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The Region 8 tournament is just ahead so I’ve prepared a preview of sorts for folks to mull over. With late season weight shifts I realize I’ve probably gotten some folks at the wrong weight. We can discuss and correct those. Also some teams have continually bumped up a wrestler to cover a weight when they have multiple, interchangeable wrestlers at a lower one. It was difficult in some cases to determine who these teams will eventually move up permanently for the tournament but I took a guess in those cases. Those are open to discussion as well. The categories: Odds on Favorite -- self-explanatory In The Mix – Likely qualifiers some of who will challenge for the title. On the Bubble – Will have to upset someone to get in top 4, but very doable. Dark Horse – A long shot but not impossible. Gonna Need a lot of help. These are all just humble opinions. Enjoy. 106 Odds-On Favorite: Nick Carter (Cor) In The Mix: Jeremy Henson (Col); Matthew Smolin (Hou); Abel (Bol) On the Bubble: None Dark Horse Qualify: (Tennyson Thomas (Arl) Nick Carter is the overwhelming favorite to take this weight. He is undefeated in the region with wins by fall over Smolin, Henson Olson, and Abel. Jeremy Henson and Smolin will likely face one another in the semis for the shot at Carter in the Finals. Abel and Olson will battle it out for the last qualifying spot. 113 Odds-On Favorite: Alex Carroll In The Mix: Donovan Nason, Alex Connell, and Sharrif Thomas On the Bubble: Dalton Ridling Dark Horse Qualify: None Carroll should walk out with the region championship comfortably. Dalton Ridling has better than even chance to qualify top 4 if he can make the weight. 120 Odds-On Favorite: Bryce Dodson (Arl) In The Mix: Mitchell Nguyn (Col); Travis Arthur (Hou); Steven Poe (Bar) On the Bubble: None Dark Horse Qualify: Daiquan McInnis (Bol) This will be one of the more interesting weights to follow with three state placer caliber wrestlers in Dodson, Nguyn, and Arthur. Dodson is the slight favorite based on his win over Arthur and his steady dominance of opponents in the region at this weight. Nguyn is the seasoned senior dropping down from 126. He easily has the most high school experience and that could serve to put him over the top if either Dodson or Arthur let nerves get the best of them. Look for Nguyn and Arthur to meet in the semis if Dodson gets the #1 seed. 126 Odds-On Favorite: Braun Stephens (Bar) In The Mix: Tyler Brown (Bri); Bailey Hulley (Arl); Chase Moncies (Mil) On the Bubble: Brian Watkins (Hou) Dark Horse Qualify: If Stephens wrestles at this weight he will be the solid favorite over Tyler Brown. Hulley and Moncies will contend for 3rd. Watkins has a good chance to upset either Moncies or Hulley if either is not wrestling to their capabilities. If Stephens stays up at 132, then his replacement, David Thomas, will immediately drop into the mix with Bailey and Moncies to see who faces Brown in the finals. 132 Odds-On Favorite: Andrew Zarshenas (Arl) In The Mix: Greyson Young (Hou); Diego Scott-McCabe (Col); Andrea Spencer (Mem) On the Bubble: Braun Stephens (Bar) Dark Horse Qualify: Will Solomon (Mil) 5th ranked Zarshenas is a solid favorite over all other contenders with wins over Young, DSM, and Stephens. If Stephens stays up at this weight, look for him to battle it out in a semi with Young for the chance at Zarshenas in the finals. That should be a good semi. Solomon has a chance to qualify if Stephens is at 126 and out of this picture. 138 Odds-On Favorite: Kris Bledsoe (Bar) In The Mix: Alaa Shihadeh (Hou), Matthew Richardson (Col), Will Craft (Arl) On the Bubble: Lafe Reinhart (Kin) Dark Horse Qualify: Destion Edwards (Bol) Had to make someone the favorite so I gave the slightest of edges to Bledsoe. This weight class is totally up for grabs and, like 120, has state placer quality wrestlers at the top. Richardson has a win over Bledsoe (@ 145) who has a win over Shihadeh, who has a win over Richardson. Craft has losses to both, Shihadeh and Matthews but each loss was by 2 points so he has to be reckoned with as well. Deep weight leaves Reinhart and Edwards on the outside looking in. 145 Odds-On Favorite: James Costner (Cor) In The Mix: Chris