Uga83

Does anyone have seeds for Region 7?

If you have proof, and were aware of a violation in October, why didn't you report it three months ago? Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Instead of worrying about changing the tournament, and whether all the Chattanooga area schools made the duals competition, we should be promoting High School wrestling throughout the state in every High school and Middle school. (Many schools have teams in name only with only a handful of wrestlers, four years ago one team in our region put a wrestler on the mat in every weight class, today they don't have a team). We need to get coverage in the local media for our teams to promote interest from athletes (it shouldn't be the primary motivation to wrestle, but everyone likes to see their name in print) and improve attendance at events to make the teams more viable economically. Our local paper doesn't believe they should cover wrestling until Region and State, meanwhile football PREseason coverage was two complete pages for each and every team in our area (9 teams), our wrestling teams get none, unless your'e the best team in the region. If kids were more aware wrestling and the opportunity it provides for competition both on the individual and team level, many more would participate which would increase the interest level among families and in the communities involved.

The previous proposal rewards historical performance, not performance in the current year. So if Region X dominates state in 2012 they are rewarded in 2012 with additional wrestlers, even if it happens to be a down year in said region the following year. Meanwhile Region Y is outstanding in 2013, following a down year in 2012, but has to watch as Region X sends additional representatives to the state tourney. By doing this you would make it nearly impossible for those regions not so rewarded to field a state championship team, this system appears has more to do with rewarding the Chattanooga teams and perpetuating their dominance than it does with rewarding the competitors. Leave the format alone, each and every team and wrestler in the state knows what they have to do to reach the tournament(s), don't mess it up by introducing some complicated format and more politics than normal into the process.

I never attended the tournament when held at UTC, but I've heard it was a great experience for the athletes. That said the opportunity to run a complete double elimination tournament is better for all athletes involved. As for supporting the only Div 1 program in the state, isn't it time to grow wrestling at other venues, MTSU has a club team which given the support and opportunity could eventually become an NCAA team. I have limited experience with Tennessee wrestling, but it is obvious that the Chattanooga area has a rich tradition of TSSAA wrestling with the titles to show for it, the last champion from outside Chattanooga was Clarksville in 2000. Instead of living in the past, make the most of the new location, suggest improvements if you have any ("If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem."). This is my son's last year of wrestling, but I would like to see wrestling grow in every part of the state so that maybe the state tournament would be more competitive and the eventual team champion not come down to Bradley or Soddy every year.

WrestlingGod hit it dead on, only what Feb matters, everything else is preparation for that. The rankings aren't accurate, they never will be as long as coaches don't provide information and update their teams and wrestlers information in a timely manner. Take them for what they are, one persons opinion based upon the information available.