runner-up

Love that IHSWCA has worked get a classed team dual situation going during the season with the absence of team state duals. I've heard the arguments for a classed individual tournament and I'm not going to deny that they have some merit for growing the sport, but there is just something special about having one state champion. As a fan, I hope they don't change that. I am for possible tweeting the wrestle back situations at semi-state and state, but other than that I'd say leave the state finals as is. I am down for classed duals any day though--with the option of letting powerhouses (like MD) move up if they choose. 

Go to IHSAATv.org

Per the rules "the main objective of seeding is to have outstanding wrestlers separated in the brackets so that they will not meet each other until the finals." I think that the rule writers assume that a wrestler who was on the cusp of making it to the state meet the previous year defines you as an outstanding wrestler.
10 matches qualifies you to be seeded, thus that is the 1st question. Next is head to head competition followed by common opponents. So if a returning semi-state quarterfinalist has lost to someone else in the sectional or has a worse record vs common opponents, he/she would NOT be seeded over his opponent he lost to or has had more common opponent success than--provided said wrestler meets the seeding criteria.   

This isn't the flu, there is no vaccine for this virus. This is a new virus that spread to humans in December and has now spread across the world and has a very high mortality rate. When the people who study these things are saying to be careful you probably should listen.
 
The worst thing that can happen is people not taking this seriously and millions get infected and overload our already busy hospitals. 

This Corona virus has doing a number on our sport. Looks like the posse and I won't be heading to Minny for da big show. Believe me dat virus could not survive in our environment. Da old rat has had da corona virus a few times - self inflicted. Da facility is Purdy nice - little Tommy nocked a mall down for a hoop dome. Good luck , have fun , and enjoy our little slice of heaven.

Mortality rate in 2009 was .01% to .08%.  This one is 12-100x more likely to kill you. 
 
It’s not the wrestling community, it’s the school.  And the world we live in today. 
 
Stay safe. 
 

I just need my school out next Wed and Thurs so I can drive to Minneapolis. 
 
I'm also set to lose potentially Thousands on my Wrestlemania trip
 
It sucks but I'll take it to help eradicate this stuff.
 
Since when did we devalue the lives of senior citizens? Like do you all drag your parents and grandparents out back and put one in the skull once they hit 65?

World Health Organization just declared the coronavirus as a Global Pandemic 10 minutes ago. 
 
Surprised they didn’t consult with #TheBrand with his biotech background and what not. 
 
Update on State at CompoundIndy.  Dana White will be there scouting to land contracts for the new 6th grade UFC division beginning next year. 

I know every Karen, Bob, and Steve is suddenly a google/social media medical expert but check out what's going on in Italy. 10k plus infected, over 400 people have died since Monday. 
 
I know this doesn't sit well w/ the conspiracy theorists and tough guys.......but let's try to not let that happen here. 

Tough to plan for something like this.  Many, many things are being cancelled/postponed.  This virus scare appears to be disrupting everyone’s lives in many ways.  Public health appears to be the least of things that will be impacted although this is the reason for shutting everything down. 

Asking a school or big facility to not host any events because they are a backup to the original host is virtually impossible. This is an event that needs 20+ mats, which there are maybe a handful in the state that have the capabilities of hosting. On top of that the facilities that can host have events already planned because they want to make money. 
 
The ISWA is in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. No one wants to cancel or move the event.

Well if they have to postpone....
 
 
Make freestyle/Greco an Ironman. 💪💪💪

 
Get your triple crown in one weekend. 

Here is a novel concept, let's not force the kids to shake hands with all the coaches, refs, table help, and everyone there.

Due to past experience in Michigan. I can say that INDIANA WRESTLING IS MUCH BETTER THAN MICHIGAN WRESTLING. Weather Michigan has 1 division at state or 4.. Indiana is still better. When I first moved here I constantly argued for Michigan with my team but it is very clear to me now that Indiana Wrestling is VERY UNDERRATED  

The coach voting is an interesting system in practice. In theory it is smart. Coaches feedback is important and should be taken into consideration. But I have also noticed that I get votes from schools I didn’t even know existed.
 
