aoberlin

Unfortunately it sounds like we want our cake and to eat it also. Too many mats for good seating for almost all facilities that we can afford.
 
We have some of the largest gyms in the nation because we are the basketball state.
 
What about a place that has 2 or 3 gyms. Start the day with every class in their own gym or 2 classes in one gym and 1 in another. Once the mats trickle down to 6 mats bring it all into the main gym.
 
The key would be have something like track wrestling projected on the wall in every gym so we can follow everything that going on in all gyms.
 
Would this be possible at New Castle? I love the gyms like Connersville and New Castle that have the gyms that drop down and walk in from the top.
 
There were definite issues yesterday. But it a growing process and it was definitely a great day of wrestling.
 
Thanks to anyone that has been putting work into this. I see this getting better and better every year.

All very good concerns and suggestions. This event offers some unique hurdles that large "individual" type tournaments don't. Some of the items below are
certainly pointing out the obvious while other constraints have to be negotiated by the event organizers. As one person pointed out, the event is dealing with "growing
pains" which, from the event organizers' perspective, is a good thing (as opposed to hosting an event that no one cares about), but we do know this causes inconveniences
for teams and fans along the way. Do know that we make every attempt each year to address issues/concerns; plan for growth; and meet the teams' needs.
 
* This event is unique because a balance has to be struck between fan seating and floor space for mats. Most arenas are good for fan seating but can't hold the
required number of mats. As already noted in an earlier post, we know we could put down 12 mats in some form and fashion in a large high school (but seating is limited)
We have tossed around in previous years going to a "multiple gym/site" format (which spreads the teams and fans out). Most feedback we get though is that fans, in
general, want to be able to watch all 3 classes in one venue versus having to walk to another gym or drive a mile to another building. The Indy Convention
Center was way out of our price range when we checked into it last year. We will certainly check again, but it is doubtful we could afford it.
 
* I think most people recognize that we try to schedule around current holiday tournaments to the best of our ability, but it is challenging to say the least. We are
tip toeing around 1)current holiday tournaments 2)Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's and 3) facility availability. The Ft. Wayne Coliseum hosts many,
many events of all kinds year round. It is next to impossible to simply say "we want THIS date" because it is likely that the facility has already been booked.
We were lucky this year that it was available on the date we were looking at. Next year will be quite tricky. Christmas Eve is on Saturday, Dec. 24 and
New Year's Eve will be on the next Saturday (Dec. 31).
 
* I, like others, am disappointed in how Ball State and the Coliseum handles their restroom and concessions. On multiple occasions, I specifically pointed out these
areas to both institutions. They grin, nod and say "we will have all of that covered." Then when our event and crowd hits, they seem to be overwhelmed and
ill-prepared. The IHSWCA makes no revenue off of their concessions, but we feel that these facilities should be prepared to service our crowd (but they
don't seem to be).
 
* We modeled this year's mat arrangement off of the Mat Mayhem from last year. If we would go back to Ft. Wayne next year, we would certainly attempt to make adjustments.
We, and the Coliseum, think we could pull it off. To my understanding, they didn't "pull out the bleachers more" this year because the Coliseum has many codes and public
safety features/distances that they must adhere to. But again, we think positive changes would be possible in that area.
 
We will certainly evaluate this year's event, take feedback and begin the planning process for next year's event. We think people do want to see this event happen. The
IHSWCA will do its best to research appropriate facilities, make adjustments and plan for a 5th annual event next season.
 
Coach McCormick

Bunch of whiners. For any coaches or parents on here complaining I hope the attitude doesn't trickle down to the kids. I thought wrestling was about overcoming adversity. Suck it up and shut it.

Bunch of whiners. For any coaches or parents on here complaining I hope the attitude doesn't trickle down to the kids. I thought wrestling was about overcoming adversity. Suck it up and shut it.

With so many loaded tournaments during the week and then ending the week with the State Duals, I have to say that this is a great week to be a wrestling fan... Outside of individual state tournament excitement this has to be the best week of wrestling in the State...
 
