CoachBlair

TD2, thank you. For right now I am staying at Brentwood to teach and help out in the athletic department wherever and however they may need me. No plans to go to TSSAA as I'm unaware of any openings. I don't really run the tournaments. Mike Parker has been the tournament director for years and his wife, Karen, has been his director for even longer. They do an amazing job, but there are so many others who help to put those events on. We have one middle school that feeds us and do not currently have our own kids' club. We've had several kids over the years come through Copperhead, Williamson County Wrestling, and WOSBO Clubs. Those clubs do a great job of building a fundamental base and providing additional opportunities for competition and advanced training.

hoosierdad, thank you.

Coach Crawford is great to work with. He is very supportive of wrestling as well as all the other sports at Brentwood High. He understands the value of athletes competing in multiple sports and encourages his football players to wrestle. He's also a very valuable resource in the weight room.

Brentwood High School is currently seeking applications for Head Wrestling Coach for the 2017-2018 school year. Currently we have teaching positions for next year in Math, Science, and Spanish. Please send resumes to Brentwood AD Ronnie Seignthaler at rons@wcs.edu. The Williamson County Schools online application and job posting can be found here: https://selfservice.wcs.edu/Apply/employmentopportunities/default.aspx I will still be teaching at Brentwood High and serving in some form in the athletic department, but will not be coaching. Thanks, Joe Blair

The Dream Team is selected by Middle Tennessee coaches at a meeting held the Sunday after the Region Duals in January. Results from the state tournament have no bearing on the selections. Coach Blair

True, but it's an interesting concept. Kind of makes sense. Coach Blair

Looks like the argument for California only having 1 state champion might be weakened a little if this happens. A bit more extreme of a split than we've done though. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/20/california-state-division/5661143/ Coach Blair

Thadd, this is a well-written letter with several good points. However, the people you are directing it to rarely, if ever, come on to coacht and read anything. If you want it seen and your points considered, you should email it to Mark Reeves at mreeves@tssaa.org, or call TSSAA's offices and ask to speak to him about this. I've read many things over the past few weeks on here and I'm wondering why more people don't just pick up a phone and call Mr. Reeves, or email him and voice their ideas and concerns. Or, better yet, actually come up with a plan and the means in which to carry it out and do the work involved to make it happen. That's what we as Williamson County coaches did when we first approached TSSAA about possibly bringing the State Duals to the Ag Center. We showed them our idea and plan and that we were willing to put in the work to pull it off. They liked what they saw and asked if we would be willing to handle the Traditional tournament also. What an honor to be asked to host the state championships of the sport you love. We agreed and then we put in the work to make it happen. You should know. You've been working on that floor before and your help has been very appreciated. If you want changes made to the state tournaments, then do what we did. Get on the phone and call Bridgestone Arena or Municipal or the Music City Center. Find out what it would take, how much it would cost. Call the Nashville Sports Council, and Nashville City and Davidson County commissioners. Get some community support to help iron out any kinks. Put in the work to make the changes that you want to see happen. I've learned that when it comes to the TSSAA, the best way to get things done is to do as much of the working and thinking for them on the front end. That's how we got double elimination finally passed. We showed them how it could work. Putting on the Duals and the Traditional tournaments takes more than just words on a message board. It takes a lot of good people, like yourself, doing a lot of hard work. The venue is just one small part of the big picture. I'm looking forward to a great weekend of awesome wrestling and I wish everyone involved the best of luck! Coach Blair

I don't think so. They haven't in the past. Coach Blair

D1 AAA seeds: 1. Cleveland 2. Wilson Central 3. Heritage D1 A-AA seeds: 1. Greeneville 2. Pigeon Forge 3. Hixson Brackets will probably be posted tomorrow once D2 is finalized. The duals will be run through trackwrestling. Coach Blair

I think this is correct so far. Help me out if not. Coach Blair

Region 6AAA: Round 1 - Ravenwood over McGavock (not sure of score), Brentwood 39 Overton 28 Finals - Ravenwood 40 Brentwood 20 Coach Blair

Good luck to all the teams competing tonight and tomorrow. Once you know results, please post them here. Coach Blair

Most of the D1 AAA region duals are this Thursday. Can anyone help me start filling in the pieces for the rest? D1 AAA: Region 1 - (rescheduled to Jan 24) Region 2 - (Jan 23) Region 3 - (Jan 23) Region 4 - (Jan 23) Region 5 - (Jan 23) Region 6 - (Jan 23) Region 7 - (Jan 23) Region 8 - (Jan 23-24) D1 A-AA: Region 1 - (Jan 23) Region 2 - (Jan 23) Region 3 - Alcoa Region 4 - Chattanooga Central Region 5 - Hixson Region 6 - White House Region 7 - (Jan 23) Region 8 - ? D2: Baylor Brentwood Academy Christian Brothers? Father Ryan McCallie MBA St. Benedict? MUS? Briarcrest? St. George? D2 Invitational: ? ? ? ? Coach Blair

