mocs2011

411, not interested in personal attacks. Anything intelligent to say about wrestling? The sport we all enjoy--maybe something intelligent or interesting about a high school or college team, weight class, rules, anything?

Not sure why the need to take the BC cheap shot, undeniably the greatest TN program in the last 20-30 years. Brandon is likely the best in the South and has been for a while. They did their brand some damage trying to keep their dual match streak in tact, but again, its hard to argue with this much success.

Soms, maybe if the transfer rules had been fair for everyone, ol' BC would not have had such worries about "poaching" and we could have enjoyed some more interesting matches. Can't blame BC for their past position at all! Obviously an incredible record with no caveats or asterisks. It was an unbelievable run.

Strong lineup--good TN, GA representation.

Ghouse, will it be published this week?

Of course, its the mentality, but just stick your head back in the sand until it happens to you.

Baylor hopes to benefit from Soddy Daisy wrestlers and their program due to coaching changes. Great news! As Larry the cable guy says. "Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are.

I am sticking with my WV pick for now, Cordova went from a three way tie for 25th two years ago to 8th last year. It can happen with a lot of returning starters. Other posts made some good points on Nashville teams (Indy, Brentwood, Ravenwood and others) .

That's a real fair question. I could have played it safe and picked Clarksville and Science Hill to reload quickly. Walker Valley was young last year and is returning almost everyone. By my count they have 6 returning state qualifiers, 4 wrestlers that went deep in the tournament and a placer in Langford. They had some nice duals wins last season and most of their losses were to the top schools or teams more impacted by graduation. After the top 3 on the list it became very difficult which is probably why no one else has tried

I like this topic! Here goes... 1. Cleveland - with Lopez back and new GA state champ should be very tough to beat! 2. Soddy Daisy 3. Bradley Central 4. Heritage - tied for 14th last year at individual state, expect a big step forward this year 5. Walker Valley 6. Cordova 7. Pigeon Forge 8. Wilson Central - easily could have pushed higher in ranking 9. Clarksville 10 Science Hill - always a power in the east, should reload quickly 4th to 8th were almost too close to call. Honorable mention - Red Bank, Franklin, Ravenwood, Germantown, Eagleville, Beech and Riverdale

Its a positive message, "don't be content, desire excellence out of our TN wrestling programs"! Especially private schools, where many are paying national level tuitions. Provide level playing fields where people strive to perform against similar competition (versus frustrating unlevel playing fields or those that provide a false sense of accomplishment) and provide as many alternatives as possible including a national prep option. The current system is broken and as a state we don't seem to be getting any better--actually seem to be moving the wrong direction. That's my message and not backing down from it, no matter how many old-timers, idiots, newbies or others try to disrupt. I know what I am talking about, have been a part of other state wrestling organizations that are successful. Many in this state are working hard to give wrestlers a chance to make it to the national levels and D1 colleges, grass roots efforts. Especially the AAU kids organization, my applause to those guys what a great start. Now we need a system at the high school level that will support that.

Here's your sign... In the duals, Baylor did not even make the finals last year. The year before that they barely won it and the year before that Father Ryan and CBHS were in the finals. Where's the domination in any of that? You're living in your own dream. Almost every great wrestler currently at Baylor (Holloway, Brunner, Dendy, Robinson, Clements...came from another high school program, lives in another part of the state or is a resident of another state). If you can feel good about those results have at it, considering where they recruit and the results, not impressed. Don't feel good about just competing for a TN title, go national and give Chattanooga another alternative, a truly national program!

Is this a wrestling site? Did Baylor win a state championship in wrestling last year? NO. Did they dominate the year before? No, barely won. Year before that, no...if that's domination, need to work on that a bit. We already have Chattanooga schools that give us good programs and they don't even have to recruit other schools state placers. I love it!

Depends on how you define success, recruiting from all over the region and not domating the state? Its really kind of pathetic. Seems like more "great sacrifice or commitment is required". The only commitment seen in this off season is a renewed interest in other teams and states wrestlers. LOL.

Keep smokin that Baylor has never recruited stuff! Must be good. We're all stupid sheep and believe everything you say. The power is in the hands of the schools, hopefully they will vote this year to stop Baylor from recruiting other school's starters and state placers.

Good to hear that Aaron Lopez is back and healthy. It should be fun watching his senior year.

