Dwilly

So many truths on the post from Columbus East and Edgewood.  Totally agree with the challenges as outlined.  The post is a great representation of reality of limitations in training opportunities, differences in culture, differences when every athlete in your school is a multi-sport athlete (because there simply aren't that many athletes).  I want to add to that in that there's also a big difference in the regular season opportunities between small schools and large schools.  I posted this perspective on a different thread so adding it here. 
 
From my perspective, wrestling is already classed.  Or I should say, it is classed all year and then at the end of the year we switch to a tournament that is not classed. 
 
We are surrounded by large schools but wrestle none of them during the regular season.  If I were to ask the schools in our sectional (Warren Central, Franklin Central, Greenfield Central) for a dual meet, they would laugh me out of the room.  I don't blame them, we can't fill a roster, we have beginner wrestlers on varsity...normal stuff for a small school.  Conferences are generally set up based on school size as most other sports are classed. So all year, we wrestle a small school schedule. 
 
A small school schedule means less matches (due to higher percent of forfeits). It often means less competitive matches. Many large schools send their JV teams to the same tournaments we compete in.  (Sadly for me, we have only recently started to be able to compete with big school JV teams.)
 
I've had large school coaches in sectional seeding meetings argue that their guy is better because of "strength of schedule."  I think that argument is sound.  It makes the point I'm trying to make here.  Large schools wrestle a more competitive schedule all year.  It helps their guys improve at a different rate.  
 
But somehow our kids are supposed to be ready for large schools in our sectional after wrestling a small school schedule all year.  
 

I can confirm the bulk of my kids who quit are quitting because of the sectional.  I've had multiple first year wrestlers have to wrestle a state ranked guy in the first round.  The new guys also see many of the best guys on the team struggle.  
 
One year I had a newer kid tell me he wasn't going to sectional.  I asked him why not.  He said he'd just get pinned and didn't want to be there all day.  (This was a kid just a little below 500 that season.)  He had a rugby game that day he wanted to play in.  I talked to him about all the work he's put in and how he's improving.  Talked to him about how it is a process.  Said he needed to be there for the team, etc.  He agreed to wrestle.  Got pinned in the first period by a kid from a large school. He sat in the gym the rest of the day and watched the rest of the team get dismantled.  Two years of work into him and he never wrestled again.  Shame on him for not being tougher, but when you're the coach of the team and that kid is about 18% of your program...uggh.
 
Let me know if you want more stories.  I have more.  If anyone thinks the issue isn't real, I would gladly trade sectionals.  Any takers?  

Unfortunately you will never get people on the same page on this debate.  The biggest reason is not enough people have experienced the realities of small towns and small schools. Without giving my opinion on if Id like to see a classed state I will give you some of my personal truths of coaching at a large school vs a small school (which I have done both)
Lets start with obvious ones we call can agree with:
1.  Less partners in the room make it harder to get better
2. Less quality partners in the room make it hard to get really good
3. More kids in the school directly equates to more athletes, which equates to more athletes from the pool to draw from. 
4.  Many School facilities are better in larger schools
5.  Many of the top notch coaches and families arent moving to a school of 300 kids. 
6.  High Quality Off Season wrestling clubs are more than an hour away. 
7.  If you travel to another school to workout with them, there is a chance your kid will transfer to the better school. 
8.  With so few kids in a small school, making Varsity 4 years in 3 sports is a real opportunity.  How many 3a and 4a school have those types of kids an opportunities? 
9.  Community support is usually bonded to just a few sports in small schools...most of the time wrestling aint one of them. 
10.  Families dont stick around small towns on a regular enough basis to start a tradition in large quantities. 
11. High quality assistance, middle school and elementary coaching is impossible to find because of limited number of people. Which weakens a program from bottom up. 
12.  It seems at smaller schools, coaches are less likely to accommodate other sports and are constantly competing for time causing athletes to make choices between sports. 
 
These are facts, are their outliers, sure.  Are there teams breaking the mold, sure. Are there athletes rising above the norm, sure. But as a whole, this is the reality for most small schools. Do large schools have their own hurdles and struggles absolutely, but I see these debates so many times and very few have lived both sides. I would like to hear from a coach who went from a successful large school to an less successful small school and made the small school program better than their previous school. Any examples like that out there? If not, why? If so, lets hear what they did different to make a small school better.  
 

The intent of this post is to start a dialog about growing wrestling in Indiana.  I believe there's an opportunity to significantly increase participation in small schools.  There are currently 213 1A/2A schools with wrestling programs and many of these programs currently struggle with participation and retention of their student athletes.  That has absolutely been my experience as head coach of a 1A school. And I know I'm not alone because I've spoken with 45 coaches who have all shared they face the same challenges. 
 
A little about me.  I grew up in Illinois.  They had two classes when I wrestled.  I went to Naperville North, a large school in Chicago burbs so I wrestled in the 2A class.  Naperville North had a deep wrestling tradition.  My senior year, we had two state champs and we were the runner up in dual team state.  
 
I currently am the head coach at Lutheran High School.  We're a 1A school in Indianapolis.  220 total kids at the school.  I restarted their wrestling program 6 years ago.  It was previously cancelled due to lack of participation.  I started the program because I love wrestling and I wanted my sons to be able to wrestle.  In the first two years, the program nearly failed due to lack of participation and poor wrestler retention of the few kids I successfully recruited.  But we hung on and we went 17-6 this year in dual team competition and had our first state champ, Hayden Filipovich. 
 
To get there, I coach our youth team, I coach our middle school team, and I coach our high school team.  From my experience at Naperville North, I am absolutely aware of what a quality program looks like.  But there are some things I can't duplicate at a small school.
 
