Coach Day

First, I want say that I love reading the stats you all break down.  They are fun and interesting to see.  However, I want to add a stat that I find interesting also.  While Greenfield had no state qualifiers this year, we won Connersville for the first time ever, placed 3rd at team state (we had never been) and won the HHC for the third straight year (first time in school history).  The HHC includes very tough teams such as New Pal (2 qualifiers), New Castle (3), Mt Vernon (3), Delta (4), Yorktown (1) and Pendleton (1).  I'm not sure many teams have had that kind of success with no state qualifiers.  And, while I am very disappointed that we didn't have a state qualifier, I am extremely proud of my team.  They are just that, a team.  No way we do the things we did this year without these kids wrestling for each other.  I am a proud coach!

Thank you for the kind words!
 
last year I took this job with only 13 kids day 1 in the room. In the past 2 season 3/13 have qualified for state, and we have 31 kids in the room this year.
 
On top of that this year creates 2 firsts for the Cascade Wrestling Program.
 
This is the first time Cascade has had a wrestler at the IHSAA State Finals in consecutive years, and this is the first time that Cascade has ever sent 2 kids to State in the same year!!
 
We are proud of these boys and their hard work and dedication to the grind! 
 
Congrats to all of the State Qualifiers from all over the state, we will see you all Friday!!

Not all small schools think it is a "waste of their time" to wrestle the larger schools in their sectional.  It all boils down to a coach and AD with common wrestling sense.  We have made a point to keep an evenly balanced schedule, wrestling several larger schools within our sectional and throughout the season.  It helps both our experienced and inexperienced guys on our team.  Currently, the only team we do not see in our sectional is Hamilton Heights.  We tried to work out a schedule this year for both schools, but could not find a fit.  Heights is loaded with talent, but we wanted to wrestle them for the competition and to see individuals head to head.  We have wrestled Pendleton Heights for several years, and picked up Noblesville, both in our sectional.  We understand going in, they are always two tough teams to beat, but why not chase the challenge?  Pendleton beat us earlier in the year, but we beat them towards the end of the regular season.  We see Delta, Greenfield Central, New Castle, Oak Hill, etc.  Again, not all small schools dodge the competition, from a team and individual standpoint.  Small schools that ONLY wrestle their level of competition or size of their school is hurting their program greatly.  We are fortunate to have a supportive AD who allows us to adjust our schedule as needed.  We have 10 teams in our sectional including us, we see 7 of the teams sometime throughout the year.  It took some time to get our schedule aligned, but it can be done.  It sure makes our sectional seeding meeting a breeze!    

We were woefully behind headed into sectional week and sadly couldn't get caught back up to even get a leaderboard out. Thankfully, we're almost caught back up and we will be able to post an up-to-date post-regional leaderboard on schedule (we've always shot for Tuesdays for leaderboards). 
I posted on another thread...the other 2 guys that work with me on this are doing amazing work. It's completely because of me. I was doing an international move with my family the exact 2 weeks leading up to sectional weekend and couldn't figure out how to get my ducks in a row to get a sectional week leaderboard out. Very sorry!

I hope buying tickets is as smooth and painless as last year!

I would think Worthen Arena at Ball state would be the easiest for IHSAA to line up since they already hold the volleyball state championships there. And it’s more centrally located than Evansville and Ft Wayne. 

Does anyone have information on the girls qualifier? Is there any criteria for a girl to automatically qualify for the State tournament? 

Blue River Valley Andrew Jaggers Centerville Lay Cambridge City Lincoln Lenny Payne Centerville Lay Centerville Mike Day Centerville Teacher Eastern Hancock Sam Pfaff Centerville Teacher Hagerstown Anton Payne Centerville Lay Knightstown David Burns Centerville Lay New Castle Gary Black Sr. Centerville Lay Northeastern Corey Baker Centerville Lay Richmond Ben Wissel Centerville Teacher Shenandoah Jason Barbosa Centerville Lay Tri Joe Reid Centerville Teacher

Thanks Coach! 

If you have a licensed official to weigh a person in does it count as a qualifying weigh in? Or do I need to drive to other teams meets and get weigh-ins?
Thanks

If you have a licensed official come to your school and weigh in 1 person or your whole team it counts as a qualifying weigh-in.  I asked this question/made this statement at the fall clinic and Robert Faulkens confirmed that it was correct.

I will start off first by saying to @littlevito, hats off my guy, huge task to take on doing rankings and seeds. Thanks for doing the best possible job given the info at your disposal. I am guessing those duties will be spread out moving forward. Thank you for spearheading it. 
 
The NW Regional was insane as far as time. Walked into my house from that Regional at 1:15am, and I gained an hour heading back home. Definitely room to improve, but in the end, the numbers were just way too much to handle. Talking with others in attendance, my ideal solution would be to add a third tier to this tournament next year. Sectional, Regional, State for next year. I think this could be a natural progression into the type of tournament it will be once it is sanctioned by the IHSAA and it more than likely adds a fourth tier like their boy counterparts. 
 
