sweeptheleg

Did Gouger and Shuler ever line up on each other when they played? If so how did it go?

excellent post and 100% correct

yes, please do an online feed

Good post cbg. Right on the facts. are you saying baylors heavyweight isnt going to wrestle? That would suprise me as he will be a huge factor in his teams success this year. If there are college coaches telling kids not to wrestle then thats just crazy. There is no other sport that will develop the attributes a Ncaa lineman needs more than wrestling. Obviously they want to be as big and strong as possible but the kid will have 4-5 years to get as big and strong as possible. Wrestling teaches cordination, balance, leverage, mental toughness, cardio, flexibility, quickness, work ethic, ect... If i was a college football coach I would make all my lineman wrestle in high school.

First of all, who is Tennessee? Is there somebody responsible for training our entire state and taking them to pre-season tournaments? NO, its an individual choice and up to each wrestler to find and off season training program if thats what he choses. I am appalled you would call out any kid who was trying to better himself. As far as Tn studs go it looks like quite a few did in fact go. We pretty much had at least one state finalist in each weight class up to the big guys who are probably playing football.

Ba should pull this one out baring a tremendous amount of turnovers or something.

Rebel, hope you have a good trip down. I would pass a word of caution to your fellow rebels fans. The area is a little rough. You may want to park in a good area and maybe travel in a group. Not trying to start trouble or make anyone mad but its always better to be prepared when coming in from out of town.

Does anyone have the results of the little kids state tournaments? I think its interesting to see how that parlays into a high schools success in a few years.

who ended up winning the team titles? I was in the little gym and didnt hear the results? last I heard Baylor was winning in the kids and Cleveland has just been passed by someone in middle school.

Great tournament! I made the trip to Crossville to watch my nephew and was impressed with not only the tournament but the quality of wrestling. By reading some of the above posts it seems there was some confusion on the seedings. I was confused too until I asked someone and then it made perfect sense. Since there are 4 regions and 4 qualifiers it was a no brainer on how to most fairly bracket the tournament. Obviously #1's from each region faced #4's and #2's vs. #3's. Instead of having the same regions on the same side of the brackets in every weight they rotated the #1 seed in each weight class from region to region. Is it possible the best two kids get on the same side of the bracket? yes it is. But is it possible to accurately seed everyone from across the state in a timely manner? I think the way they did it is the only way to get it done without arbitrarily doing so. As far as byes go, whoever didn’t show up their opponent got the bye. It wasn’t arbitrarily decided who got the byes. This removed a lot of speculation and is cut and dry and I’m sure stopped a lot of arguments you would have had otherwise. I don’t think awarding last year’s state champions top seeds is a good way in youth wrestling. As we know the talent varies from year to year in each weight class. using the current year’s results are much more accurate. For example my nephew and his partner were both state champs last year. They were the oldest in their age groups and I will admit not in the toughest weights last year. This year they moved up an age group and into tougher weights. Both wrestlers suffered more than a few defeats this year. They did not deserve #1 seeds this year based on what they did last year. The system worked as far as I could see.

Rc/td so even though we can't field competitive teams across the board your logic is that we can field brand new teams and make the sport grow? By dividing the state it's going to somehow bring quality, passionate people out of the woodwork to start new programs when 60% of the ones we have are in disarray? I'm Not trying to argue or fight. I'm trying to understand your logic? If you Poll the successful programs ask them how they did it. Ask Pigeon Forge how they turned that program around. You have to have a product people want to be a part of. Get them started young, exspose them to wrestling. Pound the halls talking the best athletes into wrestling, especially in middle school. Make the matches exciting, play music, invite the elementary kids and let them in free. It's not easy and in some cases it's hard to start a culture that's not already ingrained. just because your teams haven't had the most success doesn't mean you haven't tried or you aren't a good coach. Nobody is saying that. What myself and a lot of other people obviously feel is that there are many, many teams/schools without a proper program in place to be successful. Why don't we focus on making our state better instead of bigger?

Rc, you obviously took offense and thought I was talking about you personally. Now before you get defensive and think everyone is talking about you maybe you need to take your own advice and not assume things. I did not single anyone out or call anyone by name. I respect all who try to better our sport regardless of how many medals you win. That's my whole point. Our sport builds champions in life. Without saying too much I can assure you I have put in as much anyone you know. Would you honestly in your opinion say we have 30,40,60 serious wrestling schools? Wouldn't the answer be to get better coaching in the 100 other schools? Help them build youth and middle school programs ? What good is adding more schools that don't support or understand our sport when we have plenty that need help now? Why don't we promote the sport , fill the teams we have, beg schools with multiple quality coaches to try and take over one of these programs? I'm sorry you felt I was referring to you as I can assure you I was not.

Rcpatriot, I'm not sure how you felt singled out? Did anyone say your name? Obviously I have great love for the sport and all that are involved. What I meant by real teams or coaches is exactly that. People who put forth the effort regardless of the outcome. When I see the list of teams that voted I see a lot that I wouldn't consider real teams and or coaches. Teams that have a few wrestlers, no coach or somebody from the hallway looking to get their stipend. So based on your reply am I Understanding that because of your struggle you have decided to give up and lessen the sport so the goals are more attainable? I guess your definition of a wrestler and mine are two different things. Good luck in your quest and hopefully it will now be easier for you.

