hook and half

Fact check: 1. i meant what i said: Hendricks county has great wrestling. Sticking a hashtag in front of a phrase does not change the conventions of the English language. 2. There are not "millions" of Indiana high school wrestling fans. 3. Penn State fans do not shout "We are one community". Their chant is "We are Penn State". I defy you to show one instance where a Penn State Kid has given the Iowa, Minnesota or Ohio State coaches or athletes "credit" for their success. Pretty much all of the Big Ten contenders hate Penn State; the feeling is mutual. Take a look at Penn State's wrestling forum to test this assertion. Furthermore, i have never heard a "We are one community" chant at any Indiana high school wrestling meet. 4. Hendricks county kids train 365/24/7? They do not sleep? How do they maintain their academics if they do not go to school? I thought human beings died after five days of sleep deprivation. 5. Pretty much everyone "gets" that Contenders is an outstanding club. Outside of #thecounty drum-beaters, everyone "gets" that Maurer-Coughlin wrestling club and Region Wrestling Academy makes their kids better. 6. It is interesting to watch KT Nelson. He has clearly moved to the next level...at Brownsburg. Dorian Keys is a first-year wrestler? Is that true? if so, i'm sure that is a result of #thecounty, as opposed to wrestling for Brownsburg. This year, i saw Brownsburg shock everyone and win the team duals and a month later, put seven in the finals at semi state. If i lived in Hendricks county--based on results--i would want my kids at the Contenders club and a student at Brownsburg. On the other hand, I could be wrong. I fully expect Asa to win his third title next weekend. It's not hard to imagine Avon getting three champs. If forced to bet, i would put my money on the Orioles to win their first title. Let's give this "We are one community" some legs: 1. All Avon kids should scrap any apparel branded with "Avon". That would extinguish this "1 schools ego" thing that you mention. I suggest that the singlets are emblazoned across the chest with #thecounty and the back will state #weareonecommunity. 2. During their post-match interviews, the Avon champs should not mention their "Avon" coaches or team mates, but should give credit to Derrick Snyder, Contenders and the kids from the land of the hashtag. 3. Should Avon get grand prize, the trophy should reside at the Contenders club. 4. Finally, and crucially, the IHSAA will NOT recognize Avon as the State Champion. The championship clearly belongs to the "One Community" and should be so noted in the record books. Avon's administration should refuse the trophy unless it is presented to #thecounty.

Missed that one! 113 was exciting.

Swin right you are! Brownsburg was supreme at team state and at evansville semi state...again. Bburg puts seven in the finals? Insane. 1. #thecounty = #brownsburgwannebes. Everyone gets the fact that Hendricks county has great wrestling. What Hendricks county does not get is that Brownsburg stands alone. 2. A GREAT day of wrestling was diminished by a smallish crowd. What’s up with that? A historically loaded field generated no more ticket sales than this? 3. While 152, 170 and 220 were thrilling, the balance of the finals was a snooze fest. The notable exceptions were Avon’s Carson Brewer and Mater Dei’s Matt Lee. Both had a great sense of urgency and made it look like offense matters. Well done, gentlemen. 4. The refs were terribly inconsistent. Returning the bottom man to the mat is clear cut—evansville rules say you can take 20-30 seconds to accomplish that. I’m a fan of Macartney Parkinson and Nick South. However, riding parallel on the hips for two minutes without so much as a warning is ridiculous. What’s going to happen at state? Will Bburg’s depth carry them to a state title? It’s not hard to imagine Avon or Mater Dei producing two or three state champs...it will be hard for the dogs to top that. Cathedral will likely have challengers to MD’s horses...the Irish could prove to be the spoiler, or the winner. stay tuned.

It hasn’t been easy MD. Very the years, the cars have had a number of credible threats from top five teams a few short years ago, md lost (by a good margin) a dual to reitz, got beat by the panthers at conference, but managed to win the sectional

Did Boonville have a great day? Castle had a so-so day? both?

Team Garcia + TheCounty does not a secret make

I agree abolish weight classes Let the cream rise to the top. insert cliche here

And looks like a 170 pounder

MD is 1A and has won 12

Way cool

Loved it when Lee climbed up on the rail at Rec Hall and flexed to the audience. How about when Lee’s dad ran in front of the TV camera and posed? Exciting!

Awesome performance

Why?

Unseeded North Posey gets two falls in the final two matches to topple Attica, 30-28. Cody Moll's Vikings advance to the championship bracket! Fear the 'fro...

Unseeded North Posey wins the last six matches, posting 30 points, to beat Eastern! Wow!

Avon is in an odd place. I think they are in a great position to beat a very tough Cathedral team. On the other hand, I don’t see a scenario where Avon can beat WC, MD or PM. IC is loaded. There will be a lot of Avon fans when they square off!