Hall (Bar), Matthew Dale (Hou) On the Bubble: Josiah Miller (Ger), Jonathan Kreiser (Arl) Dark Horse Qualify: Dejerion Williams (Rid) Costner is the clear favorite at 145 with decisive wins over Dale and Hall. Look for Dale and Hall to meet up in the semis barring an upset. There is good depth at this weight with Williams, Kreiser, and Miller all capable of upsetting Hall or Dale. The battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th will be a good one. 152 Odds-On Favorite: Nathan Enzor (Arl) In The Mix: Seth Williams (Col), Dalton Mock (Hou), Ahmad Richardson (Cor) On the Bubble: Reco Hall (Mem) Dark Horse Qualify: Jackson Cook (Mil) Another weight with good depth. Enzor has wins over Williams and Mock while Richardson has a win over Mock as well but a loss to Williams. The semis could end up rematches between Enzor v. Mock and Williams v. Richardson. Barring a stumble, expect Enzor to claim the title with a scrum for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Reco Hall and Jackson Cook could provide some surprises in the battle for qualifiers and cannot be overlooked. 160 Odds-On Favorite: Kevin Reeves (Bar) In The Mix: Matthew Mullins (Cor), Matt Wideman (Arl), Gradon Yoder (Col) On the Bubble: Luis Hernandez (Mil), Dark Horse Qualify: Richard Byrd (Bol) Expect Reeves to see Mullins in a rematch of their dual match which was won by Mullins. I am giving the edge to Reeves, however, because Mullins lost to Mock and was losing to Enzor when he caught him in a head-and-arm for the fall. Wideman and Yoder have the inside track on the other qualifying spots but if Hernandez comes down to 160 as speculated, he cannot be looked past by either of these two despite having lost to both during the regular season. Byrd will be a longshot to make it in especially if Hernandez wrestles here. 170 Odds-On Favorite: Jeffrey Houston (Ger) In The Mix: Drequan Adams (Cor), Sina Setayeshpour (Hou), Ramsey Essex (Bri) On the Bubble: Kenney Skylar (Col), George Stewart (Bar) Dark Horse Qualify: Rayveon Hardin (Arl), No one here stands out as head-and-shoulders above the rest but Jeffrey Houston has been a consistent winner with no major losses to speak of in the region. Should be a good battle all four spots with Hardin, Stewart, and Kenney capable of providing surprises. Ramsey Essex has some quality wins at 182 over Tarver and Hardin. If you put a gun to my head I’d probably say a Houston-Setayeshpour final. 182 Odds-On Favorite: Cameron Tarver (Col) In The Mix: Wyatt Beal (Hou), Ismael Bakakly (Cor), Brandon Patterson (Bol) On the Bubble: None Dark Horse Qualify: None Tarver is the favorite in a weak weight class. 195 Odds-On Favorite: Tyree Daniels (Cor) In The Mix: Wesley Walker (Mil), Nathan Hale (Col), Chris Stowe (Arl) On the Bubble: Chastain Oliver (Bol), Ahmad Malawi (Kin) Dark Horse Qualify: Nicholas Wilson (Bar) Daniels is the class of weight. Hale and Stowe have split matches. Expect to see them battling for 3rd as Walker tries to avenge an earlier loss to Daniels in the finals. 220 Odds-On Favorite: Travis Williams (SW) In The Mix: Jeremy Washburn (Bar), Kraig Robinson (Mil), Alexander Tekle (Hou) On the Bubble: Elijah Holcomb (Col), Emanuel Barrientos (Bar)** Dark Horse Qualify: Kylan Gray (Arl) Williams is the probable one-seed. Washburn will make it interesting as will Tekle. I can see Williams, Washburn, Tekle, and Robinson in that order. ** Not sure how it would shake out if Barrientos (Bar) goes at this weight instead of Washburn. Barrientos is a small heavy who has wrestled at 220 at least once this year. Not enough data to judge his effectiveness at 220 having lost what I think was his only time wrestling at 220 (LBF to Hale who is a true 195). 285 Odds-On Favorite: Tres Ring (Col) In The Mix: Emanuel Barrientos (Bar), Quinton Harrison (Mil), Mitch Whitten (Arl) On the Bubble: Stephan Stuckey (Kin), Radarrius Anderson (Mem) Dark Horse Qualify: Ring is the head-and-shoulders choice to win it at heavyweight without much dispute. Barrientos would be his likely opponent in the finals if he stays at heavy. Stuckey or Anderson could easily knock of Whitten. I think 1,2, and 3 are pretty set in Ring, Barrientos and Harrison with the battle for 4th being up in the air.

