gumbi1031

Consider Clarksville Northwest confirmed. See you in January. Coach Smitherman NWHS

As a coach at Northwest, I would point out that winning matches in December has very little impact on what happens in February. Therefore, for Mr. Roberts's sake, it might be better to quietly fly below the radar and continue to improve. If he can't beat his coach, he can't win his region. Good luck to all of the talented 103 pounders this weekend...should be a tough tourny.

Matt Keller is definitely on my list. Also, Jeff Lloyd from Clarksville Northwest. He was a one-legged state champion at 103 pounds in the early 1990's...no one wants to get beasted by a guy with one leg. Clarksville High had a wrestler named Matt McCarty a few years back who also was intimidating...saw him hurt more than a couple good wrestlers with his take-no-prisoners mentality on the mat.

Anyone have full match results? The newspaper description in Clarksville is a bit lacking. Names? Scores?

Not a single fan out there calling for the big upsets? No Northwest over Bradley, William Blount over Cleveland, Overton over Ooltewah, Science Hill over Clarksville? I'm shocked. Where are the hardcore fans that always call for their team to win? It's the state tournament. Anything can happen, and usually does. The Viking family congratulates all the young men and coaches that have made it this far, and may the hardest working team win.

This year had as many early upsets and surprises as any tournament I can remember. Who were the biggest bracket busters? One that deserves some notice (finally) is Cory Alexander (125) from Northwest High School. He had critics from the region 9 area all year long that said he didn't work hard enough and was too cocky. He walked into the tournament with one loss but still was not picked to place. He would eventually defeat the 6th, 5th, and 4th place finishers in the tournament and holds a victory over the 2nd place finisher. His one loss in the tourny came to Graham of Bradley Central, the eventual champion. Who else surprised people by defeating top notch opponents and winning medals?

As an educator before a coach, I believe in giving every kid a second (third, fourth, fifth) chance. However, I also believe in holding young adults accountable for their actions. If the parties involved believe the punishment fit the crime and has been paid in full, then get off the kids back. On the other hand, call a spade a spade. I am confused by the idea that breaking the law was a "mistake". A mistake is messing up on a math problem in class. It seems to me that this was a poor decision, as I'm sure all the kids involved realized what they were doing is wrong. I'm sure Mr. Mang doesn't want to make excuses for his performance on or off the mat, so we shouldn't either. A lack of judgement might be a better way to describe what has transpired, not a "mistake". I do hope he has every opportunity to repay his family, community, and wrestling brotherhood. And I hope even more that he takes those opportunities.

I've got one result for those of you who want to talk down to a hard working athlete: 125 Champion: Cory Alexander-Northwest High Most Outstanding Wrestler: Cory Alexander-Northwest High

Has Al Thomas from Northeast wrestled any at 103? He may be very tough at that weight.

As friends with and competitors against the Drinkwine boys, I can attest to the fact that it would be hard to find a better group of people. My condolences to you guys. May God bless you all. Coach Smitherman Northwest High School/UTC Alum

Just to clarify: Northwest did score 9 against the Soddy monster. They do look solid from top to bottom. A well coached team that has been together a long time. Good luck to them the rest of the year. It is tough being on top of the mountain, because everybody wants to knock you off.

Chubs, quit playing on coacht at school. And quit crying. There's no crying in wrestling, even if you are a frail, feeble, simple-minded, attention-needy, little girl. Wall time for wasting class time.

I coach a very competitive female wrestler. She has earned her varsity spot the past two seasons (neither of which were at 103) and is one of the hardest workers in our room day after day. She has even earned a captain's spot on our team. However.... In my opinion, it is a lose-lose situation for every boy she wrestles. If they win, "Wow, you beat a girl". If they lose...ouch. And we have seen a lot of "ouches" this season. I would much rather see our female athletes facing other females. TSSAA be darned. At least one other state (Texas maybe...somebody help me out) has a female wrestling division. I believe we would have a lot more females interested if it were an all girl team. It must be intimidating to join a program of guys trying to kill you. Case in point: Soddy vs. Red Bank Every year, those programs invite girls at their schools to practice for a few weeks to compete at a fundraiser. Sounds silly, but they get serious. Not to mention there are 30+ girls a side that come out. So, IMO, the argument about too little female interest is weak. By the way, our girl will be competing at McGavock in the female tournament. I would like to see more of that kind of thing to promote even more interest. Maybe, just maybe, in the next couple of years we will see enough interest to get TSSAA to concede to a female division.

Cory Alexander from Northwest is another good wrestler in an extremely tough weight class. He pinned Leilhadl (sp?) from Hendersonville, recently techfalled Bryce Braydon from Mt. Juliet, and has only one loss in a very close and exciting match to Cash from BA. Maybe he should get noticed, but so should a lot of other exceptional athletes at 119. Question to all you rankers out there: Has anyone dared to rank the female wrestlers in TN? Who knows which ladies will be at the USGWA tournament at McGavock? Should be fun to watch female wrestling continue to grow and get the recognition it deserves.

If a student who never participated in college athletics went back to college years after getting their degree, would they have athletic eligibility? I can't seem to find much info on this. No, I'm not planning on going back to school for sports, but I got to thinking, wouldn't it be cool to match up some of these "old" coaches with today's college kids. Somebody help me out with the eligibility rules (and maybe some old vs. young match ups you'd like to see).

Loc Tran (bradley central) vs. (I think) Darren McKnight (Redbank) Match a few years ago where an athlete (maybe 171) jumped up off the guy with a couple seconds left thinking he had won. The guy got the escape, went into overtime and won. Crazy match. Someone help me out with the names. Luke Sanders (Mont. Central) winning a questionable title two years ago was also a lot of fun to watch. Hands down best heavyweight match Pennington v. Crosby

I've read the updated hydration rules and am still a little confused on the additional two percent body weight rule. Last year you needed a doctor's note, but now everyone gets it. Is that true even if you are under 7% body fat? Example: wrestler weighs 136 at 5% body fat. Does the additional 2 % body weight allowance apply to allow him to wrestle 135?

Gotta add Noman from Overton. Lot's of kids saying "No man can beat me" this year

I heard Kenwood got te number one seed at every weight class, and they got two wrestlers in the tournament at some weights. They'll be tough to beat. I'm not sure what goes on in those seeding meetings.

As a region 7 coach myself, I will vouch for the quality of coaching at northeast. Those coaches have taken a team that has struggled mightily in the last couple of years and put together some tough wrestlers (119 and 171 included). I agree that Barnett is a classy kid and it is unfortunate that he doesn't have the opportunity to start, but it did sound a bit like an attack on the coaches. I hope no one is viewing the behavior or ability of the athletes on the coaching staff.

After the butt-whooping dished out last weekend, I think C. McCracken (Northwest) should be ranked.

I heard that a girl beat up on some guys...poor guys!!! Way to go Caitlyn.

It's good to not be the school known for athletes with poor attitudes anymore. I haven't heard one coach get upset about Masters's actions, and they are the ones that really know him. Regardless, sounds like Rossview was able to pick it up when they needed to. Region duals between Rossview and Clarksville? I wonder if there will be as much coach bashing after that one. Probably not from Clarksville High. They have at least as much manners as the Kenwood wrestlers, who seem to be able to both win and lose with some dignity.

I swear by the bulky Brute Shells. They don't slide, protect my knees, and can be handwashed without wearing out (just don't put them in the dryer). The sleeve stays tight on my legs without constricting, and the padding keeps the fluid from building up on my knees when they get banged around. Other smaller ones don't provide enough impact protection.

I heard that McCracken girl was good...for a girl. Too bad she's a FATTY!!!