BoroRef

It should be a good finals match. Riverdale might give Blackman a little scare but the Blaze should be able to handle them despite Riverdale's strength in the middle weights. Tullahoma should be able to handle Siegel with out alot of trouble. The Blackman and Tullahoma match could very go down to the last bout. The match earlier in the season was a good match from all indications. Tullahoma has been very solid as of late and Blackman despite some injury issues has held together pretty well. Good luck to all teams.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought it might be the case but was unsure.

This definitely will be one to see. All 4 teams are very solid and could make some noise at the State Duals next week. It is almost a shame only two get the opportunity to go. All 4 could make a strong case to be there under the circumstances. I think it will be a Indy/Overton finals match with Indy winning a close one to get them on the last train to Clarksville. Overton should be able to get there with a win vs the runner up of the region (I believe it is region 7) that they are paired with. Just my 2 cents.....

"Stalling is stalling regardless of what year you are. NashRef, when did the referees start swallowing their whistles when it came to stalling? Your comment about the Ryan fans was condescending. I guess we will have to wait to see a good ref as well? Or, will they ship in somebody from Chattanooga who knows what stalling is? It doesn't have to hit you in the side of the face to call it." I personally take what you said in offense. Do not let the calls in one match that you do not agree with result in a indictment of all officials. Chattanooga has some very good officials but Nashville has more than there fair share as well. Until you have seen ALL officials and can back that statement up do not make generalisms with NOTHING to back that up!!

The MTWOA (Middle TN Wrestling Officials Association) uses the proceeds from the FRGC tournament to assist schools in the area in purchasing wrestling equipment (shoes, headgear, etc) and also donates to wrestling clubs to assist in travel expenses for tournaments (AAU, etc). Scholarships are not funded from the proceeds of the tournament.

No experienced official would have made that call. It is obvious from the description an inexperienced official made the call and in the situation given hopefully an equally inexperienced coach allowed it to happen. It is correct that a tech fall should have unfortunately been awarded. Table workers are rarely very experienced and good ones are truly worth their weight in gold.

Dave Holcombe has been around for several years. He was a former asst coach at Warren Co for a few years and has been in the area for quite a while. very good officla in my opinion.

We have a very good group of experienced officials in Middle, TN. Here are several that come to mind from around here. Jim McCool Jack Faircloth Rick Lowry PA Bowler Tim Abel Barry Clark Dave Holcombe Jonathan Williams

99ginger: A 4 point near fall should not have been awarded for a potentially dangerous siutation to begin with. The referee might have accidentially awarded the points to the wrong wrestler or you might have misunderstood who was receiving the points. You can get 2 or 3 points for a near fall situation. A additional point can be awarded for injury or bleeding by the defensive wrestler. If no near fall points are earned but bleeding or injury occurs then 2 points are awarded as long as near fall citeria has been met. A additional point or 2 points can be awarded if a penalty is given at the time of the near fall as well. Justsomeguy: refer to the point about not understanding who the points were given too.

CoachT: I will be at the match today. Would love to meet you and say hi/thanks. I will be the one wearing pinstripes.

Bucklateral: You missed the boat. The discussion was regarding the duals for A-AA. THERE ARE 8 REGIONS!!! Check the TSSAA site. The information you pulled was on the individual regions not for the duals classification that I was mentioning. The 2005-09 classifications are a seperate section.

Region 7 is Friendship Christian, Greenbrier, Sycamore and White House. They are part of Area 4 with Frayser from Memphis, Fairview,Cheatham Co, Creekwood,Harpeth, Montgomery Central and Pearl Cohn (no current program).

The Small Scholl Duals at the state this year is increases from 4 teams to 8. East Lit and MLK are in Region 6. FRA and Lipscomb are in Region 5. Both regions combine to makeup Area 3. The champions from each of the 8 regions will compete in Clarksville.

Bucklateral: MLK and East Lit. are in the same Region (region 6). Only one team will come from each of the 8 regions to the state duals tournament in February. MLK is a solid well coached team but East Lit. should be the team competing at Clarksville unless a an upset occurs. Just a FYI.

Marshall County is currently not fielding a wrestling team. They are out for a second season after their long time coach stepped down. They fielded a team for one year after he left. It is a shame too. They were a solid program with a good coach. Franklin County has a decent team that placed second at the siegel duals this last weekend (out of 6 teams).

It was Wilson Central. All teams for the dual tournment was listed on the first page of the post.

