SilentJohn

Not to take anything away from Bradley's great run the last 10 years, but wrestling has been around a lot longer than that. Red Bank, for example, has been kind of down in that same time period but still had the most individual champions if I'm not mistaken, something like 46 or47. So Their run the last 10 years has been fantastic and something to be truly respected, but if you meant all-time top program in TN they still have a way to go to catch some of the schools mentioned above. They just might do it though.

Too nice of an idea to actually work, I'm afraid. How about a post-season one day invitational under the USAW or AAU banner, which would take the TSSAA out of the equation? Simply invite the place-winners from DI & DII and let the kids settle the debate once and for all. No kid would be forced to attend but I bet most would. You get more schools involved which would boost the attendance.

The unusal thing about this board is that you have a wide range of ages on here from High School Kids on up to old farts like me, so I guess some immaturity will be displayed from time to time. But I do know one thing, Steve Henry demands a high level of sportsmanship from his kids. I was on his team in 86 when he kicked his best wrestler off the team on the spot in front of gym full of people for doing something stupid to an opponent. This was our only returning region placewinner back when only 4 from Chattanooga went to the state, and he didnt give it a second thought. That is the kind of example he sets for those kids, that there is a right way and a wrong way to act. Now, times have changed and kids have changed too, but I doubt that you can find many teams that focus on sportsmanship as much as Soddy-Daisy does.

Perhaps Im biased because of the number of teachers in my family, but I think the State's attitude toward the homeschool movement is understandable. On the other hand, I feel bad for a kid who wants to wrestle but can't. If they live near Chattanooga, they can find a lot of folkstyle and freestyle tournaments down in Georgia. I've been working on starting a new club here hopefully in the next year or so and they would be welcome there, that's for sure. So will the kids who go to one of the many church schools that keep popping up around here. Hopefully the interest will be there to bring these kids into the same room with their public school(and private, for that matter) peers. I think that could benefit them all.

"The bottom line in the criterion for success should not be how much or how often we, as a coaches, have won, but did we make a contribution to the overall success of the young people with whom we come in contact. " True words. I often wonder if my coach really knows how much of an affect he has had on not just myself but hundreds of the kids he's had in is program. A lot of these guys do more than teach talkedowns, a lot of them act as surrogate fathers and social workers too.

Wow... I've known Coach Henry for almost 20 years and I never knew he wrestled at Middle. All I knew was that he ran track. I guess you can learn something new every day.

Empro When did Connell coach Steve Henry? Did Gordon coach at Red Bank, I never knew that? I agree with you about him and about the McCallie teams of old, btw. For my money the best team I ever saw was the McCallie squad with Craig Long, Seifert, Wunderlich, Vance, etc. They dominated the State tournament with close to 300 points as I remember--and this was before the split and with 12 weight classes. Soddy-Daisy had probably their best team ever that year and was a distant second despite having 7 or 8 place-winners out of 12 wieghts.

Absoultely agree with Sly, my team is in the duals every year but I am just not driving to Clarkesville to see them. I have, however, seen at least a little bit of the "traditional" state tournament every year since they brought it to Big Mac when I was in High School back in the 80's. And that includes a 10 year stint living in Middle Tenn. I think in Chattanooga and Nashville you have more of a wrestling community at-large, made up of former wrestlers, coaches, officials, general fans, etc. This is bound to generate higher attendance it seems to me.

You're right, this is a wrestling site. In the interest of not appearing to be on a "witch hunt" or cluttering this board with off-topic chatter, this is the last I will say on the subject. Feel free to private message me if you want to talk more on the subject, otherwise I'm done.

I was there from 85-87, you?

Ok Cobrakid, the injury thing would make sense to me as to why Campbell could be out of shape. I've been reading through this thread and wondering how a SD wrestler could be out of shape this late in the year. I wrestled for Steve Henry back in the Stone Age and we were almost always better conditioned than our opponents. Unless he's started taking it easy on the kids lately, I would expect the same to be true today, but the injury situation makes sense to me.

Witch hunt? Now that's laughable. If you'll go back and read my posts I never implied that I believe Mr. Pala is in fact a neo-nazi or skinhead. I don't in fact believe that he is. But the fact remains, and it is an indisputable fact, that he has on the front of his house a flag that neo-nazi and skinhead groups, including according to the Chattanooga Police Dept., groups in this area, use to identify themselves to each other becuause they are too cowardly in most cases to display the real thing. What I did question, having been told by several people who are in a position to know him very well that he is aware of the current use of the flag and is displaying it in order to "mess with the neighbors." Having been told that over and over I began to question why a public school teacher would put their career in jeopardy out of some infantile need to get attention. The fact that several people on here like yourself speak so highly of him makes the whole situation even more perplexing. I assure you that I am not on a witch hunt, and I have no intention of going out of my way to cause trouble for Mr. Pala. His principal is a long time family friend, and that man would fire his own mother I assure you if she did something that brought negative attention to his beloved alma mater. No, someone brought the subject up, and I merely interjected my own opinions and what facts I have. People are free to make up their own minds, as are you. We can simply agree to disagree on this subject.

