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How many nationally ranked teams has Ingle Martin ever had at CPA? Look, I really like Ingle but Bobby Bentley is a whole different cat. Just look at how many nationally ranked teams he had at Byrnes, which is blue collar rural school. Does he recruit, absolutely and so do all the other successful D2 programs as do the top D1 programs.

Bobby Bentley is the best high school football coach in Tennessee and it’s not close. Just look at what he did at Byrnes and that’s not counting the number of years he spend on D1 staffs.

What is the toughest in season high school wrestling tournament in Tennessee? Is it Fandetti-Richardson, McCallie, Johnny Drennan Memorial 85, GP West, Black Horse, etc...

Allow me to begin by saying that I do feel that AJ has made significant progress in conducting himself in a way that is more socially acceptable. With that being said, I have been told that his grades were good, and he was told by the coaching staff at UNC that his acceptance would not be an issue. At some point in the process word got out that he was transferring to UNC and the protest began and that is when the admissions process walked back his acceptance even though it has been reported that he does not have a criminal record. What he did last season while not having quality training partners is really amazing. Let's hope that the young man has indeed turned his life around and finds a good fit for both his wrestling and academics. OU could definitely use his talent, and it should provide him with much better training partners and a solid competition schedule.

This is a state champion from Montana that moved to Iowa for better competition and finished 5th in Iowa at 138lb.

Just a hunch but Scott Green will be offered and take the job. Scott has relationships all over the country and has been doing most of the recruiting.

I don’t know what the current rule book says, but at one point if the coach wanted to discuss anything about the match it must be done at the table. If the discussion was about the score not being correct on the scoreboard it was basically no harm and no foul. The mistake was corrected and the coach went back to his chair. If the coach was questioning a rule interpretation or why points should have been rewarded or why points should not have been awarded the official had two options. Change the ruling on the mat or warn the coach for the first offense and penalize the coach for a team point for the next offense. As a coach I was only ever penalized one time and the match had been over for 20 minutes. The host coach was paying the official for a match that we easily won but the official was horrible. I instructed the host coach to only pay the official for 50% of what he should have made because he did a half A** job. I thought that it was funny as did the host coach but the official had no sense of humor and penalized me one team point.

The idea of a Grand State Champion has been tried unsuccessfully in other states so I see absolutely no reason that it would work in Tennessee. However, if it were done as a non-sanctioned event, you would see the following happen: 1. Kids would commit to the event and then bail at the last minute 2. If you gave a 3-5lb weight allowance you would have kids that didn't make weight and ask for a waiver because they were .5 overweight. 3. The state runners-up would show up trying to get another shot at beating the very best but then again very few of the top tier kids would compete. The only way for this to work is to have one state championship for the individual state wrestling tournament and the majority have spoken that they want nothing to do with this idea.

Personally, I see absolutely no way to make this happen without the TSSAA merging D1 and D2 back together. The D2 schools that I have spoken with really like the idea of their elite kids qualifying for the National Preps. The idea of having some type of grand state champion tournament for the state champions and state runner up’s has not successfully worked in other states.

It’s referred to as BUY A WIN. Very weak schedule and people wonder why the teams from upper East Tennessee struggle in the playoffs.

This one statement shows just how narrow minded and selfish you are! Competition is what helps get wrestling in the media and places backsides in seats which in turn assist the wrestling programs in becoming more self sufficient. How do you get great competition, it’s by have one state champion crowned in all individual sports. I am not talking about the dual state championships, only the individual state championships. I don’t just wish for the wrestling program at a school to be successful, I want every sport in a school to be competing for a state championship. Sugar Daddy’s are nice for a program but it’s best if the program is thriving before the wealthy individuals begin to pour money into the program so that if he/she pull their money the program continues to be financially stable. For wrestling to not just to survive but to flourish and explode in Tennessee you must get the football players to compete in wrestling. Like it or not, football in the southern states has control over the very best athletes in the school. If the head football coaches make wrestling a mandatory part of the offseason workouts for the athletes not participating in basketball it’s a win for everyone. For wrestling to really grow you must have the best athletes in the school, huge fan support and practice rooms with 75+ kids. This happens when the football coaches in a school embrace wrestling. This only happens in a very few schools but when it does everyone becomes successful especially the students who quickly become multi sport athletes. Let’s not forget that high school athletics are for the student athletes and helping them develop into well rounded and productive adults.

Congratulations!

FYI a judge during the Brentwood Academy vs TSSAA trial declared that the TSSAA is a state agency, so in essence the State of Tennessee already runs the TSSAA. If the State of Tennessee is trying to dissolve the TSSAA something is going on behind the scenes that has not been made public so my advice is to follow the money. How does having ONE STATE CHAMPION in not just wrestling but all individual sports hurt the sport? Is it because LIttle Johnny and Lil Kelly don’t have the talent or have not worked hard enough to win a state championship? The YMCA method (yes the YMCA began this foolishness in the early 70’s) of giving participation trophies does not work. Let’s get back to only individuals and teams that win championships receive a trophy. Life is not fair and the sooner that people learn that the better off everyone will be.

The individual state wrestling tournament would crown one (1) state champion like all individual sports.

Is Father Ryan not going to host the Johnny Drennan Invitational? I don’t see it listed.