Ferguson (state champion at 105 in 1987).
• Shawn Jordan (sixth at 152 in 1997).
• James Myers (seventh at 125 in 1997).
• James Brewster (seventh at 215 in 1999).
• Casey Kenney (second at 103 in 2008).
• Eric Hemmelgarn (third at 285 in 2012; fifth at 285 in 2013; fourth
at 285 in 2014).
• Kyle Garringer (sixth at 195 in 2013).
• Andy Kohler (sixth at 182 in 2016).

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I thought the same thing. Peru is a category 4 which is shocking to me 

And Jay County Regional is a 3 classification in team state scoring.  This always makes me scratch my head.

First I want to say in no way do I want to be an official and greatly appreciate the job they do.
 
However, what is the exact job of the side official?
 
In most all sports today the focus is on getting the call correct, therefore the side official should move to positions to assist with calls if needed. Each year I continue to see coaches who probably have a pretty good grasp of the rules ask for the lead official to review with the side official but rarely if ever is a call overturned. So in my curiosity I approached a former official yesterday and asked the question of why this seems to always happen, his response "the side official doesn't want to show the lead official up" I said shouldn't the focus be on getting the call correct? He said yes and here is how I handled it when I officiated..."If a lead official came to me I would tell him exactly what I saw and if his view was different than mine and he kept the original call that his choice."
 
I am not suggesting we have replay or anything like that just a focus on getting the call correct, if they both see it the same so be it, if not the call gets changed and lets move on.
 
I am sure the lead official is correct 9 out 10 times, but the focus should be getting the 10th time as correct as the first 9.
 
Thoughts? Answers?
 
 

Reading is hard.

Yeah man, Mason is a hammer. He's also a high character kid with a great family. Definitely a bright future ahead of him.

I was VERY impressed with Mason Winner from Jay County. Not only pinned Waugh in the finals at 145, but was the only freshman to place at that weight. The rest of the place winners were juniors and seniors. Very impressive.

We will now have a ranking for the most annoying fans
 
1. da Region
2. #TheCounty
3. Mater Dei
 
I have faith in #TheCounty in taking the top spot by June.

And we should also survey them to see if they would be for one weigh-in during November for the whole season.
 
We should also survey the Georgia kids and see if their medals are tainted, if they threw them away, or feel slighted by their system.
 
We can also survey kids from Monrovia, Bishop Dwenger, Snider, Lafayette Central Catholic, etc if their state football medals are tainted and they feel like lesser humans because they aren't true champions.

I guess the first thing that comes to mind as I sift through these posts is "perspective."  Just who are you in relation to the issue?  Are you a coach, a grandfather of a wrestler, an ex-wrestler, a current high school wrestler?  If you are a coach, you will likely understand the dynamics of a small school better than most, as compared to a large school. (i.e. - lesser resources to work with, smaller coaching staff, fewer drill partners in the practice room, smaller gene pool of athletes to pull from, etc)  I would also caution that the vantage point of a "teacher-coach" is much, much different than that of a "lay coach."  I have been both.  I was a lay coach for 18 years before becoming a teacher for the past 10 years.  Even as a lay coach, I had no idea about the dynamics and inter-workings surrounding the students and their available resources during the school day and on the athletic field.
 
If we want to grow actual wrestling in our state, class wrestling is the way to go.  It offers fair and equitable opportunities to all who participate across the state.  We should class Indiana wrestling for the very same reasons we now class Indiana football, Indiana baseball, etc...   The days of Hickory HS and the movie Hoosiers is long gone.  Community and school dynamics have changed drastically in recent decades.  
 
Class wrestling works in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois to name just a few, and it would work tremendously in Indiana.  I don't think anyone can say that the class system has hurt wrestling in any of these other states that surround us.
 
So back to perspective...  just who should have the final say on this topic, since so many people are divided on the issue?  The fan in the stands who doesn't have a singlet on?  The IHSAA who only seems to care about money and self-preservation?  Or should the schools/teams who are the ones in the trenches have the final say-so?
 
I think this point has been made before, but I will mention it again.  If there is no use for "class anything", then let's do away with class football in Indiana.  It's 11 vs 11 right?  Them there small schools should be able to hang with Warren Central and Ben Davis on the gridiron.  While we are at it, let's do away with DI, DII and DIII classifications at the collegiate level!  Those DIII wrestlers need to quit making excuses and man up against Penn State, Oklahoma State and Iowa!  That's a fair assessment isn't it?
 
There are classifications of all kinds in our society's infrastructure in the name of "fair play."  It is time Indiana class its high school wrestling season to offer more equitable opportunities to kids from varying communities and school districts across the state and to grow the sport as a whole.  Mark my words... if we implement class wrestling, our numbers and overall strength of the sport will sky rocket across the state!
 
Coach McCormick
 
 

I also don't remember angel or tsirtsis facing the #4 ranked guy in the country

Ft. Wayne has 1, can we get 1/2 credit for Van Horn?

Dane, it looks like you had to work very hard.   It takes "fuzzy math" to make Carroll better than the top four teams at Jay Co.

They had one this year...maybe you weren't invited   

If the point is to shoot for fairness, change the rule regarding the number of team members to at least seven. As we all know is 7 x 6 = 42 which the most a team could muster out of dual is a tie, which would be highly unlikely. It's not too late to rearrange the classes based on the change. It is IHSWCA not the IHSAA, so the rules can be changed.

Thank you.
 
Again, I understand why the system is in place, and I appreciate the amount of time and effort that you and others have directed towards developing an accurate selection process.
I am not wanting the Indiana wrestling community to continue to be content with this selection process.  I have talked to more coaches that either do not understand the process, or do not appreciate the process, than coaches who value  it.  Working towards a weigh-in exemption(s) along with making the tournament more inclusive is the direction Indiana High School Wrestling needs to point.  

Try explaining to your Semi-State Qualifier that because he placed 4th at Regional, he didn't score any more team points in the system, than someone who lost 1st round in their same Regional, and then telling him, that even though he went to Semi-State, he scored the same amount of points as someone who placed 6th in another Sectional.  We talk over and over about "growing" this sport,   I think the IHSWCA State Duals is an excellent event...........but the points system that it is based on, is not a positive for the kids that are going out on the mat and wrestling.

Seems like it would at least make sense to make Jay regional a cat 4 and Carroll a cat 4.

Well they have the best team!
 
Take away the top team in each Regional:
 
Jay County Regional: 13
Goshen Regional: 13
Carroll Regional: 9
Peru Regional: 6

Well they have the two best teams!
 
Take away the top two teams from each regional:
Jay County Regional: 7
Goshen Regional 9
Carroll Regional: 7
Peru Regional: 4

They are just top heavy:
 
Ticket Rounders:
Jay County Regional: 33
Goshen Regional: 31
Carroll Regional: 29
Peru Regional: 19

I think AC is the first school listed, so it looks like a lot of folks are from there if they choose not to select their school.
We did not have a draw from Jay Co. Regional
Tony Currie

This is a "caught" free zone. How'd he catch him did he throw out a net? Did he slip in a banana peel? What's the Criteria for getting "caught"? If I'm winning and then I got pinned means I was caught? I hate to over use an analogy or lame pun......bro only fish get "caught."

I'm still working on my Private Investigator License, but if I were a thinking man, I would guess that RKO and TKO, know one another. 
 
I can't wait to have my wrestling shoes signed by Sawyer Miller

When are these foreign exchange students (i.e. Pierre Forfeit) going to learn they just need to work harder. And why are so many small schools recruiting them?!