Not being insulting just being honest. How does splitting the divisions make your administration,community or school board come ip with funds? The problems you state are the same ones the big schools face but their problem is multiplied because they have way more kids and expenses. Are you implying that a school system says, "let's give Soddy money because they are big but let's not give Brainard money because they are small? That my friend is laughable. There are many dedicated coaches, supporters in this sport regardless of size. What wrestling is SUPPOSED to teach is to roll your sleeves up and get to work. Sick, hurt, Poor, it doesn't matter because like RussianBear stated a single leg is a single leg no matter how big your school is. The fact Is the successful teams have outworked the rest with the same 0 funding you get. They do it it in youth club, middle school and freestyle and in high school. They BUILT their programs from the ground up and sacrifice year round not just during the high school season. Their wrestlers see , understand and respect the hard work that those before them have put in. They know if you want something you go get it and don't make excuses. I guess that's whats called life lessons and I salute all that have done so regardless of school size.

Ghost, you keep saying, " why don't our kids get the same opportunity as golf, tennis, track" . "why can't they compete against other schools their size" what does size have to do with being an individual state champ? keep separate team points if the small schools want a team championship! What's really funny is there are only a few schools that can compete in the small school and they are the largest schools. How long before Central, Hixson , Pogeon Forge get moved to the large division? One year is my bet because those same schools will cry it's not fair Central has 950 kids and they only have 400. Nobody wants to hear the best answer which is to have one tournament and keep separate team standings. We only have 30-40 schools in the entire state that are even semi serious about wrestling.

I'm embarrassed that wrestling coaches would vote this way. It shocked me until I saw the list. Most of those schools don't even have real teams and never will. They are not wrestling people or true wrestling coaches. There are only a handful of true teams on that list. Did the large schools not get a vote? What's funny is all those schools will still be behind Central, Hixson, Notre Dame and Pigeon Forge. They are one of the few with enough kids to fitted a full team. Gallopinghost, you keep comparing us to golf, track, tennis. Really, is that how you see wrestling in your heart? Do we play wrestling? Is it s game? This is a travesty!!! let's be realistic, most of the schools that voted are not real wrestling teams and never will be! We aren't Georgia, north Carolina and we don't want to be like them! We aren't golf, tennis or badminton ! We are the worlds oldest sport, the last venue where young men Can face down there opponent in the most primitive and instinctive way known to man. Thanks for ruining it! Someone said it will be a heck of a tournament in the small school! Ba ha ha , do u really believe that? Look at the teams! I have an idea. Put the small school state at it's on venue and let them go at and live in their fantasy world.

Cbg, I researched until I was blue in the face. I'll admitt I slacked off by the time I got to the big boys. I was more familiar with Davis and the 189 competition didn't interest me in d2. Also there was the wow factor of Davis's physical stature. I stand corrected.

It's pretty much a fact you wrestle like u practice. You mean to tell me wrestlers of that quality practice getting beat? Lol. I think not. Of course u have your off days, sick, tired whateverbut my moneys on the guy that goes hard all the time.

Where was Mike Scotts purple pounders he bragged about so much? Did they pull a no show like they did against Ooltewah, Ringold and Tullahoma duals? It appears that lack of competition hurt them like everyone predicted. Too bad for his wrestlers because some appeared to be pretty tough. I guarantee he was one of the ones wanting the small school / large school split.

Cc,I'm not sure I'm a gentleman but you are dead on with your other comments. I agree it would be one heck of a match as well as some of the other match ups. If your son is who I think he is he had a great tournament . That was a tough weight for a freshman.

Wow, wasn't aware of his stats. You may be correct based on facts. D2 may clean sweep all but two weights!

Excellent post Mr Schay!

I heard the vote was more like 70-11. Whatever the case I can guarantee you this. The schools with 5-6 empty weight classes will still not win the state. All that will happen is now you will finish in 20th instead of 62nd. The small schools that can field a full team will walk away with it time and time again. will this work? Of course we will eventually have more teams. In 20 years from now it may work. Get ready for the worst 20 years in Tennessee wrestling history!

Good points! It is very hard to compete while sick and or injured. I wasn't referring to the Johnson loss but also to Ward d2 125 runner up and to Lopez. I think I read he lost to those wrestlers??? my main reason for picking Manly is a conversation I had with a Baylor parent and several Soddy parents. We were talking about d1vs d2 matchups we would love to see and this is the one I stated I would pay to see. I picked Lewis until the Baylor parent stated his opinion and why. Then both Soddy daddies agreed and said that they have seen both Watson Manly do extremley well vs Lewis at utc and practicing together before the state.Watching his match with Woods I would give Manley a slight edge IMHO. Regardless, they are all champions and have earned my respect.

Great example of a small school showing it can be done.