Actually MTSU does hace a team. Their non-scholarship, which means they compete solely for the love of the sport. They had a few national champions for the organization they compete in last year. In any case, as a Chattanooga fan I have no axe to grind with Clarkesville, from what I have seen they do a good job. What I do disagree with is having any team host a State Championship. The best thing to do, IMO, would be to move the thing to The Murph, expand to 16 teams for D1. They would put a lot more ###### in the seats, and that is the bottom line to the TSSAA anyway.

Actually, BHD, you are incorrect. While Pala told you the correct origin of the flag, what he didn't tell you is that many neo-nazi and white supremicist groups, as they have done with other symbols, use this flag in lieu of their more overt symbology out of a need to stay somewhat underground. It is my understanding from people who are acquaintences of his that he is aware of this also. I could cite numerous sources but better yet just check it out on the internet yourself, don't take my word for it. If you would like to talk to someone about it in person, I would suggest calling the Chattanooga City Police Department and asking to speak with a detective in the Gang Activity Task Force--his name escapes me but our conversation was quite enlightening. I will assure you that they are well aware of the meaning and uses of the flag in question.

Well, I believe Shazzon Bradley from McMinn would have been one them. It's been a while, but I seem to remember him winning the "Tough Man" contest at the Memorial Auditorium when he was still in high school. So he would have a legitimate claim.

Thanks JustWrestle BHD I hear you and like I said, I don't know the guy, but he's an adult and therefore responsible for his actions. I dont wish any ill towards the guy, but I certainly do not like the fact that his across the street neighbors who are customers of mine, and just wonderful people and who happen to be African American have to see a Nazi flag when they leave for work every day. I am from Hixson and lived in Nashville for ten years. When my wife and I moved back here we found a great little subdivision where white and black people mixed in together and everybody gets along. Having to see a symbol used by hate groups at least twice a day is an affront to that, and if you know Mr. Pala please ask him why he feels the need to display such a symbol for all of us to see. Again, I do not know him nor do I claim to know his motivations, but I do question why he seems to feel the need to do something so antagonistic to his neighbors, and when questioned about it he assumes an air of indignation that anyone would even mention it, as if the questioner has offended him in some way. I guess I just find it next to impossible to believe that a reasonable person in this day & age would not understand why that flag would offend people. So it is difficult for most of us not to interpret his diplaying the flag as him "getting in our business." As for myself, I am content to mind my own business for the most part. If someone wanted to make things difficult for his career in Hamilton Co. over this they certainly could, but that will not be me. I intend to let bygones be bygones. But perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the whole situation is the fact that a good guy who does a lot for kids, as you said , would fail to see that he has placed himself under public scrutiny in the name of some sophomoric need to antagonize others. If he is the kind of person you say,, then that is sad.

I've never met the guy myself, but I do live in the subdivision in question. It's true that he flies a flag on his house that some hate groups use. According to neighbors who have asked about it, he says he is aware of the flags use and that he just likes it because he has an intrest in old flags, or something to that affect. Again, I have never spoken to the guy, but I know people who know him and they characterize him to me as someone who likes to do things to "mess with people." If this is the case, he definitely has some growing up to do. In the adult world one doesn't get very far by intentionally alienating and offending one's neighbors just "to mess with them." What make his decision even harder to understand is the fact that he is a pubic school teacher. Because they work with children, teachers' public behaviors are scrutinized more than most of us. Thats why a lot of them wouldnt, say, buy beer in a place where they might run into some of their students. The school board frowns upon teachers doing anything contraversial to draw negative attention to themselves or the schools. So no, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pala, but he hasn't done very much to engratiate himself to me or my neighbors. He could do a lot by simply growing up and removing that stupid Nazi flag though.

No offense intended SLY, and I do appreciate the sponsers efforts in televising the final. But I have heard many comments about the announcers being, how should I put this, less than objective regarding the Bradley kids versus everyone else. But perhaps your're right; maybee it seemed that way by default because of the success they had last year. And even so, if you pay for it you can do pretty much whatever you want to with it.

I hope it's not just another Bradley infomercial like last year. The one guy looked like Rick Flair, was he the one passing out hundred dollar handshakes to the Bradley guys?

I've always thought they should have 2 teams from each region going back to 89. When we (SD) won it the 1st time McCallie or Hixson either one could have beaten Franklin in the finals, but we were the hot team at the right time. I think they should move the duals to Murphy Center, since it's the geographical center of the state, and expand the format to include that second team from each region. I guarantee attendance would increase and they could make a profit.

Not Coach Henry, but I was discussing this with my neighbor who is a coach at Hixson, and as far as he could remember the rule only applies to school nights, so a Saturday event would be up to the hosts' discression. Not sure if that is the situation, but that would certainly make sense to me. The thing is with so many of the teams coming from the other side of Monteagle, who knows how it will play out.

Do you know when wrestling is going to begin? I hope the weather doesn't keep the out of town teams from making it. It looks like it will be clear Sarurday but Friday could be bad.

If you believe in comparative scores, both have beaten a very good Baylor team in close matches with similar scores. I think all signs point to a close ,tough match in the low 30's either way.

Does anyone have any info about how this one turned out? I couldnt attend due to illness and I'm having trouble finding any mention of it online or in the media.

That's pretty impressive, especially the win over McEachern. Do you know if there are complete results posted anywhere?