1st place: Collierville over Bartlett 3rd Place: Houston over Arlington Collierville and Bartlett advance to states.

I might have missed it but I didn't see this posted: Region 8 duals finals set for Friday: Collierville v Arlington and Bartlett v Houston.

^

As CoachJones related, I think the best single place is the TNAAU website he posted above. You might also try Trackwrestling. They have a search feature you can use to find tournaments that have already been posted on TW. Not all will likely be up yet, however. Arlington (Memphis) will be hosting a USAwrestling tournament on December 14th in case you are interested. It is not a beginner tournament. Wrestlers can purchase USAwrestling folkstyle limited membership cards for something like $15. I can send anyone a flyer if they want it.

This is not an uncommon thing that happens. Service academies lose recruits all the time at the prep schools for various reasons. Some are academic, some are conduct related and many are just plain "this isn't really for me." Shane Gentry, and Pete Capone are two Navy recruits in recent memory who went to NAPS and are now wrestling for other D1 programs. I hate to see it when it happens but the academies are not for everyone and it's best to find out now than after you have committed your self to the service. Good luck to Mr. Hooker at UTC.

Looks like he missed the finals by a TD in SV in the semi finals, losing to the eventual champion. Onward and upwards. It only gets tougher next year but I for one am looking forward to following his freshman campaign at Navy. This year at NAPS will pay dividends in the next few years. 157 - Mike Hooker (32-9) placed 3rd and scored 18.50 team points. Champ. Round 1 - Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 won by major decision over Chase Boontjer (Liberty) 18-10 (MD 8-0) Champ. Round 3 - Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 won by major decision over Martin Mitchell (Md - Baltimore Cty) 46-12 (MD 9-1) Quarterfinal - Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 won by fall over Nick Bendon (Central Washington) 21-11 (Fall 5:00) Semifinal - Santiago Martinez (Central Florida) 40-2 won in sudden victory - 1 over Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 (SV-1 5-3) Cons. Semi - Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 won by major decision over William Burns (Marion Military Inst) 33-5 (MD 11-0) 3rd Place Match - Mike Hooker (U.S. Naval Prep) 32-9 won by decision over Ryan Madson (MIT) 35-5 (Dec 7-3)

Falcon are we talking youth tournaments? If so Memphis will probaby have one tournament on each of those weekends. In the past these have been USAW tournaments and I don't think that will change for 2013. Best to check again and confirm in the fall after the coaches have their fall meeting in September.

SCYWA...Shelby County Youth Wrestling Association (pronounced Skyway). Build it and they will come.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to remember it next time I come to the table. WE, you seem to carry definite opinions about EWA (and JS). I don't care to sway you one way or another. I am simply stating that they did not drop the ball or create a mess for anyone to pick up as it relates to the top 100 tournament. It's not like anyone was depending on EWA to bring the tournament to Memphis. Again they were one group, among others, who were looking to possibly take the lead on it by securing a venue. They didn't, but neither did the other folks who were trying to do likewise. Only when it was clear that no one could secure a venue did Arlington step up to the plate.

There was no "mess" to pick up. My recollection is that EWA was one of a few parties from different clubs trying to find an adequate venue for the top 100 in Shelby County. Not fair to single EWA out nor is it fair to imply they left anyone with a bad situation. Circumstances being what they were, things just fell through. With respect to the camp, more power to them for being ambitious.

Thanks...that's the answer I was looking for. I will pass it on to some of the private schools around memphis that field MS teams.

In west TN, we sometimes use the term "middle school" when refering to youth wrestling in general (i.e. Middle schools and AAU/USAW clubs). Can you specify whether this is open to AAU/USAW youth clubs or should we interpret "middle school" to mean only school affiliated teams?