Ending 2015 with Al Smith, Mooresville, Mater Die, North Montgomery and Connersville tournaments and then starting 2016 with Team State....
 
Great scheduling!!!!!

Either way pretty good stuff coming from a small rural school.

Nothing against Leo they are a great squad and their coach isn't too shabby either. But Joe and John Forfiet are losses no matter what. Leo is a 2A school and PH is an 1A and they are fielding a full squad. Plus the 138 from PH is no joke.

It will be fun to watch them, but I'm not sure they're built for scoring high points at an event like that.  They're so tough in duals because their 6th to 14th best guys are better than everyone else's, but they've only got 5 guys semi-state ranked and only 2 state-ranked (impressive totals, but not by 3A top 10 standards).  Getting a couple top 5s and maybe 4 to 6 placers overall won't rack up big points, unfortunately.  Who knows, though...they've been rolling so far.

Either way pretty good stuff coming from a small rural school.

Either way pretty good stuff coming from a small rural school.

Did you just answer your own question?

Drake Rhodes Homestead Ranked 13th at 132 wrestled up to 138 and defeated Jaylen Wallace New Palenstine Ranked 12th at 138.  Score was 7-2. 

Raypole knows where I live and has threatened harm to me if he isn't ranked higher.
 
Rhoades' coach paid me off...that check better come today or ELSE!
 
 
Gunsett was just an innocent victim in this whole thing.

Yeah I can't get the documentary out of my mind.  I agree with you.  It was pretty obvious at the end that Kolat is scarred pretty hard.  In the end just like any sport Wrestling should supplement your life, not be everything.

It takes a special guy to be a head coach the amount of paperwork and work off the mats alone is daunting if you're not a teacher it's damn near impossible. That being said confidence in your system to build or maintain a program is key come in and keep kids wrestling in the offseason put the time in to keep kids out when other programs are losing them. Do that it doesn't matter who you follow whether it's a legend or a dud you can make success happen...Look at Snyder as an example

Took this picture yesterday of the Coliseum from the parking lot of the Holiday Inn across the street.  Just happened to be there and thought it was relevant.  If your team was good enough to qualify make a night of it and stay and not worry getting back at 3AM.  Before you say cost.  Do a chicken fundraiser.  I will buy one.  I love chicken.

The FW coliseum is a great venu for this. I would guess it will remind a many of the old timers of Market Square. Also there are plenty of places to stay, restaurants, lack of traffic, and a great mall down the street for the women folk. Understandably the 5 hour drive will not be fun, but give it a shot and see what you think.
 
Thanks for the opportunity!

The IHSWCA is moving forward with securing the Ft. Wayne Coliseum for the 2015-16 IHSWCA Classed Team State Duals tournament to be held on January 2, 2016.  The final contract still needs to be signed by both sides, but we are confident that the event will move to Ft. Wayne next season.  The floor space, bleacher arrangement and other event dynamics will work nicely at this top-notch facility. 
 
We will be in need of 12 -- full size mats for this event.  Although we don't care what color the mats are, we would prefer mats that are in very, very good condition for this event (for obvious reasons).  The IHSWCA will pay $200 per mat.  The school/team would be responsible for bringing their mat(s) to the Coliseum Friday evening (Jan. 1) and rolling it out and picking the mat up Saturday evening (Jan. 2) at the conclusion of wrestling.  As we did this past season, the final teams to wrestle on a mat at the event were gracious in helping roll up their mat at the end which was extremely helpful for those who had to move and load the mats.  If you have nice, large (42x42 or 40x40) mats, and would be interested in assisting this event (and making a little money for your wrestling program), please contact Trent McCormick (tmccormick@yorktown.k12.in.us)
 
Thank you,
IHSWCA Team State Duals Planning Committee

None of the arguments against wrestlebacks from the IHSAA make any sense to me.
 
Football and basketball don't have them.
 
Neither do golf or track or gymnastics or swimming or cross-country--but all of those individual sports are allowed to advance their BEST individuals every weekend through the state series while we are not.
 
