CoachBlair

Cameron went 2-2 on the day and will go for 7th place at 184 lbs tomorrow morning at the EIWA Conference tournament. Not bad for a true freshman in a pretty tough conference. Coach Blair

By "cost of the room." he means cost of food and supplies to stock the room. Some items were donated, but others had to be purchased. Williamson County Schools didn't make a significant profit off of this. The Ag Center keeps 100% of all concession sales. TSSAA and Williamson County Schools get nothing from concessions. The decision to not have the traditional hospitality room came largely from not being allowed access to the kitchen area, which is not apart of the Ag Center, but controlled by UTK extension offices. This made it too challenging to run the hospitality room the way our parents wanted to run it. TSSAA decided to take this off of Williamson County and handle it themselves. I ate out of the concession stand a couple times last year. It was reasonably priced and the food was good. When compared to purchasing a $20 hospitality pass that might not get used for every meal, it works out to about the same as a coach would pay for concessions. Plus, isn't it a great thing to know that I can bring in any food I want to eat on my own? Coach Blair

Wait, so nobody cares about the ice cream? Coach Blair

This is pretty close as to what it will be. By the finals, we are only down to 6 teams and this end of the arena is where the majority of the seating is. There will be plenty of seats for fans from both teams as well as anyone else. Coach Blair

I have just gotten confirmation: THERE WILL BE SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM FOR SALE IN THE CONCESSION STAND FOR BOTH TOURNAMENTS. Coach Blair

You're talking to the wrong person. TSSAA sets the schedule because, again, it's their tournament. If you have a complaint, contact Mark Reeves at TSSAA's main office. Coach Blair

Div I AAA Region 1: Science Hill, Jefferson County Region 2: Hardin Valley Academy, Knox West Region 3: Maryville, Heritage Region 4: Soddy Daisy, Bradley Region 5: Mt. Juliet, Blackman Region 6: Ravenwood, Independence Region 7: Clarksville, Dickson County Region 8: Houston, Cordova Div I A-AA Region 1: Greeneville Region 2: Pigeon Forge Region 3: Stone Memorial Region 4: Chattanooga Central Region 5: Hixson Region 6: Sycamore Region 7: Eagleville Region 8: East Literature Div II Father Ryan Montgomery Bell Academy Brentwood Academy McCallie Baylor Christian Brothers St. Benedict Briarcrest Div II Invitational Franklin Road Academy St. Andrews Sewanee St. Georges Knox Webb Coach Blair

First, let me start by reminding everyone that these are TSSAA's tournaments. We are only the grunts doing the leg work. We set it up the way they tell us. As far as the duals go, probably the main change is the finals in DI AAA, DI A-AA, and DII will all be wrestled at 7:30 on mats 1, 2, and 3 in the east endzone where the majority of the seating will be available. This will allow everyone to have a chance to view all 3 matches at once. Staging has always been a thought for the finals from day one. However, when you start talking logistics, it becomes a little more challenging. For 2 42'x42' mats with enough staging for a safe boundary, you're looking at a stage at least 50'x100'. That's 5000 sq ft of stage. I've called some companies about it and haven't gotten great feedback. The rental cost is around $10,000. Not sure about you, but I don't have that just laying around, and TSSAA isn't prepared to budget for that just yet. I have been working on getting an ice cream vendor if that makes everyone feel better. Coach Blair

By lunch on Monday. Coach Blair

Best Match: 125 Eric Feuerbacher (Blackman) vs. Alex Ward (McCallie), Feuerbacher wins in overtime 4-2. Lower Weight OW: Brock Ervin, Union County 112 Upper Weight OW: Caleb Ervin, Union County 152 Coach Blair

G. P. West/Bruin Invitational Varsity Team Scores G. P. West/Bruin Invitational Varsity Brackets I'll add JV and Freshmen tournament brackets tomorrow. Coach Blair

Varsity Brackets as of 1:30 Coach Blair

My administration has confirmed we will be able to go Friday and Saturday regardless of school closings. The schedule will not change. Coach Blair

Coaches, We now have the additional pound on Friday. So, Friday & Saturday will be scratch+4 (103 is 107 both days) Coach Blair

bcb, your wish is granted. We now have scratch+4 on Friday & Saturday (103 is 107 both days). Coach Blair

