Coach Peck

I wanted to take a moment and thank the Pendleton Heights Wrestling Team and it's Coaches for the kindness, and great honor, they showed me this past Saturday at our Wrestling Invitational. As many of you know, my wife Bonnie passed away in late August after a battle with cancer. Anyone who knew Bonnie realized what a wonderful person she was. She had a contagious smile, loved to make new friends , and went out of her way to help people when at all possible. There were a number of years when she went to Pendleton to help the Arabian Wrestling Club with pairing their springtime tournament. She got to where she looked forward to going because she had made friends with a number of the people and she enjoyed seeing them. Anyway, at our meet Saturday the members of the Pendleton Heights team as well as Coach Cloud and the other members of his staff approached me and presented me with one of their Team T-Shirts. On the sleeve of the shirt was a rembrance to Bonnie. Needless to say this big guy was moved. They all shook my hand and had something to say. They all seemed happy to be doing it. I deeply appreciated it, and I will never forget it. Thinking about the kindness shown is moving me to tears as I type this. I just want to say, "Thanks Arabian Wrestlers and Coaches for being so kind and for having such class. I know Bonnie would appreciate it as well."

What brand of scale do you have?

I need your help. My wife Bonnie had cancer in her eye 6 years ago (occular melonoma). The Lord brought her through that in a miraculous way. A few weeks ago she had a blood test that showed some elevated levels and they did a CAT Scan and found lesions in her liver. They biopsied and found that it is melanoma. This is very rare (only about 1-2% of all cancers) and there are no treatments that really seem to do much, if anything. Basically, we need a miracle. I am glad I know a God who deals in miracles. I am asking all of my friends to pray for Bonnie. I know there are those of you out there who believe in a God of miracles, and I am hoping you will pray. I need prayer too....I have never felt like this...not even close…not even on my worst day prior to these days. Rex Peckinpaugh

Levi leaves behind a two year old son and a four week old daughter, along with his wife Vanessa. Finances will be very tight for the family until Vanessa is able to go back to work, and even afterwards. They have started a "gofundme" page to help with some of the financial issues that will come up, especially in the short term. I am placing the link below for anyone who might be led to donate. http://www.gofundme.com/vxqc3us

Things like this make me glad that I am no longer on the Board.

It is hard to believe that they would not have a petition process for a wrestler in this situation, but I guess they fear they would have people use that to skirt their rules. I just feel that Cadets and Juniors should just be able to go to State. In this day, and age, where there are alot of complaints about specialization a rule like this seems to penalize kids who want to be involved in other things like track and baseball yet still participate in wrestling. It also places a burden on people because tournaments are not spaced out so people can get to a tournament easier. With Easter, and many schools having two weeks of Spring Break, it also puts people in a bind because of family plans and such. This is just my opinion, and it was my opinion when I used to be on the ISWA Board.

If I heard right (and if their info is correct) Cash was the 4th and Rypel the 5th to pin all for opponents. I know James Dickerson pinned all of his opponents in 1995 on his way to the State Championship (if I remember correctly it was three in the 1st period and one in the 2nd period...his time on the mat to win it all was probably the shortest ever). I thought D.J. Radnovich pinned all four of his opponents as well. I am not sure who the 3rd person would have been.

Wouldn't "the field" always be .500 since there is a winner and a loser for every match?

No offense taken to any of this. I like to hear feedback and I really feel everyone that has commented so far has done it in a positive manner, and with the best of intentions. We can always do better. One of the reasons the tournament has improved over the years is because we have noticed things that need to be improved, and because people have made suggestions for improvement.

Trackwrestling is a rgeat vehicle, but for seeding it is crazy sometimes. At least 2-3 times each year someone comes up complaining that a High School kis is wrestling in the event and they show me his profile. It is always a High School kid, but he is from some other state and not in our tournament. It can become confusing to those who have not been exposed to it very much. For the most part I still think if you are good enough you will get to where you ought to be by wrestling it out.

I love that moniker..... "Hobby Coach"

Starting scoring at a certain round might be something to consider.

