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Tennessee D1 All-Americans With NCAAs concluding, I thought it might be fun to revisit the 7 TN natives who have made it on the podium. 7 AAs puts TN just below the country of Japan when it comes to NCAA All-Americans. The drought now extends to 15 years since TN had an AA. TN high school wrestling is traveling more and getting decent results, but it is not translating to college. If UTC would have stayed DII, the guys who qualified this year and many others who are buried on rosters could make up a pretty good team DII team. Any thoughts one who might be the next TN AA? My pick is Jarvis Little for App State. Bill Harlow- St. Andrews School/Oklahoma State 1964- 2nd 1965- 2nd 1966- 1st Howard Langford- Cleveland/UTC 1992- 8th Phillip Simpson – MBA/West Point 2003- 3rd 2004- 8th 2005- 2nd Matt Keller- Bradley Central/Nebraska/UTC 2006- 8th 2007- 4th Cody Cleveland- Tullahoma/McCallie/UTC 2008- 8th Jordan Leen – Baylor/Cornell 2007-8th 2008- 1st 2009- 3rd Nick Marable Christian Brothers/Missouri 2008- 3rd 2009- 7th

Way late on this post, but I do believe that I want to at least weight in so to speak lol. I wrestled NAIA competed against some of the best wrestler over all a crossed the divisions and felt great about my college wrestling experience. I think people make the mistake in believe that wrestling some how gets easier as a sport at the smaller college divisions it doesn't the training is mostly the same. I have that on good authority from a coach who was a D1 all-American. it's more the commitment level of the competitors that is different. There is talented wrestlers that can go D1 at any level in the smaller division. sub in Sammy Shires for one he would have done fine on a DI team. He chose a work life ratio that suited him. It's not about talent it's commitment are you going to make training and studying the sport the center of your world cause that's what it takes: NO MATTER HOW TALATENTED BEFORE HAND YOU ARE. If so then D1 is for you and striving for success at that level is for you like Mr. Palmer said it's what your willing to put in. Now coaches if you have a successful wrestler who fits that bill then by all means D1 is a great option they will see some success no matter how small, but if they are not that committed along with being talented and a killer and you know it then your doing them wrong. You don't have to tell athletes that you don't think they are D1 tell them to keep their options open to take all their visits to consider all the divisions regardless of their goals. college recruiting visits have you most times wrestle against their current wrestlers coaches and athletes will find out real quick it's not easy no matter where you go. That way when they make their decision it's a sound one that's based on well rounded experiences. BobCorker, and oceansize42 I believe what you are thinking is correct but for different reasons. TN wrestler's have the talent... it's a commitment level change. TN wrestlers aren't used to having to put themselves through the level of commitment required and kills them on the D1 level. WrestlingGod, I agree you should push kids to pursue their dreams, but not at the cost of common sense period... we have to much of that going around this country already. Dreams can turn to poison when these wrestler are not educated on what it truly takes. In TN a kid who understands wrestling to a high level can be successful with small amounts of hard work. They think their definition of hard work is enough for D1 that is the mistake not the "talent/understanding". Over-all though we do not celebrate NAIA,D2,D3, or Juco success in this state like other states do. GA/AL celebrates all it's college wrestlers success a crossed the board no matter the division. Why? because it's hard... I have gone to all the divisions National championships let me tell you to be a all-American at any is impressive especially D2 or NAIA. those guys can scrap and not one of those AA's are an easy match. all of them were state placers or champs multiple times in their high school careers. does that at all sound easy to place at? TN does not give those guys enough credit or shout outs period. it's an over sight because of this D1 or it's less than meaningless mentality on this site and in this state. GA/AL is better then us on the highest stage because they send guys to D2,NAIA,D3 ect. they come back understanding the sport better then their pervious coaches, and give back and that cycles to athletes readiness to go D1 with clearer understanding of what it takes to be competitive day 1 freshman year. My post isn't to support one way or the other but to just consider that both sides have merit and that both work when the system in TN. by system I mean coaches are the better educated on preparing athletes for each level they want and should pursue.

By recruiting, I mean members of a coaching staff are talking to, meeting with, giving tours, to students, and their guardians, that are not zoned for their school. there’s no way that many non Bearden kids just showed up all at once without being recruited. It can’t be a coincidence that all those kids also went through the middle school all star game your boss puts on every year.

Couple of thoughts: 1. I just don't understand all the intricacies in TSSAA transfer rules anymore. William Blount had a kid that played the final part of the basketball season with them this year, that played at Hardin Valley last year, and played football for Bearden this year. I say that to say, I know the coaches and the AD and the Principal at WB and I will never believe they would do something they knew was wrong. They are men of character. I BELIEVE the same thing about the coaches and administration at Maryville. Call me gullible, but these are men and women of integrity in my experiences with them. 2. Much like the transfer of the Clemmer kid a couple of years ago, with Smith, the football team is getting a huge boost, but the impact on the basketball team will be just as great or maybe even greater. With Smith playing post, it frees the Sigmund kid who will be coming back from injury, to play more with his face to the basket. The Rebels basketball squad in my mind, will be "the program" in East Tennessee next year.

Oh, and I can't remember who said it earlier but whomever mentioned that the early to late 2000's crop is still our best in terms of college talent is 100% spot on. The new crop may get there at some point but you can't argue with the data. There were some very special TN wrestlers in that group that got it done at UTC and at other schools (Missouri, Cornell, West Point). For goodness sakes you even have at least one in there that made a US Senior World Team. That is getting it done on the absolute highest level, period. We have had very highly touted TN wrestlers come through since then who didn't accomplish on the same level for whatever reason. We may see another group that gets there but none have come close to achieving what that group did collegiately. Not to mention that there were a few from that timeframe who were finding success at the "lower levels" of NCAA wrestling as well. I would absolutely say that TN wrestling as a whole has grown by leaps and bounds from that period forward, but I don't think there is any argument to say that our top end talent has achieved at the same level. Hopefully some do in the future.