No offense, but that was a really stupid and irrelevant analogy. We are all impacted by the TSSAA rules, the structure and by things that occur in the Chattanooga and TN wrestling community. The idiot is the one who rejects a good idea because it did not come from within his ranks. Thank goodness no one else follows that approach related to politics, college sports or anything else. The call from me and others, read the prior thread, is for a level playing field, no longer allowing Baylor and McCallie to recruit other high schools current athletes and if they do, they should sit out for a year like anyone else. The second suggestion is for these two schools to become national prep school powers and give our youth a really cool option versus just another local contender. I'm a parent and coach and want that option for my wrestlers.

Funniest thing is that most red and blue parents I have spoken with really want the same thing. They want their adminstrations to leave the TSSAA and move on to the national prep level. It will be more expensive, but they aren't getting that much from the D2 state tournament, know the playing field isn't really level and would prefer to move on.

Come on...just trying to make things better. I want 8th graders to have an option to attend a TN school that can compete at national tournaments like the Walsh Ironman, the Beast of the East, Powerade, Reno, Cheesehead, 5 Counties, Midwest Classic, and Dvorak. That's all positive stuff! If someone would take the leap, the State playing field would become more level and our boarding schools might deliver results like a Brandon, Collins Hill, Christiansburg, St. Paris Graham, St. Eds, Montini Catholic or one of those. Currently other than academics and facilities there isn't much to be jealous of...

That is the point, compete fairly, get out of the TSSAA and wrestle against these top schools. Give parents more options, we already have public schools and private schools that compete in TN and take their one trip to a (nationally) significant tournament. Chattanooga needs an option that allows kids to go get tested at the national high school tournaments on a regular basis. The parent's are paying for it, what is everyone afraid of? As for McDonough they are a top 50 team, Baylor was not. Kiski finished ahead of Baylor at the Prep Slam and then finished 16th at the national prep tournament last year.

There's already 13 pages on this topic, suggest reading them. Ok, I guess I'll poke a little more fun since there's an opportunity. Why would anyone talk negatively about Baylor? Hmm, a prep school that athletically chooses to act more like a public school, instead of competing against the big boys at the national prep level? While a great school with outstanding facilities, teachers and coaches, if I were a parent paying this kind of money, I would want my school to compete against the best (Blair, Wyoming Seminary, McDonough, Germantown and Georgetown Prep). Unless of course I was not paying all that money.... Also invite a few of these schools to Chattown, so all of us can watch the fun.

I said with a few exceptions. Taylor had a redshirt year which is likely the way most college freshman should go. Believe Schlatter took his redshirt later. If the Mocs have three true freshman starters, the opposite from what wrestlingod said would be true. It would be time to be very worried about the lineup against other socon or D1 teams. If one of the three can earn the top spot in his weight for the Mocs then more power to him, but no pressure or sense of failure if they redshirt or don't make the starting lineup. The question for the true freshman is usually how they progress over the next two years. Time will tell.

Where is Nick Soto going to be? Don't think any of these true freshmen will beat him in the wrestle offs. Also the gap from high school to college for a true freshman is usually a chasm with a few exceptions.

Agree with points on national tournaments and NHSCA being the tougher to place in than Flo and USA Folkstyle Nationals. The others don't break down into grades, so not sure which had the tougher champions. Pico and some of the guys from the West are also very tough. A good point on the up 22 lbs, the problem is that Mosely did not want to wrestle the 145 lbs, champ, had already lost to the 152 lbs champ and I believe also the runner up at 152 lbs (possibly a couple of times), so by default jumped to 160. It raises a lot of questions--was NHSCA's that tough, should Cole have gone down to 138 lbs for the state tournament, but Ward and others were there? Not sure, but bottom line Cole beat some national level guys at the NHSCA's on the way to the finals. From a recruiting perspective, he erased the state tournament and any other losses with the runner up placement at Senior Nationals and has a great home at American. We'll see where it goes from here.

Good point, I had forgotten that Cole made the Sr national finals. Remembered that he had placed. He was my third in the 2-3 really recruited seniors, he increased his stock with the placement after a tough TN state finals match. I hope Austin the best at UTC, enjoyed watching him in high school and will hopefully get a chance to see a match or two at UTC. To be fair, when comparing the accomplishments you have to also consider that NHSCA's is not what is used to be due to the Flonationals draining off some talent as well as USA Folkstyle Nationals. These are becoming more regional events where in the Leen and SImpson days Sr Nationals was the only game in town (or in the country).