WaltHarris

I don't know where to start with Indy Nationals. Chad Red is a very nice guy. I can say that from meeting him once and know Mr. Red has strong, positive reputation in Indiana. I know he helps a lot of kids. But wow that was the worst run tournament I have ever taken my grandson and kids from our club to. I will never ever go again!!! The 1pm session didn't start on until 2:35pm on one of the mats because the morning session was still on going. Some might also say it was false advertising to state "we are using two gyms." Actually we used the main gym most of the day. The alternative gym was used for part of the morning; then they rolled up the mats and had A BASKETBALL CLINIC FOR FOR 3 HOURS; then they roll the mats back out again. That was simply unacceptable. Several officials were excellent. But several were perhaps the worst I've seen in the past two decades. I watched one match were a young man from another club scored 7 consecutive points in the 3rd period (3NF, 2NF, 2NF) and should have won the match 10-5. But the official became confused, signaled the wrong color for the ALL 7 points. Then the official refused to the correct the score and awarded the win to the actual losing wrestler. How the heck does an official forget that one kid was on his back the entire 3rd period and that kid was the one who actually lost. I officiate and know how tough it can be. But there were several awful officials who cannot have ever looked at a rulebook. Next year, don't false advertise in on the web for Indy Nationals by saying "Several of Indiana's best officials attend." BBBBBBBBSSSSSSSSS! Then we had opponents who 'magically' appeared in multiple weight classes. Registration on trackwrestling closed on Friday. In one example for a child from our club, their were 6 wrestlers in his weight class listed all day on Friday & Saturday. Yet, when he wrestled on Sunday their were 9 wrestlers in his weight. This happened to 5 different kids from our club. Those opponent kids never displayed in trackwrestling on the Matrix or Wrestler List. Moreover, I know for a fact that none of these kids were at the weight class above or below his in trackwrestling. What kind of funny business was going on???? Was someone pairing at the tournament holding back registrations until they could find the best situation for kids from their club? This tournament was a poster child for the ISWA to get more involved with the running of any tournament they authorize. Other states would never allow this to happen, but in Indiana we just accept disaster after disaster after disaster when it comes to running such tournaments. The ISWA can no longer be asleep at the switch when it comes to the operation of any local tournament.

Mishawaka Invite (Al Smith Invite) Championship Round 1987:

Mishawaka Invite (Al Smith Invite) Early Rounds 1987:

1989 State Championship Match at 160- Rob Paveltic (Hobart) v. James Starks (FW Northrop):

Recently, I have been quite surprised at how many old Indiana high school wrestling matches I have found on Youtube. It has been incredible! Matches from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that I thought were lost to the sands of time are out there on Youtube. Some are of diminished quality because of the conversion process of video tape or the 8mm reels to digital, but hey they are there. I have found both a plethora of regular season duals, old Mishawaka Invite (now called the Al Smith) and state finals video. The real problem for users is the videos on Youtube have been labeled in so many different ways by the submitters. Some videos might say, "Mishawaka" or "High School Dual" or "Joe Doe versus Tom Woe" or "SIAC Conf Wrestling." They are nearly impossible to search for in an organized way unless one has a lot of time and is quite bored, like myself! For archival and historical purposes, it would be interesting if Y2 or someone else created a web page/library on indianamat.com where users could see the link to such videos in an organized fashion. We could all submit Youtube links we have found over the years and then they could possibly be organized in a reasonable format by admin, if that is possible and of interest to our wrestling community.

Are weigh-ins on Saturday also at Nicoson Hall at U. of Indy?

Good for Jim! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

That's right!

We did have riding time when I was in high school in the early 60s. Riding time was terrible and I am glad we got rid of it! In my opinion, riding time is the #1 problem college wrestling has (notwithstanding Title IX). Riding time provides even less incentive to turn an opponent and be offense minded. Riding time makes our sport boring. We need more rules to force offense, not add rules that simply increase stalling.

1. (tie) Alex Dolly, Mishawaka 1. (tie) Damon Hummel, Rochester 2. Jeff Pease, Muncie Southside 3. Craig Macke, EMD 4. Gil Journey, 5. Randy Baker, Belmont

AJ, you may be correct about the Olympic level. But then again, at that elite level we have always seen very cautious wrestling. If you look at the cadet and junior level, I do not believe your suggestion is accurate. Set points/scoring aside because freestyle and folk have different scoring values. If you were take a group of high school wrestlers and have them wrestle a folkstyle and then a freestyle tournament. And you just made a hashmark for every takedown and back exposure, you would see far more hashmarks in the freestyle tournament. That is a lot more action. I would respectfully submit it is also why the NHSF continually is coming up with these pseudo-freestyle rules. I wish the NHSF would just copy the freestyle rules that make the most sense in folkstyle.

You lovers of folkstyle are just a little off! You and the NHSF realize how incredibly boring folkstyle is. You see how much stalling is going on. You see the lack of action (hence award 3pts for extra TDs or 4 for NFs) and realize that corrective action needs to be taken before old people like me fall asleep in the stands. But you and the NHSF just won't allow yourself to admit that freestyle, or freestyle-like rules are the solution to the problem. So the NHSF comes up with some real whoopers to encourage more action. The NHSF needs to grow up! They have been at this for years and are only about two decades behind where we should be nationally with the rules. Look, freestyle and greco have plenty of problems. But the folkstyle community has got to get over this we-can't-use-freestyle-rules-but-lets-create-pseudo-rules-similar-to-freestyle attitude. Just copy the darn freestyle rules that make the sense to liven up a folkstyle match and get it over with.

I have would like to hear your feedback. For years I have felt we should switch to a new system for officiating. Basically, we should switch at the semi-state and state level to the FILA model. That is 3 officials for every match. Moreover, 2 of the 3 must agree for any call to be registered on the scorecard. I think the current model places an undue burden on a single official. Additionally, the assistant official in our current system has little real power and is only their to assist. Do you think this would be a positive or a negative change? Could Indiana experiment with this model at some local tournament first and who would have to greenlight such an experiment?

Amen! I hope Chad Red (whom I have only met once and is a heck of a nice guy) reads this thread and allows Sunday morning weigh-ins for the wrestlers in session 2 at 1pm.

My annual favorite post. Love the action at Merrillville. Like most of the people who work at Merrillville. Seriously dislike the tiny facility. I view the Northwest SemiState as a source of humiliation for our sport. They would never tolerate this in basketball. M'ville was undersized in the &^%@ 1980s when I was coaching! It is a tough place to even find a seat for older people like me. Look at the plethora of options we have: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The largest high school basketball gyms in the United States refers to gymnasiums primarily used by secondary schools for basketball purposes. Most of the school gyms are located in the state of Indiana.[1] A 1998 New York Times article reported that 15 of the 16 largest high school gymnasiums were located in Indiana.[2] The top fifteen in total seating capacity are as follows: State City Venue Capacity 1 Indiana New Castle New Castle Fieldhouse 9,325[1] 2 Indiana Anderson Anderson Wigwam 8,996[1] 3 Indiana East Chicago John A. Baratto Athletic Center 8,296[1] 4 Indiana Seymour Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium 8,110[1] 5 Indiana Richmond Tiernan Center 8,100[3] 6 Texas Dallas Alfred J. Loos Fieldhouse 7,500[1] 7 Indiana Elkhart North Side Gymnasium 7,373[1] 8 Indiana Michigan City "The Wolves' Den" Gym 7,304[1] 9 Indiana Gary West Side High School Gym 7,217[1] 10 Indiana Lafayette Jefferson High School Gym 7,200[4] 11 Indiana Indianapolis Southport High School Gym 7,124[4] 12 Indiana Washington "The Hatchet House" 7,090[5] 13 Indiana Columbus Columbus North High School Gym 7,071[4] 14 Indiana Marion Bill Green Athletic Arena 7,054[1] 15= Arizona Chinle Wildcat Den 7,000[6] 15= Kentucky Somerset Pulaski County High School Gym 7,000[7] USA TODAY Gymnasium Sizes How do Indiana's High School Gymnasiums stack up with the rest of the nation? 1.9,314 New Castle, Indiana 2.8,996 Anderson, Indiana 3.8,700 Elkhart (Central/Memorial) Indiana 4.8,100 Seymour, Indiana 5.8,050 East Chicago, Indiana 6.8,047 Richmond, Indiana 7.7,682 Marion, Indiana 8.7,500 Dallas, Texas (Alfred Loos) 9.7,400 Lafayette (Jefferson), Indiana 10.7,360 Michigan City, Indiana 11.7,300 Gary West, Indiana 12.7,248 Southport, Indiana 13.7,090 Washington, Indiana 14.7,045 Columbus North, Indiana 15.6,850 Kokomo, Indiana 16.6,581 Muncie Central, Indiana 17.6,468 San Antonio, Texas 18.6,316 Bedford North Lawrence, Indiana 19.6,214 Huntingburg Southridge, Indiana 20.6,200 Moline, Illinois .... Maysville, Kentucky .... New Castle, Kentucky 21.6,000 Rock Island, Illinois 22.5,890 Shelbyville, Indiana 23.5,847 Connersville, Indiana 24.5,830 Logansport, Indiana 25.5,700 Vincennes Lincoln, Indiana 26.5,650 Boonville, Indiana 27.5,500 Frankfort, Indiana .... Cut Bank, Montana 28.5,433 Paoli, Indiana 29.5,400 Calumet, Indiana 30.5,306 Jeffersonville, Indiana 31.5,230 Greencastle, Indiana 32.5,200 Houston, Texas

My post here isn't about last night, or the young man in Riley hospital, or team state. It is more just about our current situation in general with the IHSWCA. I coached for three decades, but have been retired from coaching for many years. Looking back, I think my generation of coaches in the 70s, 80s, 90s really let you guys down. And I apologize for that. When I coached, the IHSWCA was really flimsy because we had virtually no need for it. Honest to god, the sole reason to be an IHSWCA member in the 1980s was because only members could access the food in the coaches? hospitality room at State in Market Square. And being president of the IHSWCA back then was like being Grand Marshall of the Arbor Day parade: meaningless. It was not until the mid 90s that the IHSWCA really began to matter. And it mattered because the IHSAA began asking questions about the sport of wrestling. Then over the past decade, it appears that rather than be politically savvy and attempt to win over the IHSAA so that we did not reach a breaking point, our IHSWCA leadership has done just the opposite. And I am fully aware that the IHSAA personalities did not help at all, either! The wrestling community?s relationship with the IHSAA has been weaponized. Perhaps worst of all, the legacy that coaches from my generation left you guys with is an impotent IHSWCA that in a sadly weaponized environment, has been totally unable to respond. Sometimes, it is only through the long lens of history that one can see the regretful cascade of events which leads to a specific negative outcome. Once again, I apologize to you guys coaching today. Many of us former guys failed you in this regard.

No, I do not. Indy Natls charges a very high fee (something like $25) if you change weight classes from your online registration. And I think that is a good thing!!! There should very few alterations in brackets/paring because of this policy. The whole tournament could be paired days before via trackwrestling, with only a few folks paying the fees to change weights. So, there really is no reasonable obstacle to Indy Natls having a 10 am Sunday morning weigh in. That is, unless the wrestling community just wants to donate to local hotels.

Is the Mishawaka Hyway tournament for March 4th still on? With all the stuff at Mish I was wondering. The info sheet pdf on the hyway web site says to email Derrik Synder the kids weights, but since he is suspended that seems illogical at the current time.

My only question about Indy Natls is why not let the kids wrestling in session #2 which starts at 1pm, weigh in on Sunday morning? It wouldn't take much to hold a Sunday weigh in around 10 am during session 1. It's a lot for me to drive my grandson 2 hours to the Saturday weigh in, 2 hours back home, then 2 hours to the tourney, then 2 more hours back home. That's 8 hours in the car over 2 days, when with a minor change it could be just 4 hours in the car in 1 day.