Bump

Gosh…where to start… A few items: 1. AHS, in fact, only carries 25-30 on a good year (28 this year according to NWCA). Historically the program has carried about 20-25 wrestlers on average through any given season. Nowhere near the 40+ you quoted. This is factually incorrect. 2. With respect to Coach Cordero you ignore the fact that Cordova opened in the 1997-1998 school year with one freshman class of between 300-400 kids. It did not populate a full complement of students until 2000-2001. It was essentially a start-up program which he left after about six years. How much success did you expect him to have in this time? 3. Cordero leaves Cordova to start up another program at Arlington in SY 2004-2005. He goes through the exact same situation except that now the program is a whopping 8 years old. I can’t believe he hasn’t already won 5 state team titles in that time? 4. I don’t know what Coach Cordero will accomplish at AHS but the fact that he established a feeder program four years ago tells me he knows “a little†about what it takes to have a good program. That feeder is now a mature program and is just starting to pay dividends for the school. Expect good things to happen. 5. Every program goes through times of “feast and famine†and the sample size of years you use to judge Coach Cordero on is laughably small at either Cordova or Arlington. 6. I would not be exhorting any coach to leave a program given the state of HS wrestling in Shelby County. There is no dearth of HS wrestling coaches lining up to take over wrestling programs in the Memphis area. Didn't Ridgeway shut down for a few years due in large part to their coach leaving the program? White Station shut down since their coach stepped down as well. Be careful what you ask for. 7. The program at AHS has had some success despite being a relative newcomer. Didn't they win the region championship five years back in their fourth year of existence and go to the state duals tournament? I don't recall anyone calling for the heads of the long established programs' head coaches for losing the region title to a school had was only four years old. 8. Arlington has an enrollment of right about 2300 students but the average enrollment over the last 6 years has been 1,990. Going back to 2005 would drop this number closer to 1,700 because of the way they populated the school gradually year after year on start up. By comparison Germantown, another large school, has had an average enrollment of 1797 during that same time. It’s fair to say that AHS is a big school but I don’t think that it has some inherent advantage over every other school in the county or state simply because of this. It makes sense that in public schools (i.e. non recruiting schools) the size of the student body should correlate to success in sports. No argument there. But I think that it is more important to the long term success of a program to have a wrestling culture or heritage. Having a great coaching staff is the biggest part of this but it takes more than that. It takes a feeder system of some type, institutional support from the school, and time to establish the culture. If you look at perennial powerhouses in D1 you may find that they don’t rank in the top twenty in student enrollment. Bradley Central came in at just under 1,600 in 2012 and and Cleveland at 1,297. I was curious to see how one of the top public programs in the country compared so I looked at St. Paris Graham in Ohio, a perennial top school nationally, and producer many NCAA D1 wrestlers. They must be massive…try approximately 660-670 students and 32 teachers. All things being equal size matters but coaching, institutional support, culture/heritage trump it. In short, you are way off base and over the line in calling for Coach Cordero’s ouster. Calling him names is a just a personal attack. All that does is call into question your motives, credibility, and character. Take a deep breath; settle down; and try to be constructive. If not, how about simply showing some common decency and not denigrating people who are out there actually TRYING to make a difference. Ivan Pagan