CBG: You did not handle the subject gently. And honestly I, for one, am offended. You reek of someone that is not originally from the area and therefore sounds like you have a predisposition towards the local officials. If I am wrong I stand corrected and apologize. But I believe no apology will be needed. I think that Middle TN and the Chattanooga area (along with some very solid officials in East TN) have some very experienced and more than capable officiating. That is not say we are perfect by no means and furthermore not beyond additional training (more is always better). But you make obsevration regarding training without any basis whatsoever. You never indicate what qualifies you to criticize officials in this area/state. The weight issue I completely agree with. A several officials do not have the neccessary physicals abilities to get around as much as they should be able to (which is something I will never allow myself to be accused of). Wrestling in college or being trained by the NCAA does not automatically mean we are not good officials or not capable of becoming one with training (which we have), mentorship and experience. And as for your last comment I wonder where you was when I was attending a state (TSSAA) clinic in the fall to become a better official and attending the preseason meetings as well.

Who is Art? And for the record I would put Middle TN officials against any from the state.

Walkenvol: I try to apply the rules as best as I can every time. That being said I completely agree that making split second calls can always make rules interpretations subject to criticism. I have waived my own calls off several times because of that very fact wanting to get it right even if I haver to admit I erred in the process. I do sincerely appreciate that you actually take the time to know the rules and bother to expect that they are observed as such. I make no claims to making every call right every time. No one can do that but putting yourself in the best possible position and knowing the rules gives you the best chance to make the right call as much as "humanly possible". Good discussion!!! Birdwatcher: Thanks for the clarification. Jakesdad: Yes, I was one of the officials that called the match on Friday.

Walkenvol: You are correct as to what the rule book says but give me a little credit for understanding what the spirit of the rule means. Wrestling aggressively can and does mean defending yourself from an opponents attempt to score from a move. I do not agrue or disagree from that point. The point in the context was meant as I said it. If you are not trying to score then you are not wrestling . You can defend and still attempt to score. While wrestling aggressively is not always synonymous with scoring you will be hard pressed to ever find many circumstances when that is not the case. And if the other man is doing his job you will be in one sorry position very quickly if you are not doing yours. Your rules interpretation as to "holding a position" is incorrect however. "Holding your position" is stalling if you are not attempting to improve it and therefore attempt to secure a fall. To answer your comment. I have read the rule book. And I hope I am not coming off bitter but the ask any official to do so is an insult. Our jobs hinge on that rule book. Ref's spend many hours before ever stepping on the mat reviewing the rules every year and discussing how we should interpret the rules. We have to qualify with tests to demonstrate our knowledge of these rules. We also volunteer our time at preseason tournaments to critic each other and attempt to improve ourselves. We also attend clinics/ state rules meetings held by the TSSAA to improve as well. You are incorrect that a stalemate is called in every case as stated in your post as well. I have NEVER called a stalemate for the situation as you describe it. CC Aggie: You completely misread my post and overreacted. I never called out the wreslter. I was using it as an example regarding stalling being called cinsistently throughout a match plain and simple!!!

Walkenvol: That is an excellent point. As a official that is often criticized for calling stalling more aggressively than most of my counterparts I make every conscious effort to call it in the first period as stringently as I do in the third period and beyond. This is not meant as a criticism of my fellow officials. I have the privilege and honor to work and learn from some of the very best the TSSAA has to offer and feel proud to be representing Middle TN. Given that,stalling is stalling if you are not making an honest attempt to score at ALL times during a match. I was not at Slamfest on Saturday but I read an earlier post that was critical of a stalling call for the same wrestler in question. I called him for the same penalty at a match previously and was questioned by the coach because "he had shot 15 times during the match and the other wrestler had not". That is great but when the call was made it was made regardless of what he had done prior to the stalling call occuring. Stalling is not hinged on how often during the course of a match one has been the aggressor. This in no way is to make any type of insinuation towards Jake Young either. He is pound for pound one of the best in the state hands down. But as walkenvol stated stalling should be called consistently, fairly and by the rules. Alas it is when interjecting the human element subject to interpretation and that is where the debate begins. Just my 2 cents

Dragonfly: The loss of a team point will not necessarily get the coach taken out. It sounds like the two penalties went both ways. One unsportsmanlike against the coaches (banter at officials) and then one against the wrestler for unsportsmanlike after the match (headgear toss). In that case the coach would have had to get another USC to get him taken out for the remainder of the event.

Every team wrestles each other for a total of 5 matches per team. best record wins unless there is a tie then the head to head determines the duals winner.

The rule according the NHFS and TSSAA rules is that you cannot wrestle up more than one weight. An example would be be if a kid weighs in at 168 he could then wrestle at 171 or 189 but not 215.

The Fred Rigsby Tournament is on Jan 19th at McGavock HS.