tnlonghorn

Its different because its WRESTLING! It is not volleyball, basketball , cross country. Its one of the last avenues where young men can test their manhood. Dont water it down even more. If you want something easy go play chess. This exact mindset is exactly why there are only a few teams in the state that can compete for a state title. Put in the time, work your butt off, and be a man! Now if we had 200-300 teams that would be a different story altogether but we simply dont have the # of teams needed to divide into divisions. If coaches want to win their beloved state championships so badly then go out and earn it like the Bradleys, Clevelands, Soddy Disys and Baylors of the world. They win because they outwork the rest of you from the ground level up. Its what makes our sport special and our athletes tougher than anything else they will ever do in life. W already have state duals for small schools which I can agree with and have no problem with but the individual state tournament is just that. If you insist then just award team championships for small and large teams from the state tournament. Put it all together and keep three different team standings. large public/ small public/ and private. Let the kids wrestle in one tournament until we have enough teams to warrant dividing up into classifications. Do we build more schools in an area hoping it will cause parents to have more children? No, we build schols based on the # of kids living in the area, not what we hope to one day have. This is the same thing.

1)More centrally located to what? I think the poor attendance clearly signifies it wasnt centrally located to the majority of the fans that come to the tournament. You would think it would have been packed with the large population of Nashville and it being closer to memphis. Wasnt that one of the arguments for moving it to Nashville? By far the largest crowd there was still Chattanooga. Lets face it , you have Christian brothers from Memphis and thats about all that support wrestling in the west. The majority are Nashville, Chatt and knoxville and then you have Cookeville to the North and on the far eastern corner you have Science Hill to even out the the distance Christian Brothers has to travel. So I would think Chattanooga is more centrally located for the fans as the lack of attendence proved. 2)How was it less expensive? I agree that the atmospehere wasnt the same. In fact it was the least exciting tournament I have seen in 20 + years of attending. I thought it would be packed to the limit with Nashvilles 5 times larger population base. No slight towards the people who ran it and worked hard because they did an excellent job. This is based on the decision to move the tournament in the first place. Lets face it, we have a very wide state so either west or east tennessee is going to have to travel a slightly longer distance to get there. This year east tennessee had to travel further.I say we do it like the Major League baseball all star game. Whoever wins the state gets to hold next years tournament in their region. Lets make the region earn it!

Now that its over and done here are some of my overall thoughts and those from a lot of people I spoke with. We felt that the Williamson County people did a great job getting ready for the tournament. I didn't see but I heard the hospitality room was great also. On the other hand it was as we (Chattanooga people) feared. The atmosphere was not the same. I sure would like to see some #'s but it looked like there were half the number of fans there as usual. We kind of expected the #'s to be down and were obviously correct in that opinion. Until the rest of the state other than a handful of teams get serious about wrestling then Chattanooga is where it should be. The biggest complaint about the venue though was the way the two mats were separated for public /private finals. What was the thought process on that? I heard at least 50 people complain about that and not one person defend that idea. It made no sense what so ever. Put the mats in the middle or more towards the middle so everyone can watch all matches. Other than that the venue was nice and the tournament was ran very well. No doubt a lot of people put a lot of hard work into this and their efforts should be commended. My only parting advice would be to do whats best for wrestling and the majority of the fans not what makes the most money. Last time I checked it is supposed to be about the kids.

Comparing Tennessee to what Iowa does is asinine. Heck you cant even compare our 100+ schools with wrestling to georgia for that matter as they have at least three times the # we do. Out of our 100+ schools only 20-30 of them are even serious about the sport at all. Here is a simple concept. Wrestle everyone together and just keep separate team standings. Everybody is happy that way. Or take out the d-I schools that are finding ways to give financial aide even though they arent supposed to and make them wrestle d-II. Its a bit confusing how the public school coaches got to decide this in the first place. Are they not paid employees of the state/tax payers? Do the school teachers get to decide what days they work or how long summer break is? I can see their argument about it not being fair to compete on a team level but an individual tournament should all be together. Ask the kids and see what they want to do.

cc, what is the status on Hayes? Is he healthy? It would be one of the feel good stories of the year. Wrestler missing junior year state with illness, wrestler getting hurt weeks before the state senior year only to come back and win it all. Its going to be a very difficult task with a much bigger and stronger Hooker and we cant forget 2009 state champ Johnson who has a win over Hayes this year. What a weight class! Im rooting for Hayes and hope he pulls it off! Also, whats the staus on Stavrum? What a story that would be. Stavrum winning would be something right out of a storybook.