Team Points 1 Collierville High School, TN 186 2 Cordova High School, TN 137.5 3 Millington Central High School, TN 124 4 Arlington High School, TN 119 5 Germantown High School, TN 111 6 Houston High School, TN 102 7 Bartlett High School, TN 96.5 8 Southwind High School, TN 93.5 9 Bolton High School, TN 48 10 Kingsbury High School, TN 37.5 11 Brighton High School, TN 18.5 12 Raleigh Egypt High School, TN 17 13 Memphis Academy Health and Sciences, TN 8 Bottom of Form 106 Results 1st Place - Nathan Carter of Cordova High School 2nd Place - Travis Arthur of Houston High School 3rd Place - Alex Carroll of Bartlett High School 4th Place - James Westmoreland of Bolton High School 1st Place Match Nathan Carter (Cordova High School) 3-0, Jr. over Travis Arthur (Houston High School) 2-1, Fr. (TF 20-3). 3rd Place Match Alex Carroll (Bartlett High School) 3-1, Jr. over James Westmoreland (Bolton High School) 2-2, Sr. (Dec 7-5). 113 Results 1st Place - Zac Sumner of Collierville High School 2nd Place - Nicholas Carter of Cordova High School 3rd Place - Sheldon Green of Memphis Academy Health and Sciences 4th Place - Brittin Roedel of Houston High School 1st Place Match Zac Sumner (Collierville High School) 2-0, Sr. over Nicholas Carter (Cordova High School) 1-1, Jr. (Pin 0:47). 3rd Place Match Sheldon Green (Memphis Academy Health and Sciences) 2-1, Jr. over Brittin Roedel (Houston High School) 1-2, Fr. (Dec 7-3). 120 Results 1st Place - Byron Smith of Cordova High School 2nd Place - Scottie Thomas of Millington Central High School 3rd Place - Mitchell Nguyen of Collierville High School 4th Place - Darrian Davis of Southwind High School 1st Place Match Byron Smith (Cordova High School) 3-0, Sr. over Scottie Thomas (Millington Central High School) 21-6, Sr. (Pin 1:13). 3rd Place Match Mitchell Nguyen (Collierville High School) 3-1, Jr. over Darrian Davis (Southwind High School) 2-2, Sr. (Dec 12-7). 126 Results 1st Place - Cameron Hall of Arlington High School 2nd Place - Alaa Shihadeh of Houston High School 3rd Place - Taylor Dowden of Bolton High School 4th Place - Diego Scott-McCabe of Collierville High School 1st Place Match Cameron Hall (Arlington High School) 3-0, Sr. over Alaa Shihadeh (Houston High School) 2-1, Jr. (Maj 12-4). 3rd Place Match Taylor Dowden (Bolton High School) 4-1, Sr. over Diego Scott-McCabe (Collierville High School) 2-2, Fr. (Dec 6-2). 132 Results 1st Place - Sidney Blackwood III of Germantown High School 2nd Place - Jacob Carter of Bartlett High School 3rd Place - Andrew Zarshenas of Arlington High School 4th Place - Matthew Richardson of Collierville High School 1st Place Match Sidney Blackwood III (Germantown High School) 3-0, Sr. over Jacob Carter (Bartlett High School) 3-1, Sr. (Pin 1:20). 3rd Place Match Andrew Zarshenas (Arlington High School) 6-2, So. over Matthew Richardson (Collierville High School) 3-2, Jr. (Maj 12-4). 138 Results 1st Place - Alquane Edwards of Southwind High School 2nd Place - Braun Stephens of Bartlett High School 3rd Place - Seth Williams of Collierville High School 4th Place - Michael Lineberry of Arlington High School 1st Place Match Alquane Edwards (Southwind High School) 4-0, Sr. over Braun Stephens (Bartlett High School) 2-1, Jr. (Pin 5:00). 3rd Place Match Seth Williams (Collierville High School) 3-1, So. over Michael Lineberry (Arlington High School) 5-2, Sr. (Pin 3:11). 145 Results 1st Place - Robby Goldshot of Cordova High School 2nd Place - James McClanahan of Southwind High School 3rd Place - Nathan Enzor of Arlington High School 4th Place - Collin Compton of Collierville High School 1st Place Match Robby Goldshot (Cordova High School) 3-0, Sr. over James McClanahan (Southwind High School) 2-1, Sr. (Pin 3:06). 3rd Place Match Nathan Enzor (Arlington High School) 4-3, So. over Collin Compton (Collierville High School) 2-2, Sr. (Pin 3:53). 152 Results 1st Place - Tyler Whitworth of Arlington High School 2nd Place - Tyler Kennel of Collierville High School 3rd Place - Jaxon Cook of Millington Central High School 4th Place - Jimtarius Hampton of Kingsbury High School 1st Place Match Tyler Whitworth (Arlington High School) 5-1, Sr. over Tyler Kennel (Collierville High School) 2-1, Sr. (Pin 2:17). 3rd Place Match Jaxon Cook (Millington Central High School) 6-6, Fr. over Jimtarius Hampton (Kingsbury High School) 2-2, Jr. (Dec 9-4). 160 Results 1st Place - Billy Rainey of Collierville High School 2nd Place - Matt Wideman of Arlington High School 3rd Place - Jeffrey Houston of Germantown High School 4th Place - Kevin Reeves of Bartlett High School 1st Place Match Billy Rainey (Collierville High School) 3-0, Sr. over Matt Wideman (Arlington High School) 5-1, Jr. (Pin 0:40). 3rd Place Match Jeffrey Houston (Germantown High School) 3-1, So. over Kevin Reeves (Bartlett High School) 2-2, Jr. (2-OT 6-5). 170 Results 1st Place - Derrick Tucker of Germantown High School 2nd Place - Devante Robinson of Millington Central High School 3rd Place - Cole Young of Houston High School 4th Place - Graydon Yoder of Collierville High School 1st Place Match Derrick Tucker (Germantown High School) 2-0, Sr. over Devante Robinson (Millington Central High School) 8-3, Sr. (TF 18-2). 3rd Place Match Cole Young (Houston High School) 3-1, Jr. over Graydon Yoder (Collierville High School) 1-2, Jr. (Dec 7-1). 182 Results 1st Place - Jordan Davis of Cordova High School 2nd Place - Wesley Walker of Millington Central High School 3rd Place - Essex ramsey of Brighton High School 4th Place - Cameron Tarver of Collierville High School 1st Place Match Jordan Davis (Cordova High School) 3-0, Sr. over Wesley Walker (Millington Central High School) 18-3, Jr. (Pin 2:35). 3rd Place Match Essex ramsey (Brighton High School) 3-1, Jr. over Cameron Tarver (Collierville High School) 2-2, Jr. (Maj 12-3). 195 Results 1st Place - Khristian Kellum of Germantown High School 2nd Place - Jamarius Julious of Raleigh Egypt High School 3rd Place - Tyree Daniels of Cordova High School 4th Place - Luis Hernandez of Millington Central High School 1st Place Match Khristian Kellum (Germantown High School) 3-0, Sr. over Jamarius Julious (Raleigh Egypt High School) 3-2, Sr. (Dec 9-4). 3rd Place Match Tyree Daniels (Cordova High School) 3-1, Jr. over Luis Hernandez (Millington Central High School) 12-5, Jr. (Dec 7-2). 220 Results 1st Place - Jamario Erving of Millington Central High School 2nd Place - Tra`vis Williams of Southwind High School 3rd Place - Justice Houston of Germantown High School 4th Place - Alexander Tekle of Houston High School 1st Place Match Jamario Erving (Millington Central High School) 16-3, Sr. over Tra`vis Williams (Southwind High School) 2-1, Jr. (Pin 3:30). 3rd Place Match Justice Houston (Germantown High School) 2-1, Sr. over Alexander Tekle (Houston High School) 1-2, Jr. (Pin 4:38). 285 Results 1st Place - Adrian Keeley of Bartlett High School 2nd Place - Tres Ring of Collierville High School 3rd Place - Terrence Partee of Southwind High School 4th Place - Tre Edwards of Bolton High School 1st Place Match Adrian Keeley (Bartlett High School) 9-0, Sr. over Tres Ring (Collierville High School) 2-1, Jr. (Dec 5-3). 3rd Place Match Terrence Partee (Southwind High School) 3-1, Sr. over Tre Edwards (Bolton High School) 2-2, Sr. (Pin 3:24).