I definitely do not see this running with the boys, and it should not be in my opinion. That would be a disservice to these young ladies who deserve to be showcased on their own. Plus, based on the way IHSAA does things, highly unlikely. Hey, what a great problem to have though as the numbers continue to explode. Definitely see more growth in the future and excited to see where this will go!

I had a girl go 4-1 in her "B" bracket.  Lost first round to the 3 seed, who went on to win the pool and the overall weight.  In wrestlebacks my wrestler defeated the #2 and #4 seed, but since she lost first round  she could not qualify.
 
It was a hard pill to swallow, but I understand that the huge numbers was part of the reason for this.  It stunk for me this year, but hopefully the large numbers are a good sign for the sport.

This still did not work.  At the NW regional at 113, a team refused to wrestle for the alternate spot because that would have been their 7th match of the night.  This system does not work and is not really fair.  I think we need to either have true wrestle backs and make this a 2 day tournament or have a sectional and a regional.  A third idea would be to rearrange the regionals and not base the regionals on semi-state.
Girls NW and SW regionals had 6 double brackets.  NE regional had 2 double brackets, while the SE only had 1.   

Link to sign-up
 https://forms.gle/db4bV6Sk2bNpRvSx7

Can someone please start a thread for 2022-23 season any all girls tournaments and date and location for the upcoming season, anything within 300 miles is fine, trying to build girls team schedule and want to make sure I give our girls the best opportunity to get matches and variety of opponents and experiences 

Hello Coaches,    I just wanted to pass along some information about the possible of an FCA Wrestling Day Camp. The date for the camp will be July 10th and the camp will run from 9am-8pm. The location for the camp is still TBD but it will be held in the Central Indiana area. I am currently in discussions with Greenfield Central High School about hosting. The goal would be to show the wrestlers some great technique and to introduce them to Jesus and to help them grow deeper in their faith. FCA would provide each wrestler with an FCA t-shirt, bible, devotional book and dinner. The cost will be approximately $100 per camper. Brandon Slay has confirmed he will be our Clinician and Chapel speaker if we do indeed have the Camp.  As of now, I wanted to gage interest for the camp to ensure it's worth the cost of having it before I launched the camp officially. I have attached a tentative schedule for you to look at. I want to make this an awesome experience for all wrestlers and coaches who attend. Please let me know if this something you would be interested in attending and also if you have any feedback.   God Bless,   Coach Nick Holliday Fellowship of Christian Athletes- Indy's Eastside Eastern Hancock High School - Head Wrestling Coach FCA Wrestling Indiana Day Camp Schedule (Rough Draft) .docx

Here is the 1A leaderboard through sectionals. This leaderboard is already very meaningful--especially for the top couple teams, who have most likely already qualified. Classification is now finalized (update 2-10). Only changes from last year were Southridge and Western Boone moving down to 1A. (click 2-3 times to zoom)
 

Looks like a pretty clear path for her!!
 

Unless I am looking at it wrong.... Shenandoah has 1 kid in the 106 bracket!!!! He/'she is going to Forfeit to a Sectional Championship without wrestling a single match!  I don't know if that is funny, depressing, or impressive but either way, 40 years from now this kid is going to be telling all the locals that he/she was a Sectional Champion in 2021!  First names Kendra so it could even be the first Female sectional champ in school history.   What at crazy year!

You guys don't even understand how amazing @maligned is... This is crazy work on his part. And he doesn't even live in this country. A lot of people go into making this Team State possible without the help of the IHSAA, but I think person 1 is Maligned.
 
Thanks!

But if this were actually classed from the beginning of the tournament, I believe the champion for the smaller schools would be different. Would be closer to those teams that fair really well at the team state duals, as teams would probably be moving more qualifiers to state facing 1A and 2A schools.

In all fairness....I think Silas has solidified himself as a pretty special talent regardless of school size.  So with all do respect, I genuinely feel to draw a question about why aren’t more 1A or 2A wrestlers like him, is a bit unfair. Almost as unfair as if I asked why aren’t more 4A wrestlers like him.
 
Admittedly....I certainly don’t have the answers regarding pros/cons of class wrestling.  I think there’s evidence of beneficial dynamics on both sides.  The class question is always intriguing to me because comparisons are frequently made to other power states whose classed (PA, Ill, IA, OH, etc).  But I question these comparisons as it pertains to the benefits of classing Indiana.  In other words....if those states weren’t classed, would they not be as strong?  I personally feel their strengths are elsewhere apart from the classification system. 
Specifically....their head start in club training, and especially collegiate RTC opportunities. Most notably in PA.  In PA alone there are 11 D1 wrestling programs, 8 D2, and 14 D3.  This equates to NEVER having to drive too far down the road to get your butt kicked for 2hrs.  And in my experience, that dynamic coupled with an athletes desire to close the gap....is the biggest catalyst in the evolving of more nationally elite kids.  And unfortunately....class or no class, at this point.....only a handful of young athletes are driven enough to embrace a “Get beat up, or get better” mentality.  In fact, classing things in hopes to raise 1A numbers, kinda caters to many of those athletes who are hesitant to compete because of that fear.  If numbers is the only goal, then classing definitely benefits.  But I’m confident that strictly more bodies on the mat isn’t the zeal motivating class wrestling advocates.
 