We are born and then we die. Everything in between is the story of our lives. In the end we are left with only a few chapters that really stand out vividly. This is one of the rare times they get to write their own story.

With the greatest sporting event in all of high school sports just a few days away I wanted to send a message to all the young warriors. The upcoming weekend will result in many different scenarios. We will watch with tears in our eyes as young men achieve their lifelong goal of becoming state champions. We will be privileged to witness the joyous emotions that will no doubt be on display. We will also see many not reach their goals and it will be devastating to all those involved. It will be a bitter pill to swallow and take some a long time to come to grips with their shortcomings but remember you are all winners. Its about the journey and the personal challenges you have faced. Others may not understand your sacrifice, devotion, fighting through pain and injuries, hunger, mental anguish, and pouring every ounce of you're being into such a demanding and unforgiving sport. I promise you the fans, parents, coaches, and fellow wrestlers understand though and we salute your valiant effort. So go forth young warriors and reach for your dreams, leave it all on the mat and know when you walk off no matter the result that you gave it all that you had. If you do that then you are a champion no matter your final standing in the results. Thank you all for allowing us to be witness to the greatness that this weekend will bring. I leave you with "The Man In The Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

I just ask the questions, its up to you to answer.

This board has been the most boring that I can remember. We need a real topic that is sure to stir some interest! I will start the pertinent questions. I am sure Bcb will be able to offer his expert opionion on this matter. pertinent question#1- What team has the best looking moms?

How about a battle for the title of Tennessees best wrestler. Phillip Simpson,Jordan Leen & Matt Keller in a three man round robin. How about a Charles McTory vs a Kevin Ward.

wrestling with a broken bone is not as painful as wrestling with ligament damage. A dislocated elbow is quite painful and if he required surgery to fix it the odds of anyone wrestling are very slim. You cant really wrestle if you cant bend you arm.

Does anybody know if any of the Hurt kids from Baylor wrestled.Pinkstaff and Stavrum are obviously our but what about Watson, Hayes and Shuford? Kind of figured they would sit it out and hope they are better for the individual tournament

Nice job bayou. I dont know you but I like your style! I would love to see Bradley wrestle ome of the d-II schools just from a fans perspective but no sense in bashing the most storied program in Tennessee. Bradley obviously got to where they are at by hard work so that should be respected.

tnlonghorn: Any word on Watson's status for the boys in red tights? What about Shuford? Those two might make a difference for TBSFBAG against CBHS. If not, then we may be looking at an all mackerel snapping, all purple ( Wave vs. Irish), finals in D-II. Is Sidd Finch ready yet? Uncle Buck, my informants have quit informing me. I refused to pay them after their misguided information during the Red-Blue match. It seems renegade/ynotme has better info. I dont know about Watson, Shuford or Hayes. I have heard some rumors but I better not say. As far as Sidd Finch goes it seems he has gone awol and possibly headed back to the land of sunshine. Of course this could be a diversionary tactic and he may don the red leggings this weekend. Should be interesting to say the least. If father Ryan is without a starter here or there as some have suggested it could be McCallie in the finals.

Last news I heard were that there were a lot more than two out for the Red Leggers.

Im pretty sure Bradley could compete with anyone too. Baylor also wrestled Brandon Fl and maybe Collins Hill too but Im not positive on that one.

D-I - Bradley in a no Brainer. nobodys even close unless they forfeit the last weight classes or throw in a few jv guys. D-II - Christian Brothers in a barn burner of a finals over Father Ryan. Both semi's will be barn burners as well. MCCallie still isnt there yet and the Red Leggers just have too much horsepower missing with all the injuries.

when was this? are you refering to last year? If so, the "hot headed coach" is no longer at Cleveland.

pic1 of the blue bench Is there a place to view pictures? All I see are the ones attached to the article and I dont see any of the blue bench. Please forgive my computer illiteracy.