I want to echo SAC's Thank you to all the teams who braved the weather to make the long trip to Memphis for the Bobcat Challenge. Along with last year's region tournament this was a big step in getting more to-and-fro club traffic betweeen the west and the rest of the state. Not expecting the dam to burst but these are good first steps. I think you will continue to see west Tennessee clubs at future AAU tournaments in Middle and east Tennessee and hopefully there will be a few more clubs that travel out to memphis for non-top 100 events going forward. I think everyone understands the geography challenge. Kudos to the Arlington Wrestling Club for stepping up to host the tournament and thanks to the Team TN crew that came out to make sure Arlington was supported. No tournament is perfect but this tournament was significant and with the experience gained I am sure future tournaments will be even better.

This is not a rhetorical question. I simply don't know this answer and am curious after reading this string. If it has been answered already and I missed it...my apologies. Does GA allow outside border communities to be eligible for either USA ro AAU State tournaments similar to what Tennessee does? Would a kid in Chattanooga who joins a club across the border be eligible to compete in GA AAU events and in the GA state tourney?

I missed it. Can anyone post finals or other placing match results?

BB, My definition of the best wrestling state is the state the produces the largest number of high level wrestlers. For the purposes of this discussion I'll define high level wrestlers as those good enough to wrestle in Division one or division two in college. To me the state that has the most of these type wrestlers is the best. That's just my definition. If I am a college coach do I focus my energy recruiting Florida or Georgia? Tennessee or Alabama? Whose college level talent pool is bigger? That's how I look at it.

To begin to address a question like this I think you have to at least establish criteria by which to make assessments. This way at least everyone is comparing apples to apples. What are some criteria we can use to make comparisons? Number of HS programs? Number of nationally ranked HS programs? Number of Division 1 wrestlers produced Number of D1 and D2 AA's produced? Number of NCAA qualifiers produced? Number of nationally ranked HS wrestlers? I can provide some measure of two of these. If you look at how many committed HS recruites IM has up right now you will see this for the southern states VA 11 FL 7 TX 7 NC 5 GA 4 TN 4 AL 3 SC 2 If you look at how many NCAA D1 AA's in 2009 each state produced it looks like this: FL 3 TN 2 KY 1 NC 1 AL 0 GA 0 SC 0 VA 0 TX 0 LA 0 I don't have data on the other criteria although it isn't too hard to find a lot of it. Florida looks good using these filters, with Tennessee in the upper 50% somewhere. Hard to say, however, how everyone shakes out without any real data to look at. Well,...I mean, I guess there is always empirical data like," We went to Louisiana and got our butts whipped by two of their private schools so I know their wrestling is a notch above ours." I don't mean to propose that my numbers answer the question but they are a start.