Any ranking (1-5) from a school/coach that hasn’t seen you officiate is a bad vote for a true assessment.
 
I’ve also heard about refs getting repeated bad scores from the same coach for years that is holding a grudge. 
 
Just like wrestlers, officials get better with mat time and experience.
 
If you are a coach still giving a good ref a 1 or a 2 because of a questionable call a decade ago, you are part of the problem. Same goes for if you are giving your buddy a 5 because he has been a great official in the past but maybe his officiating career is on the decline. Base rating off of how they officiate in the present, not the past, and don’t vote for someone you haven’t seen.
 
I think I heard the NCAA had official evaluators, where some of the top older officials rank and assign the younger ones for major tournaments. I wonder if the IHSAA could get feedback from some of the heads of the associations or some of the more seasoned state level officials. Maybe they could also rank the eligible officials and that could be added to the score for evaluation.
 
At the end of the day, the IHSAA’s goal is to crown a state champion—the best wrestler in the state. Shouldn’t we also be working to get the best crew of refs to help in that process?
 
I don’t say this implying the guys there this weekend weren’t the best officials for the job. I know a handful of them and I’d agree they are some of the top officials, much better than myself currently--they are the ones I’ll go to to help get better. But this thread has brought up flaws with the process so I figured I’d offer my take on it and how to maybe improve it.

One concern I have with the rating system is that the coaches get the officials mixed up sometimes and give a rating to the wrong person.   Id like to quote "Little Vito".  He got 29 votes and only had involvement with 9 of those schools this year.   BigBlue02 mentioned  he had votes from schools he didn't work this year never had worked.
 
The Scholar also does some officiating believe it or not.   I got 29 ratings votes this year.  (Note I didn't get any 1s) Yea.   
Here's some some of my stats.    Of the  29 ratings from different schools I received,   I only worked matches with 11 of those schools this year (JV or Varsity).
I just counted all the schools that I did see this year and I counted 40 schools.   I might of missed one or two.   But of those 40 schools,  I only got 11 ratings votes.   So only 27.5% of the coaches voted.   Also 18 of the 29 ratings, I had no matches with this year or 62%.
Also,  some of those schools could be ratings  with memories of prior seasons.  But  12 out of those 18 votes, I have never officiated with those schools in prior years either.   Obviously there's some confusion.   Some of the more experienced well know refs probably get more accurate  results since the coaches know them better.
 
In dual matches, we sign books that might help the coaches remember who we are,  but a lot of times they probably don't always remember the officials names. 
 
I was thinking of an idea.   Maybe print some business cards and give that to the coaches after the match.   I wonder if the coaches would appreciate this?   
 
PS:  This is only meant to be constructive, and is no criticism of the coaches, so please hold that against the refs in the ratings.
 
   
 
 

On top of that it would be easier for coaches to vote. There are hundreds and hundreds of refs to vote for. I'd much rather have the list narrowed down to ones I have seen. Heck, I saw names that I didn't know they were refs! It would make it easier to vote for refs if the list is narrowed down to 100 that you have seen recently.

When a state qualifier is the 10th best guy on their team you know they're unreal. 

Mainly only D1 programs, big tourneys in all the other divisions; like NCAAs regional, and nationals do they use this, as well as the Big Conference tourneys (Big 10, BIG 12, ACC, MAC, PAC 12, ETC). The problem with having it in high school is that coaches already take officials to the table enough for "clarifications" of a rule, having video review will only extend matches longer and will stop the flow of the match some more...

I think it would generally help, but not the panacea you think.    But I think to do correctly you would have to implement this across the whole state for the whole season,  and you just cant bring it out for the sate finals.  I don't think right to change the rules for the state tournament.  
 
The problem with that is to do this,  ever high school would have to invest in some live camera system and video system that can be replayed.  You're going to have to add an additional volunteer person for each table at every meet that had video skills and probably a tech person.  There would be additional cost for each school to invest in a system that would meet a certain standard.    Also, maybe the refs might need some training.    It just would make an administrative nightmare to implement this on a widespread scale.
 