I’m fully aware that more participation will undoubtedly eventually mold some freak athlete whose a football player at the small school level into a great wrestler.  But what about the “in-betweens”.  The guys who literally just lack the drive, and want the accolades without the effort.  That’s one of my biggest issues with classing it here.  And full transparency......I’m definitely bias by what I’ve personally experienced at the small school level, in contrast to having graduated and competed athletically myself at Muncie Central. 
 
The Silas scenario is 100% the embodiment of hard work and extreme levels of self motivation. For 2 years, his daily partner was a 160lb’er.....and a true 170 wrestling up to benefit our team. So having a no excuse mentality.....we had to find partners, supplental/paid clinicians for live wrestling, stance and motion in live match format for 5 periods, old school Rocky like strength training, and literally driving anywhere & everywhere in the off-season....to ensure he’d taste humility and have to overcome a peak to close a gap.  Ultimately....it’s simply been a mantra of “Nobody will outwork me”.  That alone excited the recruiters.  Silas’ ceiling hasn’t even been close to established. He’s never had regular elite partners to push him.  He’s a product of self-push, and an overwhelming desire to succeed.
 
In fact, the argument could made.....that Silas is the example of what’s possible at the 1A level.  When you simply don’t make excuses about school size, strength of schedule, partners, etc.  And just literally make it a lifestyle.  Daily telling yourself....I’m going to be better today than I was yesterday. 
 
Again....I don’t have all the answers.  And I respect the opinion of those whose researched the benefits.  I’m just simply sharing what I know to be truth in the lives of my son Silas, and his overzealous dad who fell in love with sport a mere 6 yrs ago. 🤷🏻‍♂️  
 
That said......will classing create more elite athletes?  I can’t buy in.
 
But will it raise numbers and help even more young men become better men?  I’m sold on that.

Here's some info the Scholar compiled related to the new classifications from performance at State.
 
State champion by class based on team points. There's been a discussion in the past about recognizing champions with this method  IHSAA does not recognize the classifications.
4A- Indy Cathedral
3A-Roncali
2A- Bellmont, Northwood
1A-Shenandoah
 
State Qualifiers
4A-  92 or 41.1%
3A - 57 or  25.4%
2A - 53 or 23.7%
1A- 22 or  9.8%
 
State Placers
4A- 51 or 45.5%
3A - 26 or 23.2%
2A- 24 or 21.4%
1A- 11 or 9.8%
 
Analysis
Again the bigger schools dominate  again with class 4a with 11% of the schools getting 41% of qualifiers and 45% of placers.
Class 1A gets roughly 10% of placers and Qualifiers.
Surprisingly 3A and 2A are very similar statistically with 3A slightly beating out 2A.
 
Indiana probably will never have class wrestling, but are the smaller schools really happy with this?  You have some great athletes that will always have a very difficult time getting recognized at the state level.  Its just accepted  in Indiana,  and I have mentioned before that many small schools embrace the "Hoosier syndrome".  "Hoosier Syndrome" is the small school mentality that the small schools can compete with the big guys and occasionally pull off the big upset, and that's better  than just competing against the little guys,  a theme essentially inspired in the movie "Hoosiers". We've had the argument if it affects participation and stats are inconclusive in my opinion.     Ive been around and seen both sides.  
 
Just to explain another perspective.  Back in my home state "Kansas",  they are a believer in class wrestling and are immersed in class wrestling.  Ive discussed with some Kansans in the wrestling community and they have a hard time wrapping  there heads around one class.    But the state tournament there is broken into 4 classes similar to the surrounding states.  Its seriously flawed in that they wrestle the tournament in 3 locations.   The small class (made up of about 70 schools) goes out to a small town in Western Kansas called Hays and have their own tournament.  They host the tournament at Ft Hays State a D2 college wrestling program.    Most of the towns in western Kansas are small, so its geographically centered where most of the small schools are.     But the joy of it is there's a lot of kids and fans that get to participate.  Hotels are sold out,  and restaruants are busy during this weekend.  There's caravans of cars with windows  painted going to  state.  They really embrace it and love they get to spend the night at a hotel.    The ironic thing is the small school wrestlers  think they're great because they qualified and believe there level is close  to the bigger classes.  Its tremendously watered down level of wrestling compared to Indiana,  but the kids are ignorant of that and they believe that qualifying for state is just as  big of achievement as it is in any other state like Indiana.  Ignorance is bliss, but they kids are proud and having a good time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

That’s a real statement brother.  Painful lesson.....but a valuable one.  An early cradle and extremely intelligent wrestling of backing up and down blocking, allowed a very strong...physically mature and battle tested Mazero to squeek past 14 yr old Silas by 1 point.
Admittedly....it was one of the best things to happen to Silas.  It initiated an even deeper sense of drive towards strength training, positioning, and becoming a well rounded wrestler.  Not just a dynamic athlete on his feet.  I’m hopeful every wrestler who reads this....whether freshman or upper classmen, fully realizes......wins & losses don’t define you.  Your response does.