Actually, yes I believe you are right, both of those Clubs are registered on the TN AAU website, although they are also USAW. Arlington Wrestling Club has it's wrestlers registered in AAU as well as USAW while the club itself is chartered via USAW. I think several clubs do that. I know that St. Benedict's youth club, Houston's, and Arlington were all at the Heartbreak Classic at Clarksville last weekend, and that is an AAU event.

103 Tyler Smith (HO) vs Timothy Raloff (BRI) Jacob Carter (BAR) vs Sidney Blackwood (GT) Zac Sumner (COLL) vs Ramadan Moussa (ARL) Kevin Walker (RI) vs Chris Darylmple (BOL) 112 Kendall Kermick (GT) BYE Nicholas Lacher (BRI) BYE Jesse Curtis (COR) vs Evan McCatchen (BOL) Luke Nguyen (COLL) BYE Zack Biffle (BAR) BYE Zack Ray (ARL) BYE Cameron Yoho (HO) BYE Shane Shaffner (KI) BYE 119 Chandler Duncan (ARL) BYE Matt Henderson (MILL) vs Darrell Broddie (BRI) Parker Bryan (BAR) BYE Jaren Holt (BOL) BYE Zac Robinson (COLL) vs Adam Howard (GT) Osvaldo Cancino (KI) BYE Tony Bachus (SW) BYE Hayden Barcelona (COR) BYE 125 Cullen King (COR) BYE Chris Gamble (MILL) BYE Corey Hunt (BOL) BYE David Herdee (BRI) vs Corey Bates (BAR) Hunter Barker (COLL) BYE Tyler Juniker (GT) vs Martauious Hayslett (RE) Kevin Wang (ARL) BYE Adam Greenberg (HO) BYE 130 Dacoda Muller (BAR) vs James McClannahan (SW) Cornell Grandberry (BRI) BYE Byron Smith (COR) BYE Gerald Thornton (GT) BYE Bradley Kraemler (COLL) BYE Michael Westbrook (RE) vs Carter Griffin (MILL) Josh Robinson (ARL) BYE Adam Bentley (HO) BYE 135 Chad Penson (COR) BYE Dreyvon Mitchall (SW) BYE Michael Horton (GT) vs Christian Harper (ARL) Nick Beegle (HO) BYE Eddy Koren (BOL) vs Joseph Carter (BAR) Anthony Smith (BRI) BYE Roberto Garcia (RE) vs Dedrick Mays (WS) Jake Richardson (COLL) BYE 140 Reginald Adams (COR) vs Thomas Daniels (ARL) Mohammad Awaad (GT) BYE Scott Smith (BRI) BYE Marquez Lee (RE) BYE Kraemer Bates (COLL) BYE Tyler Radford (BOL) vs Spenser Lewis (BAR) Patrick Ringo (RI) BYE Landon Mosley (HO) BYE 145 Ryan Stevens (BOL) BYE Martavins Smith (SW) vs Brian Combs (RI) Lavon Moore (RE) BYE Coy Ballard (BRI) vs Knox Strawn (BAR) Chase Stewart (COR) BYE Tom Watkins (HO) BYE Mason Moore (ARL) vs Brendon Merriweather (GT) Andrew Koch (COL) BYE 152 Sam Lilley (COLL) BYE Clayton Phillips (BRI) vs Jordan Gill (ARL) Jason Anderson (BOL) vs Isaiah Harris (COR) Mark Harris (MILL) BYE Holden Schay (HO) vs Alex Davidson (BAR) Rashawn Calvin (SW) BYE Vincent McDowell (RI) vs Gary Clerkin (WS) Marvin Walker (RE) BYE 160 Hunter Badon (ARL) vs Malcolm McCoy (SW) DeAngelo Anderson (RE) BYE Daniel Gallager (HO) vs John Dylan (BRI) Dylan Clark (COLL) BYE Chris Kent (WS) BYE Anton Jones (COR) vs Marquise Stepnex (RI) Sa’Vaughn Stephens (RI) vs Mike Wheeler (BOL) Shawn Royer (MILL) BYE 171 Jaleel Willis (WS) vs Carlos Gran (BAR) Conner Harris (BRI) BYE Jonathan Rhodes (BOL) BYE Andrew Meagher (HO) vs Rodney Robinson (MILL) Chase Mann (COLL) vs Jamarus Julious (RE) Kevin Upton (ARL) BYE Robert Anderson (SW) vs Christain Kellum (GT) Javone Tucker (RI) vs Terrance Chaffin (COR) 189 Mitch King (HO) BYE Jamario Houston (GT) BYE Javanti Houston (SW) BYE Dylan Washington (RE) vs Brandon Worely (WS) Jonathan Taylor (MILL) BYE Cedric Ward (KI) vs Jared Beaudry (COR) Dylan Carter (BRI) vs Forest Wehrly (BAR) Brandon Pitre (COLL) BYE 215 Terry Green (BAR) BYE David McKinnie (WS) vs Terry Rogers (RI) Jacob Holden (COLL) BYE Justice Houston (GT) vs Ja’Tarus Turner (ARL) Chris Yates (COR) BYE Cory Kimbrell (BRI) BYE Randle Clems (SW) BYE Marcus Rayford (KI) vs Brendon Harris (HO) 285 Ben Kuntzman (COLL) vs Justin Maybon (NS) Ira Sherrod (RI) vs Eric Jones (SW) Wayne Hennessee (COR) vs Joseph Honan (HO) Tanner Odom (BOL vs Zach Bernard (ARL