If Elijah Oliver would have been cleared to compete, that would have added another AA. I'm hopeful he is ok to go soon. An amazing talent. Coach Blair

Hello all, I was made aware of this yesterday morning and Coach Grindstaff asked that I share the following with the wrestling community. Any support, prayer, and encouragement you can provide will be greatly appreciated. From Coach Grindstaff: This past Saturday, an Independence High School student athlete, Hunter Garstin, suffered a neck injury while wrestling in a tournament at Huntsville High School. The family is need of support and we feel it would best to get people together that want to help by having a meeting to address how our community can help out. This meeting will take place at Independence High School on Monday evening, December 9th @ 7 pm. ANYONE interested in helping to support Hunter and his family is welcome to attend. We will be discussing how we can support Hunter and his family, what our community can do and we will be developing our plan going forward. The family would also like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Here's a link to an article about Hunter. http://www.franklinhomepage.com/independence-wrestler-suffers-spinal-cord-injury-cms-13741#.UqXNwNJDvht Coach Blair

Cameron Croy (Sr-184) will be one of the team captains for Harvard this year. Coach Blair

Thanks for the info, silverpie. Coach Blair

What I know, or think I know, so far: AAA Region 1: Science Hill, Dobyns-Bennett Region 2: Knox Halls, Bearden Region 3: Heritage, Maryville Region 4: Cleveland, Soddy Daisy Region 5: Wilson Central, Blackman Region 6: Ravenwood, Independence Region 7: To be decided tonight, weather permitting Region 8: To be decided Saturday A-AA Region 1: Greeneville Region 2: Pigeon Forge Region 3: Stone Memorial Region 4: East Ridge Region 5: Hixson Region 6: Sycamore? (not sure) Region 7: Eagleville Region 8: ? (maybe MLK? or East Literature?) DII Baylor Brentwood Academy Christian Brothers Father Ryan McCallie MBA St. Benedict Coach Blair

A/AA will be a 12 man bracket. AAA will be 32 man bracket.

TSSAA Board of Control voted today to approve East Literature's proposal to split the DI Traditional state tournament into AAA and A/AA classifications beginning in the 2013-2014 season. AAA will have 8 regions with 4 qualifiers, A/AA will have 3 regions with 4 qualifiers. I'm not sure about the tournament formats, though, or what the new regions will look like. Also, the board approved changing the DII Traditional tournament from a 16 man bracket to an 8 man bracket beginning in 2013-2014. The board denied a request from McMinn Central to form a cooperative wrestling program with McMinn County. Coach Blair

To the best of my knowledge, the Board of Controls decided back in June to table this decision until the November 15 meeting. Then they will vote either to split DI individuals into AAA and A/AA or to leave it like it is. Whatever they decide will not go into effect until the 2013-2014 season when the new regional classifications cycle begins. Coach Blair

Thanks, this has been corrected. Coach Blair

Cameron Croy competing for Gold Medal Wrestling Club advanced to the semifinals and finished 5th at 185 lbs at the FILA Junior Nationals Freestyle tournament. Here's a breakdown of his tournament. 2011 ASICS FILA Jr Nationals - Freestyle Results for Gold Medal Wrestling Club FILA Jr. - Men`s FS 84 KG / 185 lbs - Cameron Croy's place is 5th and has scored 14.00 team points. Champ. Round 1 - Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) won by decision over Devin Hightower (Falcon Training Club) (Dec 1-0,4-5,1-0) Champ. Round 2 - Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) won by decision over Steve West (NYAC-Harlem) (Dec 1-0,4-2) Champ. Round 3 - Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) won by decision over Robert Doyle (Army) (Dec 4-2,5-2) Quarterfinal - Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) won by decision over Taylor Meeks (NWRTC) (Dec 2-0,3-1) Semifinal - Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh Wrestling Club) won by decision over Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) (Dec 4-1,6-0) Cons. Semi - Sam Wheeler (CF Indians) won by decision over Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) (Dec 2-2,1-2,1-0) 5th Place Match - Cameron Croy (Gold Medal Wrestling Club) won by pin over Sam Brooks (Team Overtime) (Pin 6-3,1:58) Coach Blair

Philip Simpson finishes 7th at a loaded 66 kg as well featuring Cary Kolat, Brent Metcalf, Teyon Ware, Josh Churella,and Chase Pami. All of those guys were either NCAA champions or finalists. Nick & Philip have represented TN so well for so many years on all levels now. Simply awesome for both! GOOD LUCK NICK IN THE FINALS! Coach Blair