Which coacht poster is pictures on Chattanoogan.com? Is it in the picture of Clements/cate?

Ynotme aka RENEGADE. Spot on ole chap! I must agree that is was a very entertaining evening, especially with so many key participants missing from action. Couldnt agree more about the attendence. Its a shame more high school matches arent like that. The only thing I have seen close in recent years is Soddy Bradley a few years back when both were loaded. Nobody could have seen 215 coming. You street cred isnt dropping from missing that one. I think you hit the nail on the head. Helton was very, very sloppy. He left himself open on a couple of occasions In terribly vunerable situations for someone of his caliber. I agree with you, you cant sit out most of the season and then be on top of your game. Definite talent there, just has to shake off the cobwebs.I was never real clear and why he set out all year to begin with? The ringworm at 112 makes more sense. The kid has been making 112 all year and now its 114 and he cant make weight for the biggest match of his life to date? I thought that sounded kind of sketchy. I have seen more ringworm this year than in the past 3 combined. I hope its not becoming resistant to medicine. 119- No kidding, what a shocker. I saw his foot while it was iced and it did not appear to be taped. They could have removed it or maybe my old eyes cant see that far from the top railing but all the people around me were commenting on the fact that it wasnt taped before hand. Im sure it will be from now on. Hopefully its just tweaked or something. Silerman/Manley- I must say they blue crown thinking Silberman could come out of retirement and hang with a top notch talent was wishful thinking. That was an impressive showing by Manley I thought. Hooker- I couldnt agree more. Im sure they had their reasons for the avoidance. Maybe they were just trying to keep the match close. Maybe there is a bigger gameplan? I think Deckelman gets added at that weight even if Bryant wasnt used at 119. That kid looked really good. Cate/Clements- Couldnt agree more. Very exciting. I felt Cate was a little too respectful at the beginning. I think if Cate opens up a little more he can win that one. Clements was gassed and those blood times saved him. Also I thought the out of bounds call when Cate had the single leg in the air was HORRIBLE! I have never seen a McCallie team so gassed as they were last night. Duncan/Craig- again I was suprised at how easily Duncan gassed. he wasnt even working all that hard to be that tired. Thought he should have switched away from the cradles even though he was getting back pints. There are a lot easier ways to pin someone.

Decoy: Ynotme The Renegade's prediction was that Clements vs Cate would be the best match. I recognized him for that earlier. He called that one right. Ynotme is a contender not a pretender. The "Baylor's new stud" ( a/k/a Sidd Finch) prediction was from tnlonghorn but he has yet to come forward and claim that Deckelman is who he was talking about. That may be because he described someone who as of Friday still had some eligibility issues that had to be resolved while Deckelman wrestled on Thursday as part of a Baylor JV squad that won 13 out of 20 matches with McCallie. However, Deckleman did look pretty studly in getting a 20-3 tech fall for Baylor in his match. ynotme the renegade had some good predictions. Cate vs Clements and even a couple of guys wrestling weights they normally dont. He had some inside knowledge for sure. As far as Sidd Finch goes he has yet to toe the line. Deckelman is an 8th grader that has been at Baylor throughout middle school from what I heard in the stands from some insiders. Definite Stud to watch for in upcoming years.

Baylor is missing much more than that. They are missing Watson, Stavrum, Hayes, Pinkstaff and Shuford. 5 studs. Terrible, terrible luck this year.

What a match! What strange events. Watson geting hurt, Cole Hayes hurt, the big pin at 215 for the Blue, Ward not making weight at 112. McCallies 103 lbers not bumping to 112. Is there more to that story? Maybe injuries? I am really suprised Baylor won this with Watson, Hayes, Stavrum, Pinkstaff and Shuford all out of the line up and the suprise win at 215. Not trying to toot their horn but this team would have been one of the best ever without the injuries. The 125 lber Deckelman is an 8th grader and he looked great!

That wasnt his prediction. He didnt know about that little twist of fate