AAU doesn't have a presence in the Memphis area. All the events and teams around Memphis are USAW affiliated. Some teams have their kids enroll in AAU however so that they can compete in out of area tournaments like those in Middle Tennessee.

WrestlingGod, I don't consider Nebraska a top tier HS wrestling state, and Oklahoma, although a strong state would not be in my top ten when looking at folkstyle. I'll give you my top ten states briefly and then I'll comment on the rest of your post. Not neccesarily in order: Ohio, PA, NJ, NY, IL, CA, WI, IA, MI, MN. Missouri, Florida, Oklahoma and maybe Virginia you could say are top ten "honorable mentions" IMO. While not near the top ten in the number of top recruits, NCAA qualifiers, AA's and NCAA champs, I think Tennessee lies solidly nestled near the middle of the pack in terms of the "quality" of wresting in the state. Notice I didn't list individual national rankings in my criteria for determining state strength. That's because as a true reflection of who the top wrestlers are at each weight, I think they are misleading and bogus. All the rankings do is recognize some wrestlers who are very, very good and they get more suspect the further down the rankings you go. They by no means catch all the best wrestlers...they can't. If you are a multiple time PA, OH, or NJ state champ you will be ranked even if you never stepped foot outside of your state. Same goes for New York, Illinois and some of the other top ten states I listed. Outside of those states it's pretty much a crap shoot for one guy to rank all the other wrestlers in the country at any given weight. That's where these tournaments like Ironman, the Beast of the East, NHSCAs, Fargo, Reno,...etc. come in. You can make yourself a reputation by placing high in those tournaments but, again that doesn't mean that there aren't better wrestlers who don't compete on the national level. In fact there are. It's nice to see our wrestlers recognized in rankings but I wouldn't take those rankings very seriously...and I certainly wouldn't look at them as some kind of barometer for the health of wrestling in our state. When all's said and done it's usually just one guy's opinion on who the top 30 guys are out of a pool of about 19,000 at each weight...pretty ridiculous, really. What about getting Tennessee up there in the top ten? Well here are some stats that I think provide a large part of the answer: .............State.............Programs.......Wrestlers 1...........California.........798..............27,469 2...........Ohio...............618..............13,804 3...........Pennsylvania....495..............9,900 4...........New York.........492.............13,932 5...........Michigan..........470.............11,564 6...........Illinois ............426.............16,213 7...........Florida.............370.............8,332 8...........Minnesota........346.............7,711 9...........Wisconsin........342.............8,337 10.........North Carolina..316 .............10,238 11.........New Jersey......315.............9,375 12.........Indiana...........311 .............7,740 13.........Georgia...........299.............7,719 26.........Tennessee......158.............3,875 The answer to me seems to be that we simply have to keep growing the sport within the state. Creating new programs and interest along with retaining good coaching is the simple yet painstakingly hard way to go about improving the state of wrestling in Tennessee. Not suggesting these are the only things that need to happen for the state to become a wrestling power, but without them it ain't happening.