I will say this much. This is actually a great topic and debate. I have had the benefit of getting to have this discussion with several kids over the years. It isn't a simple debate, nor a simple choice. In my opinion, if you really look at it, I think ocean and a few of the others are actually on to a really good point here. I have coached guys who have gone on to wrestle at all levels (some with a level of success and others who did drop out quickly) of collegiate athletics and some on the international / Olympic ladder. i think it is vitally important for most good coaches to be having the types of conversation that ocean and others are bringing up here with athletes. I recall vividly talking with one of our wrestlers about whether he should move to the OTC or continue wrestling in high school after his sophomore year... that was a lot of conversations about goals, stages of life, what do you want short-term and long-term, etc. Thankfully he had plenty of good people to talk to. Anyone speaking in absolutes here is probably off-base or not thinking very logically. To me, the key question has to be... do you want to continue wrestling or do you have a goal (dream, etc.) of wrestling DI and that is the only thing that will fulfill you. If you want to be successful (starting time, placing, AA, etc.) at whatever level you choose to pursue then you better understand what that is going to entail. If you are going to go and wrestle at the DI level and hope to have true success, then you better be ready to understand that wrestling is going to be treated like a very demanding job. You will need to make just about everything else in life subservient to wrestling and what you have to do there... and yes for many this also includes academics. Many of the DI programs they might get into might not be the perfect fit from other aspects of what they want and they may have to sacrifice (especially if not a top-end recruit) to achieve their DI dream. Very few can balance high level academics and the rigors of a top-end DI wrestling program. If that is the absolute desire for the athlete, then go after it and chase it to your fullest... even if they are one of the ones that aren't likely to "make" it or have high level success based on where they currently are... and yes you can sometimes overcome that, but let's be honest blue-chip recruits will pan out far more often than college coaches develop someone to that level who was far below it. If the athlete doesn't have their heart set on DI or just wants to continue wrestling, then they really should be looking at what level of wrestling will help them find a school that is the right fit for them. They need to be looking at academics, academic curriculum options, graduation job placement rates in their desired field, financial aide packages, wrestling team success and culture, activities / lifestyle they want to pursue outside of school (big city or country, etc.), etc. in order to find a place that will help them thrive and mature into the young person that we all hope they become. Plenty of kids know it is DI only for them while many others find what they are looking for (in all aspects) at DII, DII, NAIA, etc. Nothing wrong with that... they are making the choice that is best for them. A coach that is strictly pushing an athlete to "get into the best (wrestling) program they can" to indirectly quote someone else, may not be giving the athlete the best advice... they may actually be hurting them in the long (and short) run. Coaches are here to guide student athletes to a very tumultuous time in life, not simply make them the best athletes possible and put them in the "best" athletic programs.

The "vast majority" shouldn't bother with D1 unless there is little emphasis on the wrestling part. I honestly can't agree with anything you wrote. I'd rather honestly evaluate their ability and set them up for possible success from the start, all the while pursuing a relevant degree from a quality school (of which there are plenty, even in the lower levels). I'm not into the chase your dreams on the one in a thousand chance it happens. I'm really confused by your statements about winning. When a young man enters D1 wrestling the expectation is winning and winning a bunch. There is no other expectation. That's it. Win, win, and then win some more. If you don't win you don't start. If you're not starting now you're going to practice to get your arse kicked every single day by the young man who is starting or you're relegated to wrestling everyone but the starter as you have no chance. You become a practice dummy. Not that the coach doesn't like you or your teammates don't like you, but ultimately that is what you become. A cheerleader. I'd rather drop a level or two, start, win, and contribute in more meaningful ways. I'm pragmatic about this because for most it is the proper path. Doesn't have to be liked, but it's true.

I actually agree with oceansize42 for the most part. Every other state is still progressing and improving at a significant rate as well. While TN might be closing the gap a bit, it comes down to a numbers game. There are only 30-40 college programs that are actually competitive. Each school has 4-6 years of recruits and kids are pigeonholed to one weight class. TN puts 3-4 in DI every year. PA puts 30. If 25 of the 30 from PA never pan out, then they still have a good showing. If all 4 kids from TN fail to make it, then it looks like a barren landscape. Signing with a D1 college is the easy part. TN kids/parents act like they have achieved the pinnacle by signing DI. I suspect this is because most of the parents never wrestled DI themselves and they don't know anyone who did. The fact of the matter is that most kids who sign DI will never start. The ones who start will probably have a hard time of ever making it to the tournament. For some the opportunity to be on a good team or go to a good school like Stanford might be worth the risk of not ever having success. For many kids in TN and other states, they would have a much better experience if they went to Washington and Lee or Cumberland University. (Depending on academic aspirations). Look at Sammy Shires as an example: I would argue that he is having a much better experience of being a 2x AA in NAIA than some of our guys who are going off to be 3rd string at an ACC school. Having more kids have success at the lower levels would keep more in the sport for a longer time. This would translate to more of them returning home and entering the coaching ranks. Our state would actually grow more over time if our best didn't flame out in 2 years at a big school. There is a lack of education of the big picture landscape in TN.

Dude I would drive from Lookout Valley to watch Coach T again.