The coaches vote has merit, but also comes with some negative affects. I know of coaches who said their AD did their voting and they never knew about it. I have had an AD(not currently an AD) that would change the coaches votes. Those are just two experiences I have heard. I think there should also be a way for coaches to only vote for officials they have seen within the past 3 years. 
 
Personally I like Blane's idea on advancing the best officials from sectional based on voting and such. The wrestlers that are wrestling the best advance, why not the officials that are officiating the best advance? Sectionals and such are basically "seeded" for officials so barring something horrific you should still get the better ones to go on.

Tyrone Wilson used to have a sticker with his picture on it that he'd put in the book when he was starting out. It is a great idea for the newer or lesser known refs. It's also a reminder that when it comes time to vote to vote for that guy.
 
For good or bad I know a lot of refs and even ask the senior ones who others are if I don't know. Coaches need to be a little more proactive to get the better refs to advance. 

The coach voting is an interesting system in practice. In theory it is smart. Coaches feedback is important and should be taken into consideration. But I have also noticed that I get votes from schools I didn’t even know existed.
 
Any ranking (1-5) from a school/coach that hasn’t seen you officiate is a bad vote for a true assessment.
 
I’ve also heard about refs getting repeated bad scores from the same coach for years that is holding a grudge. 
 
Just like wrestlers, officials get better with mat time and experience.
 
If you are a coach still giving a good ref a 1 or a 2 because of a questionable call a decade ago, you are part of the problem. Same goes for if you are giving your buddy a 5 because he has been a great official in the past but maybe his officiating career is on the decline. Base rating off of how they officiate in the present, not the past, and don’t vote for someone you haven’t seen.
 
I think I heard the NCAA had official evaluators, where some of the top older officials rank and assign the younger ones for major tournaments. I wonder if the IHSAA could get feedback from some of the heads of the associations or some of the more seasoned state level officials. Maybe they could also rank the eligible officials and that could be added to the score for evaluation.
 
At the end of the day, the IHSAA’s goal is to crown a state champion—the best wrestler in the state. Shouldn’t we also be working to get the best crew of refs to help in that process?
 
I don’t say this implying the guys there this weekend weren’t the best officials for the job. I know a handful of them and I’d agree they are some of the top officials, much better than myself currently--they are the ones I’ll go to to help get better. But this thread has brought up flaws with the process so I figured I’d offer my take on it and how to maybe improve it.

The coach voting is an interesting system in practice. In theory it is smart. Coaches feedback is important and should be taken into consideration. But I have also noticed that I get votes from schools I didn’t even know existed.
 
Any ranking (1-5) from a school/coach that hasn’t seen you officiate is a bad vote for a true assessment.
 
I’ve also heard about refs getting repeated bad scores from the same coach for years that is holding a grudge. 
 
Just like wrestlers, officials get better with mat time and experience.
 
If you are a coach still giving a good ref a 1 or a 2 because of a questionable call a decade ago, you are part of the problem. Same goes for if you are giving your buddy a 5 because he has been a great official in the past but maybe his officiating career is on the decline. Base rating off of how they officiate in the present, not the past, and don’t vote for someone you haven’t seen.
 
I think I heard the NCAA had official evaluators, where some of the top older officials rank and assign the younger ones for major tournaments. I wonder if the IHSAA could get feedback from some of the heads of the associations or some of the more seasoned state level officials. Maybe they could also rank the eligible officials and that could be added to the score for evaluation.
 
At the end of the day, the IHSAA’s goal is to crown a state champion—the best wrestler in the state. Shouldn’t we also be working to get the best crew of refs to help in that process?
 
I don’t say this implying the guys there this weekend weren’t the best officials for the job. I know a handful of them and I’d agree they are some of the top officials, much better than myself currently--they are the ones I’ll go to to help get better. But this thread has brought up flaws with the process so I figured I’d offer my take on it and how to maybe improve it.

Warren Central has 7 middle school state placers coming in next year.