ETNWrestlingFan

As someone who wrestled in Virginia and now coaches in Tennessee I fully support the A/AA state individual tournament. Virginia currently has three divisions within the state A, AA, and AAA. The sport has grown dramatically within the state and the competition level has grown dramatically. I know wrestlers that have won A, AA, and AAA state championships and none of them stick an asterisks beside their state titles because someone is better than them at another division. If the goal is to expand the sport of wrestling then allowing the small schools to compete with other small schools gives those wrestlers the best opportunity to compete. A school with 800 kids does not often have the same resources and pool of athletes to compete with a school that has 2200 kids. Two of the most dominant schools in Virginia are Christiansburg and Grundy and both of those schools compete at the AA level. Christiansburg just won their ninth straight state title at the AA level and no one puts then down for winning at that level. By creating a new division this would allow new schools within Tennessee to become the Bradley's and Baylor's at their level. Developing and expanding wrestling within the state should be the main goal not stroking someone's ego by allowing them to say they are the only state champion at their weight class.

The Patriot Duals December 29 at Sullivan East High School. Eight team dual tournament. Still looking for a few teams, contact Coach Harris at harristeachsehs@hotmail.com

Bump

2009 Patriot Duals 8 Team Dual Tournament Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 LOCATION: Sullivan East High School 4180 Weaver Pike Bluff City, TN 37618 ENTRY FEE: $110 WEIGH-IN: We will weigh-in at 9:00 a.m. by teams. The scales will be available at 8:00 a.m. WRESTLING BEGINS: 10:00AM. FORMAT: This is a dual tournament and pools will consist of 2 four team pools. Each team will wrestle 3 matches in their pool. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the championship bracket and the rest will advance to the consolation bracket. Every team will get 5 matches. AWARDS: - Trophies for top 3 teams - Medals for the All-Tournament Team (Voted on by coaches). - MOW Award (Voted on by coaches). Wrestlers, coaches, bus drivers, and one additional are admitted for free. All others must pay. Hospitality will be provided for coaches and the bus drivers. All teams are allowed to bring in their own food and drink. However, we will be providing wrestler friendly concessions. This is an opportunity to get in 5 matches over the Christmas Holiday. We will wrestle on 4 mats which should allow this tournament to move very quickly. We are estimating to be done by 5:00 p.m. at the latest but may be done sooner. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to attend this tournament. HEAD COACH: Tim Harris Phone (423) 742-0369 E-mail harristeachsehs@hotmail.com

Here are the seeds. 103 Auman BN Schurlknight SH Milburn JC Joyner DB Yokley SS Gragg SE Kyker DC Whitaker G 112 King G Mann SH Goldstein SH Conaster ME Whitfield BN Meodows DC Hickey MW Beam E 119 Wilson SE Pearce SH Thomas DC Smith JC Kelley G Muse NG Malyar E Cefellers CD 125 Mann DB Looser JC Tapia SH Reed SE Kuhn MW Woods CC Vaquero DC Graybill CD 130 Biship SE Nease DC Snyder SH Rippetoe MW Bailey BN Richardson E Obrien DB Johnson CC 135 Herold MW Davidson SH Johnson JC Norton G Stuart CC Lemaster DB Perry SE Woodby E 140 Usuary SH Ivy JC Hoover DB Carlson G Thomas DC Marion CD 145 Bishop SE Churchman JC Stull SH Gilliam DB Burns MW Williams E Masoner ME Brimer G 152 Myers G Shipley MW Pearce E Riley SH Jordan DB Anderson CC Denton Barnes 160 Watkins JC Erwin DB Cruise SH Gaskins TN Lucy DC Harrison DC 171 King TN Mathes BN Kraus JC Cannon SH Keener DB Eller SE Perkins WG 189 Carter DB Whitt JC Hall CD Clark TN Rozar WG Johnson DC Grooms G Harris SH 215 Montgomery BN Lewis SH Coggins E Sanchez G Bryant DC Bradley JC Earls DB Jaynes CD 285 Fleming DB Sims G Feathers BN Arnold SE Ward CD Barnett SH Mann MW Taylor TN

I just noticed that there are only 8 regions for 2009. So I assume next year that each region will be getting 4 wrestlers in at every weight class for the state tournament. Has anyone heard if this is the case?

Michael Bishop is 19-0 and is the sixth seed. I think this just shows how deep alot of the weight classes are. If they are good enough they will make it through.

He is getting his weight under control but will be at 119 this weekend at the Fandetti Brawl.

Sullivan East vs Greeneville 103 Whitaker (G) by FF 112 Kelly (G) over Love (SE) by pin 119 King (G) by FF 125 Reed (SE) over Bond (G) by pin 130 M Bishop (SE) over Norton (G) 5-0 135 Carlson (G) by FF 140 Perry (SE) by FF 145 K Bishop (SE) over Brimer (G) by pin 152 Locklear (G) over Hall (SE) by pin 160 Myers (G) by FF 171 Eller (SE) over Dick (G) by pin 189 Grooms (G) over Berg (SE) 12-10 215 McQuallity (SE) over Ricker (G) 8-6 285 Sims (G) over Arnold (SE) by pin

Howerton from South Carolina also placed third last year in the state of SC so there should be some pretty good matches at that weight class. Bishop will be going 145 after Christmas so this may be the only time these two wrestle this year if Ridenour does not also go down. These two have wrestled before in AAU with Kole winning the last match and Ridnour winning the previous match.

Sullivan East will have all but one weight class filled after Christmas. We are minus four starters from last year with two wrestlers out for the year with season ending ailments. Both wrestlers were two of our better wrestlers too. One of those wrestlers is battling cancer right now. He is going to have surgery tomorrow and could use everyone's prayers.

Sullivan East 54 West Greene 24 Sullivan East 49 Chuckey Doak 24

Just because Kole says he will be wrestling 145 that does not mean he will be. He has all ready cut nearly 20 pounds and I am not sure he will be able to make it to 145 and be healthy.

Also, Bishop from Sullivan East will be at 152.

As I said they have the best shot after last year's performances. They both stepped up when it counted and ended up 2nd and 3rd in the state. Usary may have had a couple of bad matches but if you saw him at the state tournament he was wrestling on a different level. He also looked like a big 135 at the state tournament. As for Bishop he has not been beat by anyone in Region 1 for 2 years now. If he is so one dimensional then how has he continued to have the success that he has had. Last year at state he lost to Konz and then came back in dominating fashion to defeat several ranked wrestlers in a row. He is anything but one dimensional and if he is then not many wrestlers have figured it out yet. I do not doubt that King will have a great year and I hope he does. However, to get on here and belittle two other Region 1 wrestlers because you want to prove that your former teammate has the best shot, is comical. However, I still believe Region 1 is going to have a great year.