"as an AD I would hate it if I heard my kid won two matches at semi-state, and still didn't go to state"
 
Huh?  You had kids win 2 matches and get 5th place at podunk 8-team tournaments all year.  What's magic about 2 matches?
 
"you guys want to have the wrestle backs to get your kid through, what about all the kids you got through because there wasn't wrestle backs"
 
This isn't even an argument.  We want the fairest system, of course someone will always be the loser...we want those "losers" to be the right people though.
 
"with wrestle backs a kid can actually beat a state qualifier at semi-state and he still not go to state"
 
There were more kids sitting at home or in the stands at state that had wins over state qualifiers during the year than there were actual state qualifiers.  What does that have to do with anything?  Winning one match has never meant you're the best in a wrestling tournament.  You have to prove your place with a string of good wins.
 
" I like that the underdog has a chance at a big match to get through, but those kids won't normally have 2 big matches in them"
 
Which just confirms our point...this is an individual event and you freely admit that undeserving kids won't go as much if we have wrestle-backs.
 
"we are here to find the state champion, 86% of the state champs win their semi-state, getting the kid through on a wrestle back will rarely be the state champ"
 
Refer to my point about track/golf/etc....the state champs in all of those sports also won semi-state, but that doesn't prevent us from wanting the truly next-best kids to be the ones at state rather than some of them being pseudo randomly selected.  We don't put golfers into random groupings at semi-state on the same day on the same course and take an 82 to state over a 78 just because he happened to be in the right grouping.  Why in the world would we do that same thing in wrestling?
 
and lastly (which is one that I found interesting) - 42% of your coaches voted against it - I had not idea that so many people were against it, but that is what our poll of 230+ coaches showed.
 
This is way off.  Tskin just posted data above that 68% of coaches want them at regional and 79% want them at semi-state (which is the one that people always truly gripe about).  Where did they get that number?

The next meeting is May 4th

It's good to see JT has good perspective--a very elusive concept in life. Sometimes success in reaching intermediate goals can stifle our progression toward the bigger picture goals. We can start to stress about not being as successful as that first go-round. I thought all season that a significant setback could be exactly what he needs to start climbing the mountain away from the potential "plateau" he arguably was starting to walk. If he's serious about Senior-level or world-level success, 2-1 riding-time victories aren't doing much to prepare him for those bigger goals. He has to be willing to fail a bit to work toward a higher attack volume and/or variety of attacks if he's going to take those next steps. Kudos to him for recognizing the need to adapt. Here's hoping he and his support team can keep this perspective for the long haul.

What about booing coaches that wear blue jeans?

Agreed!  I believe it is fine to boo a bad call.  But the call needs to be seperated from the kid.  The wrestler did not make the call.  The blood time booing was ridiculous.  Especially since almost everytime it was the ref stopping it.

Agreed!  I believe it is fine to boo a bad call.  But the call needs to be seperated from the kid.  The wrestler did not make the call.  The blood time booing was ridiculous.  Especially since almost everytime it was the ref stopping it.

Well..Bo will hate me for posting this, but I don't care.  I, my assistant coaches, the Garrett Community, his friends, and family are all extremely proud of him.  Bo has been an honor for the coaches at Garrett to coach.  He was a two time all state football player, valedictorian, and made two trips to state, including a 3rd place finish this year.
 
Bo was a very green wrestler as a freshman.  He had a losing record at 170 pounds.  This did not discourage Bo. Bo never missed offseason club, and certainly never missed any time in the weight room.  This season Bo did not win a sectional, regional, or semi state championship.  Most impressively, Bo wrestled a great match and beat the Al Smith Champion today in double overtime in the quarters.  What's most impressive about this is that Bo did not place at the Al Smith.  Bo overcame adversity and set his mind to winning a state championship.  Unfortunately, Bo did not win the state championship, but he certainly has set the bar high at Garrett and has been an outstanding role model for the Garrett School District.  
 
Bo will continue his wrestling career at Indiana Tech next fall.  We at Garrett could not be more proud of Bo Davis.
 
 
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