The G. P. West/Bruin Invitational is still on as scheduled. Wrestling will begin Friday at 5:00 for JV and Freshmen with Varsity starting at 6:00. We will wrestle through the quarters and any necessary pigtail consolation matches on Friday. Wrestling starts back up Saturday at 9:30 with Varsity semifinals beginning around 11:00. The medal round will start around 5:30, but could be sooner if time allows. Coaches, I'm still missing Varsity rosters for the following schools: Ensworth Franklin Beech Ravenwood Blackman McGavock Smyrna Overton Cookeville Lipscomb Mont Central Notre Dame I know several of you have not had a chance to practice yet this week due to school closings. Please try and get those rosters in as soon as possible. Thanks. Coach Blair

bcb, not quite sure where to start on this one. WAY too much info on so many different levels. Just the thought of pics of Lou in any kind if compromising situation made me throw up in my mouth a little...no, a lot. Anyway, as of right now, there is a 1 pound allowance on top of the 2 pound growth allowance for Friday for teams wrestling on Thursday (103 will be 106). However, I have put in a call to TSSAA to find out if there is a possibility of an additional pound in lieu of teams not being able to practice on Wednesday and getting a pound on Thursday's match because of it. I'll get the word out once I get a response. Coach Blair

Coach Tomlinson, what would you do without me? 2010 Franklin Invitational Varsity Team Scores 2010 Franklin Invitational Varsity Brackets 2010 Franklin Invitational JV Team Scores 2010 Franklin Invitational JV Brackets Coach Blair

Here are the Varsity brackets as of last night's seeding meeting. 2010 Franklin Invitational Varsity Brackets Here are the JV brackets 2010 Franklin Invitational JV Brackets Coach Blair

We're in the same boat Franklin's in. Friday the 17th is a full school day for us next year instead of a half day, and it's the last day of our exams. So, we are not going to be able to leave school early enough to make weigh-ins. Nothing against McCallie. It's an outstanding tournament and we enjoyed being there this year. Our schedule's just not going to allow it for next year. Coach Blair

Nice try, but according to Mapquest, even you are 3½ hours from the Ag Expo, and Johnson City is 4¾ hours. (That said, I've long supported having the traditionals and the duals in different areas of the state...) As far as attendance being up, I think they may be talking about combined attendance for the two tournaments--in other words, a larger gate for the duals could be balancing out a smaller one for the traditionals. Actually, what I was told was for each tournament on their own. The duals paid attendance was up from last year. The individual paid attendance was also up by about 200 or so from last year. When we met with TSSAA at the Ag Center back in the spring to talk about the duals and they were inquiring about bringing the individual there, I was also a little concerned about the seating. However, I was told that the paid attendance at UTC last year on the biggest day (finals) was about 2,200. When you throw in another 900 to 1000 wrestlers, coaches, tournament workers, media, etc. who don't pay, you get a crowd around 3,200. Coach Blair

For those of you wondering about attendance #s, preliminary totals from TSSAA show total paid attendance for both the duals and individual increased by about 200 for each tournament from last year's totals. I haven't gotten a day-by-day breakdown yet, but when I do, I'll let you all know. Speaking for all the Williamson County people who worked to put the events on, we hope they were enjoyable for all who attended and that everyone was made to feel welcomed and appreciated. As far as issues with the floor setup, lighting, prices, etc. if TSSAA choses to bring both or either tournaments back next year, we'll work to fine-tune where we can or have the ability to. Not sure what can be done about improving the lighting and gate prices are determined by TSSAA Board of Control, but those issues have been noted and discussions will take place to see what, if anything, could be done. I know there are a lot of people in this county that want to work as hard as possible to do what is best for wrestling in Tennessee, and for that, I am truly thankful. Coach Blair

Just talked to TSSAA. There will be no pound allowance on Thursday for inclement weather. Only allowance is the 2 pound growth after Christmas. An official statement appears on TSSAA's website http://www.tssaa.org/2009Champions/StateWrestling/home.htm. Coach Blair

Getting my info second hand. Round 1: Franklin beat Overton Ravenwood beat McGavock I don't know match scores. Ravenwood and Franklin are wrestling the finals match now. Coach Blair

Not to mention Jenkin's Deli.