It is good to see Father Ryan in competition again with Mater Dei. 20 years ago, this month, Mater Dei and Father Ryan has a serious falling out! In 1998, Mater Dei lost its first dual or tournament, for the first time in nearly four years, finishing second at the 32-team Father Ryan Holiday Classic. Mater Dei’s previous loss was to Central in the 1994 Southern Indiana Athletic Conference Tournament. "I don't want it to sound like I'm making any alibis; Father Ryan wrestled well," said Mike Goebel, "But the luck of the draw didn't help us at all. We had ten first-round byes, while Father Ryan got a bunch of pins in the first round. That right there might've made the difference because when we wrestled them, we did real well." Goebel had a point. In ten head-to-head match-ups with Father Ryan, Mater Dei won eight. The Wildcats had six champions while Father Ryan counted two. Injuries were costly. Brandon Boots defaulted the championship match at 145 pounds and Tom Jankowski defaulted in the semifinal match of the consolation bracket at 189, settling for sixth. Mater Dei's champions included Curtis VanNess with a pin in the final, Greg Schaefer, Dan Jankowski, with a 10-8 overtime win, B.J. Hauke with an 11-1 major decision, Mike Bishop and Mike Schroeder. Greg Schaefer was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler. "It was a weird tourney," said Goebel. "Things just didn't go our way in the team race, but it's not like we didn't wrestle well. I was pleased; the effort was there. We just didn't win this one." Evansville Courier sports writer, Steve Ford, was less diplomatic than Goebel, calling the loss “An abomination”. Ford claimed that Father Ryan “Appeared to have stacked the deck” in its favor in order to win its own tournament. The flap did not end there. Father Ryan’s athletic director, Stephen Williams, fired off a letter to Ford, criticizing him for his choice of words. Williams demanded an apology from Ford for accusing his school of “Cheating.” Ford answered the charges stating that he never used the word “Cheat”. For his part, in the spirit of ending the controversy, Ford apologized for using the words “Appeared to stack the deck”.

Sorry to disappoint! Work calls. i will be back for the SIAC

A shout out to Craig Akers--he made the 2:09 trip to Evansville to bring you the match. He's a big wrestling fan and a completely likable fella. A few things you did not catch by watching it online: 1. Mike Goebel and Randy Helfrich had on noise-cancelling headsets. Watching it online really took the crowd out of it. The gym was very loud. There was a number of times that the noise shook the house. 2. Perry Meridian brought a nice crowd that was VERY vocal. 3. Perry's coaching staff appears to be a class act. Mater Dei fans noticed and appreciated it. 4. I have never, nor do i ever again expect to, experience another JV match like the one last night. It was incredible! Have you ever seen the student section chant a JV kids' name? Several times, the entire building was on its feet. This match had it all--lead changes, come from behind wins and overtimes. You could live through an entire wrestling season and not see a dual rise to the level of excitement that was produced by the PM/MD JV dual. 5. The sense of humor possessed by referee Travis Cross. He is a respected official in Evansville--but got zero love from MD fans. PM fans also landed some punches! Travis is a great guy and is good for the sport of wrestling. He reffed FOUR hours of JV and varsity last night. I don't know what they paid him, but MD got its money's worth! The towel man is his brother Denver, who is also a good guy. Give them both some love the next time you see them. 6. Lots of emotion from the kids. Winning was ecstasy, losing was agony. 7. I saw wrestlers, fans and coaches from virtually all of the area schools. This was one of four huge duals, in Mater Dei's gym...since 1993! The grapplers, from both teams, got to experience what few wrestlers do: compete in a high-stakes tightly contested dual in front of 2000 hysterical fans.

Good call! On January 7, 1993, MD beat third-ranked Lawrence North 32-19 then defeated fifth-ranked Bellmont 30-25--in consecutive rounds. The loss broke Bellmont's streak of 59 consecutive dual meet wins. Three days prior, the 'Cats beat sixth-ranked Evansville Central in front of a packed house at 1300 Harmony Way. The only other top-five meet was in 2013 when top-ranked Union County (Kentucky) faced off with the #2 Wildcats.

I'm calling BS on this. Mike Goebel is not one to provide bulletin board material.

“Fonzie is the nicest guy what ever beat me up” -Squiggy, from the Laverne and Shirley show

See s see how this works? Blue monsters’s falcons come to evansville and beat “#1” MD and THEY are the top team. tricky!

Holy smoke, it looks like UC lost 11-15 matches for the entire tournament? reitz was second?

Here's a little warm-up to whet your whistle; 2014 Team State battle between PM and MD: