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National Team Lineup


KingGreene
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We will have a strong group of freshman and sophomores (and 8th graders) representing TN in Iowa this year! Our lineup is very solid with the following statistics: 

2 champs

1 runner up

4 other medalists 

3 lost in the blood round 

1 Middle School medalist at 98

 

10/15 starters have a high school medal or were 1 match away! Pretty impressive for some 9th/10th graders! I expect these boys to make some noise in Iowa in a couple weeks. Here is the complete lineup with credentials: 

 

98- Arlo Laxton (CLV) *MS MEDALIST*

 

106- Daniel Urochuck (SM) *CHAMP*

 

113- Hunter Borders (WC) *CHAMP*

 

120- Braxton Mann (SH) 

 

126- Cole Fort (WC) *MEDALIST* 

 

132- Tyler Seeley (SH) *MEDALIST*

 

138- Joey Ahern (HER) *BLOOD ROUND*

 

145- Landon Lewis (SD) 

 

152- Josh Pietarella (HV) *RUNNER-UP*

 

160- Jared Harter (SH) *BLOOD ROUND*

 

170- Kenneth Phillips (SIE) 

 

182- Parker Bennett (WC)

 

195- Micheal Moore (GRNV) *MEDALIST*

 

220- Skylar Coffey (BW) *MEDALIST* 

 

HWT- James Howard (EH) *BLOOD ROUND*

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I'm a bit confused as to why the wrestle offs are cancelled and a team representing the state was hand picked instead.  All coaches do not monitor CoachT and there are several I've spoken with who had wrestlers (that finished ahead of some on the team) that would have been willing to make the trip but had no idea wrestle offs were being cancelled and the DADDY BALL METHOD of choosing a team was taking precedence.   Six wrestlers from WC/SH and no one from West Tennessee, something seems amiss.  

I'm not sure who made it, but this seems like a very very poor decision.

 

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On ‎3‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 3:55 PM, ObserverW said:

I'm a bit confused as to why the wrestle offs are cancelled and a team representing the state was hand picked instead.  All coaches do not monitor CoachT and there are several I've spoken with who had wrestlers (that finished ahead of some on the team) that would have been willing to make the trip but had no idea wrestle offs were being cancelled and the DADDY BALL METHOD of choosing a team was taking precedence.   Six wrestlers from WC/SH and no one from West Tennessee, something seems amiss.  

I'm not sure who made it, but this seems like a very very poor decision.

 

So what's your point?  This has happened before and I would suspect that it will happen again.  There must not be any D2 kids that wanted to participate or they were just not good enough to be selected.

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1 hour ago, cbg said:

So what's your point?  This has happened before and I would suspect that it will happen again.  There must not be any D2 kids that wanted to participate or they were just not good enough to be selected.

Are you serious?  Point being that the best freshmen and sophomores in the state should have had the opportunity to participate or AT LEAST the opportunity to wrestle off for a spot rather than a few coaches hand picking a team based on who is on their team or their buddy's team.  If this was a privately supported team like Higher Calling has sent in the past then choose who you want but I'm pretty sure this is a TN AAU sponsored team and should be representative of the entire state.  

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6 minutes ago, ObserverW said:

Are you serious?  Point being that the best freshmen and sophomores in the state should have had the opportunity to participate or AT LEAST the opportunity to wrestle off for a spot rather than a few coaches hand picking a team based on who is on their team or their buddy's team.  If this was a privately supported team like Higher Calling has sent in the past then choose who you want but I'm pretty sure this is a TN AAU sponsored team and should be representative of the entire state.  

I would agree with OberverW. 

I am also confused on some of the accolades listed:  Tyler Seeley lost to Williams in the blood round and is therefore not a medalist.  Jared Harter didn't participate this season but is listed as blood round.  Is this an attempt to inflate the resume and unfairly justify the picks over others who might have better deserved the opportunity?

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I should have known there would only be negative comments in response to this. Unfortunately, that’s all CoachT is these days. I know people are always excited to see these lineups so they can see who will be representing our state so I wanted to post this and help the fans get excited and behind these boys. Instead, these kids are deemed not worthy to represent the state. I guess I should have just left everyone in the dark until results came out.

 

Kramer informed TNAAU two weeks ago he was going to bow out of this tournament this year. When he informed TNAAU they were struggling to get someone to take it over and considered not even taking a team. Barnett and Doty reached out to me about a week ago and asked me to take it over. I told them to avoid not taking a team I would take it over, but I would not be able to host a wrestle off because I had already promised Coach Foreman to host a handful of PF boys for a couple days of training for NHSCA in Johnson City. 

 

I immediately started going through brackets and reaching out to coaches across the state trying to get the best 9/10 kids I could. I got a lot of declined invitations because of Spring Break/Easter plans, being burnt out, too short notice, etc. The stud DII kids that I originally wanted were mostly already claimed by the 11/12 team or, as Durdon stated, had Easter plans with families. 

 

I’m sure this will continue to be mocked by OW because that is what he does. But for those who are honestly curious, I did not plan on going on this trip until 7 days ago. I tried to make the most competitive team I could in the limited time I had to put it together, regardless of team. I don’t think there is any perfect system. The wrestle off will always leave some of the best kids out because of how long our state is. It’s hard to justify a 4.5 hour drive for a wrestle off to some parents/kids. I think that this group will represent the state very well and am excited to meet some of the kids I do not yet know personally. I appreciate the opportunity to help our state be represented at this prestigious tournament.

 

In response to the fact checks: 

Tyler Seeley was a 2016/2017 state medalist.

Jared Harter lost in the blood round 3-2 in 16/17. He was injured this season  

 

I’m also excited to say that we have added Riley Bennett of Fairview (Runner-up) to the list at 132  

 

Edited by KingGreene
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I'm not mocking you KG and I'm sorry that your feelings are hurt but sometimes truth stings.  Nothing said in my message was untrue.  I've personally talked to 5 coaches from Regions 7 & 8 and have heard secondhand from a few others that NONE of them were ever contacted about this opportunity.  I think it is a great opportunity for those who were chosen to go on the trip and never did I say any of them were unworthy.  I DID however, say that there are others who, given the opportunity, might have earned a spot on the team but your method of selecting the team deprived other well deserving wrestlers an opportunity. 

Is it coincidence that the two organizers of the team have almost half of the represented wrestlers?

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I don't think they are knocking the coaching staff as much as the lack of communication. Not many people knew the changes were being made except for what was on coacht and that information was minimal. 

 

Regarding the lineup. I speak from experience that throwing a team together at the last minute is difficult and you take what you can get. Again, without communication speculation will follow.

Good luck to you guys

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1 hour ago, ObserverW said:

I'm not mocking you KG and I'm sorry that your feelings are hurt but sometimes truth stings.  Nothing said in my message was untrue.  I've personally talked to 5 coaches from Regions 7 & 8 and have heard secondhand from a few others that NONE of them were ever contacted about this opportunity.  I think it is a great opportunity for those who were chosen to go on the trip and never did I say any of them were unworthy.  I DID however, say that there are others who, given the opportunity, might have earned a spot on the team but your method of selecting the team deprived other well deserving wrestlers an opportunity. 

Is it coincidence that the two organizers of the team have almost half of the represented wrestlers?

just to clarify I think KG did a good job or putting a team together in the short time he had.  I did not help organize this at all and he was left with all the work.  I commend him on being able to pull it all together in a very short time.  Too many things came up and i decided i couldn't do it and passed it on to Don Barnett until he could find a coach.  The main reason i chose not to go is that  i didn't realize at first that it was Easter weekend.  My mother died last Easter and even though its not on the same date as last year my father wanted to get the family together on Easter to celebrate her life on the anniversary of her death.

 

I apologize things happened the way they did.  

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