MHCoach

I watched both videos....And my only major concern, is where was the Cleveland Coach....was he even coaching the match. Why didn't he get his wrestler off the head and try a different approach. After the first call, which was legit, the coach should have been yelling at him to come off the head and go to wrist or arms, or inside control....instead the second offense came....then the coach still didn't coach him out of the violation. This match controversy could have been alleviated by the coach. Coach your wrestler, if the call is grabbing headgear....get off the head....If the call is locked hands, cut him loose.....or go to a different break down. The coach is to blame here. Both the wrestlers were wrestling their butts off. If anything, after the first call when the coach went to the table, he should have ask the ref to explain it to the wrestler if he didn't understand. The refs calls were right on, with the first and second calls, the third call was not headgear, and the forth was. If I stick my hand in the fire one time and get burnt, do you think I'm going to do it again.....Seems like this could go back and forth the he said, she said Bologna, but the bottom line is, the ref was calling a good match, the wrestlers were wrestling hard, let it go......

That is great to know.....thanks for the post.....Appreciate it.....

As always....no one ever has much to say about Cookeville. Throughout the season no on ever says anything about Cookeville....They are out in the middle of Tn with no wrestling teams around them....and everyone else gets all the hipe, and then out of no where, they sneak in and slay the 4th place finish. I don't think they get the recognition they deserve. They have a great coach, and a great program. Great Job Cookeville, you finished very well this season. Stand tall and be proud.....Only two seniors on the starting roster....so watch out again next year......They may have another good one if everyone stays healthy......Nice Finish......

I had the opportunity to watch these two wrestlers wrestle several times this season. I can say they are both very passionate and very aggressive wrestlers. But reading the above statement, I would have to say, this is just a little one sided. If you look back at the region 3 215lb finals last week, this same thing happen. The ref calling that match between the same two wrestlers didn't call the headgear violation, but he made sure he called a stalling call on White. I would like to say, that if the shoe was on the other foot, Friday night, how different would the above statement have been. I agree with several other comments on this issue, rules are rules and if your going to call stalling or locked hands, then you must call the headgear violation as well. If it would have been White who made the headgear violation, I'm sure you wouldn't have heard the Cleveland Coaches or any other Chattanooga Coaches saying anything about it then. I have to say, I have seen Tim Able call many matches, and I can't say there is a more consistent ref in the state and the secondary ref who was backing Able, also called one of the head gear violations, seen from a different angle. Again, nothing against Ofori, he is a tough wrestler, but, it was clearly the right call. I would have liked to see them finish the match, but that is part of the sport. He did throw is head gear after the match, showing unsportsmanlike conduct also. There were no complaints or crying last week from the Cookeville Coach in the news paper, when they called White for Stalling when both wrestlers were clearly violating that rule.

Yes he is, why do you ask? He's just a Freshman.

Well said legtech.....I bet I know who you are......Let me take a wild guess......Post Master? I'm glad you spoke up and gave Coach Cook some defense. Nicely put, and I agree....Coach Cook is a stand up Coach, one of the best I have seen since I have been coaching......It's amazing how a small incident can be blown so far out of whack. Lets just let the boys wrestle.....they deserve that from us.....

Cookeville had 1 senior wrestling on Saturday. And yes I was there, and I can tell you that on a different day, White would have pinned Todd. Not sure what was up with White Saturday, but he wasn't his usual self. I don't take anything away from Todd, he did wrestle good. Lets just hope they meet again......No excuses for White, but if they meet again, there will be a different outcome.

Your data on the Fith -eighth is inaccurate. Cookeville beat Hendersonville and Placed 5th over all. Cookeville beat Overton, and Ravenwood. Cookeville lost one match against Indy, 42-36

He didn't loose, the Cookeville Coach stopped the match, and let the Rossview wrestler win, White lost his temper and instead of letting the match continue, the Coach stopped the match and gave the forfeit to Rossview. Cookeville was beating them pretty bad anyway. I think Rossview only won a match or two......Trust me, the Rossview 215 did not beat White, White was dominating him pretty bad......not even the same caliber wrestlers......

Cookeville beats Warren Co., Lebanon, and Oakland @ Warren Co. by large margins.

Your absolutely right, I stand corrected. I should not have said that, and I apologize for that statement. Good competitive wrestlers can make that call on their own.

All I was stating there was if the situation was normal and Young would not have been injured, he naturally wins his next match, Salada is pulled back into the consolation bracket, there would be different outcomes in the final result.

I'm not sure you read my post correctly. I had no ill or negative feedback against any wrestler. In fact I commended Young and Tolbert by name. I was making my point that the way the tournament is set-up, there are wrestlers who slip through the gap. You can believe what you like, and you are entitled to that, and I say again, I intended no disrespect to any wrestler personally. To call me Moronic is your opinion and you are granted that right. I guess next season will answer the questions for us all. Good luck!

Taking nothing away from Young or Tolbert, but Salada has been under rated all season. It may have to do with the fact that he is from Cookeville and is out of the net for rating and viewing from most who participate in these forums. Salada is only a Sophomore, so he'll be back next season.All I know is there will be several medalist at 171 who should know they did not win a true place position, not by any fault of their own, but it happen. I wish Young well and hope his injury is minor, I don't wish a post season injury on anyone. Looks as though Tolbert is the sure win now. The TSSAA needs to take a serious look at how they can change the brackets to double elimination to give wrestlers that fair shake in the event something like this happens. I guess you can chalk this one up to the nature of the beast.........Wrestle on.......

Not sure what happen to Young, but he messed up Salada's chance to pull back in. That is why the State needs to go to Double Elimination............Salada is now completely out, and with the 4-3 loss to Young, it goes to show you he should have been in the top three. Best out of 5, Salada would win half......Tolbert, same, .........Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda,............

Well said YouthCoach, I believe you are on track......The bottom line is, this is the High School State Championship, with 32man brackets, there is going to be wrestlers who draw a bad position and could easily be eliminated due to the luck of the draw......you eliminate the luck of the draw by using the double elimination tournament. Someone needs to wake up and give these Tennessee HS wrestlers a chance to prove their selves. Some not so qualified wrestlers are slipping through the gaps and some better wrestlers are getting shafted due to this system.

Well if you don't want to wrestle into the late hours, you have three days of State Tournament scheduled, reschedule the three days with less breaks and keeping more mats on the floor until the finals. Or......... you could look at going to a bigger facility. What ever the case, give the boys a chance. Prime example this year is 171lbs. Jake Young barley beats John Salada 4-3 then finds out his shoulder is injured and that takes out two Region wrestlers who were pretty much guaranteed to medal. Do we call that fair?

It was a good tournament with lots of good hard wrestling. Thanks to everyone who helped with it. Thanks to all the coaches and teams for a great weekend of wrestling. Good luck to all who qualified for the State Tourney. Thanks........