I thought that this year's Middle School State Tournament was the best one we have ever had in terms of the mechanism. That does not mean there were not problems. I am not sure that I have ever been to a tournament where there was not some issue. I was thrilled that I did not have to have anyone escorted out, or threaten anyone with a ride to our jail if they did not leave or settle down. That was a first. We had only minor damage to our facility due mostly to parents who think it is just fine to let their kids run wild, or let them go ballistic when they lose. A few thoughts: - there was a problem with the registration time. There was a typo that was discovered right at the last minute and it made no sense to make a big deal out of it at that point because it was a typo that hurt no one. If someone thought the dealine was Wednesday (eventhough Wednesday was not the 12th) and they registered they were in the tournament and if someone waited until Thursdaay because they thought registration ended on Thursday then they were in the tournament. As for the registration being strung out until Saturday that was a problem in communication with the person who set the tournament up. Again it made no difference and it kept no one out of the tournament that wanted in. I think there were very few peole that registered between Thursday evening and Saturday evening anyway. - The criteria for determining the "Team Champion" is clearly stated on our Flier (which is on our website) and it says, "SCORING: Team scoring will be based on points awarded to the highest place finisher, from a Middle School team, in each weight class. All-Star teams (or combined teams) will not be permitted in the team portion of the competition. If there is a challenge it is the team’s responsibility to prove eligibility. It says nothing about the top six placers, and I know that statement has appeared in our Flier for several years. I do not think you read the whole flier when you registered your wrestler. I think the way we determine a "Team Champion" is just fine. There is no really fair way to do it. The IHSAA has the advantage of limiting each team to one entrant per weight class....we do not. The only consideration I could see would be eliminating the Team competition altogether. - I think there were two wrestlers who were allowed to go into the weigh-in room a 2nd time. In both cases, for whatever reason, on their first attempt they were not allowed to weigh-in on any of the other scales which is what we have allowed in the past, which is common practice at tournaments, and which every other wrestler who was overweight on the scale he/she was on, was allowed to do. It was the right thing to do, and whether you felt it was fair, or not, does not matter because I am the guy who has to make that decision and I felt it was the fair and right thing to do. The only way that would not have happened is if it would have been one of my own wrestlers and then I would have told them too bad because you know you should ask for a challenge. I would say that we do have clearly defined rules for weigh-in, and if people should be aware of them. Maybe coaches need to educate their wrestlers and parents on how a weigh-in works. We make it very clear that they weigh-in wearing a singlet and shoes (in writing on our website) yet I bet between emails and questions Sunday morning over 100 people ask, "me what do they weign-in in?" We make it clear that each wrestler gets a 2 pound allowance for singlet and shoes and if they are over they are out of the tournament (and absolutely no one who is at or under their actual weight class would be over once they put on their singlet and shoes) yet when their wrestler is over they are upset about them being out. Maybe choosing the right weight class would be the thing to do. I could have poketed $175 Sunday if I would have taken the three offers that were made to me to let wrestlers move up in weight...it is crazy!!! I will say this....I will tighten the rules for weigh-ins next year and make it clear (with signage and in our information) that a wrestler may ask to weigh-in on another scale, but once a wrestler leaves the weigh-in room that is it for them. That is about enough.

There are always reports that someone did not make wieght and was passed on by an Offiical. I doubt that they are true. As per anyone not making weight by 1 or 2 tenths of a pound...I would say that shows poor plannig on the part on the parent or the coach. The purpose of the 2 lb allowance is not so wrestlers can now cut weight and barely make the weight plus 2lbs. It is to allow for the weight of a singlet and shoes which do not come close to weighing two pounds. If we take 102 as an example there is no wrestler that would weigh 102 that could not put on his shoes and singlet and step on the scale and not be under 104. We do not want Middle Schoolers to cut weight so we give them this leeway, but it is like almost anything else you give someone an inch and they try to take a mile. If someone wants to play the edge with the weight issue andthey get burned it is their own fault.

Congratulations to the Perry Merdian MS Falcons on winning the IHSWCA Middle School State Team Championship. Perry Meridian - 199 Avon - 188 Team scores are based on the top scorer for each team in each wieght class as indicated on our Flier. Academy Teams and Clubs Terams are not eligible for the Championship.

The deadline for registration for the IHSWCA Middle School State is tomorrow evening (Thursday 2/12).

The deadline for registering for Middle School State is tomorrow evening (2/12)

Billy is 29-3. An error was made in reporting the record that was discovered last night, and it was repoorted to the IHSAA earlier this morning. I was updating the records using the scorecards our Managers keep and they had marked him for a win in the 3-4 match instead of a loss.

That is some great work Joe. I think it could be valuable information in the future. I know you have tried to keep track of this information....how do these numbers compare to past years? Do you have anything from 4-5 years ago?

The problem is that where a Sectional requires a 16 man bracket to have full wrestlebacks it would possibly mean some wrestlers might have to wrestle more times than National Federation Rules allow.

You might be 10-25 if your schedule was lined with thumpers like Bentz and Caprino.

They need to change the way penalties are assessed for stalling and it would make it easier for the Official to call it the same in the first 30 seconds as they do in the last :30 seconds of a match.

Unless the 28-2 kid is a returning 1/4 Finalist from the previous year's Semi-State. If he were 11-10 and a returning 1/4 finalist from the previous yer's Semi-State (at any weight) he would be seeded ahead of the 30-0 wrestler unless there was a Head to head or a common opponent......that's the way the IHSAA set it up ( Ithink with some input from the IHSWCA)...I thought it was a poor criteria...but......

Really...rankings should never come into play.

Something like that could happen, but I think it highly unlikely. If it did, most of the time one coach will say (normally the guy who thinks his guy can win anyway, or will be motivated a bit by being #2). If neither relented then it would be a coin toss as per the criteria.