Despite the successes we've had, participation and retention are still a problem.  The biggest problem is our sectional, which kills our ability to retain new wrestlers.  We face 5 large schools, Warren Central, Franklin Central, Greenfield Central, New Palestine and Shelbyville...as well as several other quality small schools.  When my new guys see that sectional, they quit.  In six years, all by one of my new wrestlers has quit.  Then my tougher, more committed guys have less training partners the following season...a vicious cycle. We had a 17-6 dual team record this year and only two of my wrestlers made it through sectional. This sectional also makes it virtually impossible for us to ever get invited to dual team state. 
 
Coming from Illinois, classing seems natural to me.  But I understand the culture in Indiana values the single champ tournament.  If you're an elite wrestler, it is about as cool as it gets.  (Is it possible that most of us coaches were elite wrestlers in our day?)  However, the practice of putting small schools up against large schools, especially right away in sectionals, has significant negative impact on wrestling participation at small schools.
 
Coaches asking for classing are simply looking for a solution to this problem.  But there is a way to keep the single tournament AND grow wrestling at Indiana's small schools.  
 
Attached is a proposal that 45 small school coaches have worked together to develop.  The goal is to address some of the challenges small school programs and ultimately grow wrestling at small schools.  I look forward to your feedback. 
 
Greg Hughes
Indianapolis Lutheran
    
 
      
ImprovingWrestlingforSmallSchools.pdf

I'm working on getting that up on the website, will post the link here once that is up

Oi vey.....Not picking him to win is not the same as calling him an underdog.

It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the passing of my great friend and assistant coach Ed Hamant.  Ed coached at Greenfield for 40 years.  His impact on our program and community is immeasurable.  He coached his ass off.  He kept all of our stats.  He maintained our record boards, wall of champions, and our hall-of-fame.  He wrestled every day (even though he is the oldest person on the planet I think). And he loved GC wrestling.

Might be a little biased but Aidan Hardcastle is probably the best ever to wear the plain blue Oak Hill singlet. Think our enrollment is around 600.

Jeivan Ross of Warren Central
• 4× Sectional Champion
• 4× Semi-State Qualifier (4× Quarterfinalist)
Jade McCammon of Sullivan
• 4× Semi-State Qualifier (4× Quarterfinalist)
• USAW Cadet and Junior Freestyle and Greco-Roman All-American
• Cadet Silver World Medalist

I think this quarter will provide the most on-the-mat confusion:

Coach King is a great human being, and I learned as much about life as I did wrestling competing for him,  He was always the guy who taught you to take the hard right instead of the easy wrong. Always there to pump you up for a tough match, as well as pick you up after a bad loss. His positive influence outside the wrestling room with his student athletes cannot be overstated. His contributions to the sport over the past 37 years I hope put him in contention for Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is deserving.  I could not be more happy for Andrew & the team. Good luck.
 
Sincerely
Dustin Wilson

Awesome article. Coach King has been a great mentor for me with the start of my coaching career. Glad our guys were able to get him one.

Yes I agree, love seeing the Ft.Wayne Semi State succeed no matter the school.Its the best time of the year! Thank you!

Coach King is a great human being, and I learned as much about life as I did wrestling competing for him,  He was always the guy who taught you to take the hard right instead of the easy wrong. Always there to pump you up for a tough match, as well as pick you up after a bad loss. His positive influence outside the wrestling room with his student athletes cannot be overstated. His contributions to the sport over the past 37 years I hope put him in contention for Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is deserving.  I could not be more happy for Andrew & the team. Good luck.
 
Sincerely
Dustin Wilson

I’ve personally experienced both sides of the argument. I’ve been in The most difficult semi state and drew into the eventual state champ. And I’ve been the winner of the best semi state and had two easy matches to start the state tournament. . Soo I just think it is what it is. Those kids who step up and wrestle well when they have too, will reap the rewards.   I don’t understand the argument to have classes. Every weight class should have a champion,  not several.  I think the goal in wresting Is to figure out who the best kids are at each weight. Our system does that

Everyone has their opinion. First I must thank Indiana Wrestling for allowing us a season when many other states did not. In August if you would've asked me about a season I would have told you there was no chance well happily I was proven wrong today. I will say as a former wrestler and now a coach YES, the system sucks, kids don't get the shine they deserve, but its is the system we have had for how many years? You can bash the IHSAA all you want but every school and every kid is playing under the same rules, top 4 advance. Are some semi states not as deep as others, sure. Are some weights not as deep as others, sure, BUT every year when you leave the state finals you know the kid at the top of the podium was the best at that weight for 4 weeks. We are a single class state finals which is the absolute BEST part about our state tournament series. My favorite part of state is seeing a small school get kids to state and even to the finals. Could the system use a change OF COURSE, but it is what we have and we are wrestling that is a lot better than most right now. Again thank you to every single wrestler, coach, parent, and fan that made this season possible. I love Indiana wrestling good luck to all of those still competing next weekend!

How about little Oak Hill winning a semi state title?😎

Shameful.  Coaches should be ashamed

Aidan Hardcastle over Alex Currie 2-1

I am too really but seeing my boy hit the sweetest shot and come out like that vs Pierson only to be robbed of the chance to compete, really makes me sad.. The entire gym was BOOING like I've never heard.

Here we go Thrine Comes out dumps Pierson and a BS And I mean BS call keeps Thrine from going to State.. So garbage, disqualified Thrine smh

I lost to all three of those guys 🤣

Rosbottom vs jankowski.

No. So sorry to hear this. PRAYERS  THIS MAN WAS NOTHING BUT CLASS. REST IN PEACE!!

chickenshit post of the year.  delete your profile.