I've been retired from coaching for many years, so my view is from the stands and occasionally I officiate. The new weights are harmful to wrestling. Too many good wrestlers on jv because of fewer middle weights and too many novice wrestlers on varsity at the upper weights. Bob, I agree about the 1995 weights. What a disaster that was! I hope this is a one year deal also. Go to a freestyle Tournament where hardcore wrestlers show up. There will be 10 kids at 145 and 2 kids at 215. Indiana coaches need to smack their NFHS rep upside the head (figuratively) and get back the previous classes.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but does it seem odd to anyone that Mishawaka's program remains active after the alleged rape of a kid with a blunt object? Maybe I'm out on a limb here, but why let the sexual assault of a child stand in the way of the Al Smith tournament, right? The comments made by students on these articles are shocking like skipping class to cut weight, practice, sleep. And other deviant actions.

Took my grandson to state yesterday. I see the disoranization of the ISWA is continuing. My grandson waited 5 hours between his first and second match. I thought the Central Regional and people from Ohio laughing at ISWA's congential ineptitude to run the event was the height of embarrassment. I was incorrect. At the end of yesterday, after my grandson got his medal, he said to me "Papa, I don't know if I want to wrestle anymore." Sitting there all day to get a few matches is just destroying so many kids desire to wrestle. When will this organization get on the ball and start running these tournaments like other states. Btw, before you ISWA apologists start up, let me give you the standard lines: A- You should volunteer more. B- What did you do on Saturday. C- The board meeting is on such and such date. D- There are so many kids and only so few mats. Yes, I coach the club kids, but I know that doesn't count a "volunteering" to the ISWA.

These responses are exactly what is driving down our organization. Let's not look and see how we can improve. Instead, let's just run the tournament with the same pairing techniques we did in 1993. That is exactly what happened in Michigan and led to their destruction of FS/GR and the birth of NUWAY (which once again I hate). As an organization we have to stop deflecting all criticism with the always useful "volunteer more" self-defense, that is so worn out. Each time a person makes a comment, they have to say, "I did officiate or Work a table or Run a clock or Work at pairings." And still from some iswa just ignore it. It does not have to do with me personally. It has to do with how Indiana was embarrassed on Saturday. I was sitting with people from Ohio who were furious. I saw plenty of empty mats on Saturday and virtually none on Sunday. I believe it had little to do with the Saturday numbers vs. the Sunday numbers. Rather, Sunday was simply run in a far more efficient and intelligent manner. Don't take my word for it; ask the pairings staff. Try to have the slightest bit of vision, grow up and take a bit of constructive criticism. Especially from someone who was coaching and pairing and running tournaments most likely before you were even born. The less educated you are, the more likely you will react emotionally. Try to react logically.

It is exactly responses like that which are driving people to NUWAY.

What a night-day pairings experience at Central Regional. Saturday FS was a total disaster... Cadet bout sheets not printing, hours and hours and hours of waiting. My grandson had only 1 other boy in his weight; they had to wrestle best 2 of 3.... and we were there until 3:10 pm! That is just silly. It was like a clinic in how to kill freestyle and a kid's interest in wrestling. The people running pairing on Saturday should be ashamed. (And before you even start, I worked a clock all day Saturday.) Saturday was like a billboard driving people to NUWAY... and I hate NUWAY! Then Sunday things were much better. I don't know if USAW assigned a different pairings leader for Sunday Greco, but it was great. Once again my grandson went 3 matches with his opponent but we were done by 10:30 am. Now why couldn't that occurred on Saturday? Equally as important, we got all the kids cleared out early and had tons of mats and officials for the cadet/juniors. Consequently, the cadet/juniors went much faster. I am dumbfounded with this pairings philosophy of "let's spread the misery equally" and make everyone wait forever by wrestling the highest number of participant weights first. It is so much easier to get the low participant weights out of the way early. And lots of tournaments tell specific age groups to show up at a later time; iswa does this at state.