shoestring

I thought the officiating was much better than a few weeks ago at the duals. I did see some instances where officials wanted to get a little too involved towards the end of the matches, especially in close matches. If both wrestlers are hand fighting and neither is backing up why do they feel the need to warn the wrestler currently winning for stalling. I saw this multiple times. Each wrestler was being equal in their scoring attempts and neither one is stalling more than the other but yet they call the wrestler currently winning to make it a more exciting match. Thats ridiculous. Also there are many things I dont think some of the older refs understand about higher level wrestling. If a person is hand fighting, trying to create angles and scoring opportunities that isnt stalling. This isnt 1977 where you tap their head and shoot , wrestling has progressed and along with it so have has the set ups and ties as well. Another thing that drives me crazy is the takedown calls out of bounds. It blows my mind how they will give a takedown on the edge when the wrestlers are still in a scramble type position but in the middle of the mat they will wait and wait and wait to make the call. They get caught up in the moment it seems and want to make that exciting call with one guy out and one guy in. A takedown is a takedown no matter if its in the center or the edge and no leeway should be shown for one more than the other.

I think its great we keep reminding them that its the worlds oldest sport and so on but we also need to make them understand wrestling and explain the level of athleticism and devotion it takes. While we dont need to bash other sports we do need to find a way to point out the differences and how asinine it would b to include some of these sports over the ultimate sport and ultimate athletes in the world. They already new all of the facts of our hisitory and didnt seem to care when they voted us out. I just dont feel taking a politically correct stance is going to get us anywhere but we will see.

This is equivalent to moving the tournament to the cow palace. Everyone with a brain knows it doesnt compare in terms of excitement. Its the state tournament, it should be the pinnacle of these wrestlers high school careers and we are wrestling on dirt floors with leaking roofs and 50 degree temperatures where nobody can see all the mats at once? Im not going to go over all the merits of the different venues but everyone knows this isnt the best and most exciting place for the tournament. Its just another example of how we chose to take the easy way out instead of rolling up our sleeves and going to work to fix things or make them better. Kind of like wrestling losing out on the olympics. We need to remember what this sport is all about and what separates wrestling from all other sports and athletes. We have always prided ourselves on being the toughest, the meanest, the hardest working, the most resilient. Wrestling produces people who can overcome any obstacle and accomplish great things. I guess we have kind of lost track of those values like the rest of society has.

You are exactly right Khromax but the world is all about me, me me. Wrestling was one of last venues for young men to test their fortitude and be warriors . The coaches that vote dont care about whats best for the sport in our state. They care about whats best for their win loss record. Everyone can spout off all the stats they want about other states but the fact of the matter is we arent Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or even Georgia for that matter. There arent enough wrestling programs that are serious about the sport to split the divisions. Like Khromax said, they have had the opportunity for years and have done NOTHING with it. We have had a small school state duals for over 20 years now. Why hasnt this fostered this new growth everyone wants ? All this will do is give schools more of a reason not to wrestle the larger schools like they dont wrestle the private schools now. There are some schools in Chattanooga that are supposed to be good and used to be state powers that wrestle NOBODY and then they wonder why they get beat in the state individuals every year. Well, guess what, it will only get worse. Do you think the Hixsons, Centrals, East Ridges, East Hamiltons , Notre Dames of the world will wrestle Soddy, Cleveland, Bradley, Walker Valley Baylor, or McCallie right in their own hometown? Some of the best teams in the state within a 15-25 minute drive and they will never face them so they can protect some win loss record. Is that fair to your kids? Is that making them better wrestlers? Has that prepared them for the state tournaments? Also you will have to travel great distances now to find matches because the small schools will have an exscuse not to wrestle you anymore. We arent teaching our kids to work harder, never give up, be tough anymore. We are teaching them to pick and chose your battles to only those you can win. Ive got a feeling that wont be the case their whole life and they will be missing out on some valuable life lessons. There are many answers to the problem but the coaches dont want to hear them. The simplest thing is to wrestle the whole tournament together and just award separate team championships for each division. Everybody is happy that way and the sport doesnt suffer. The Chattanooga schools are dropping off big time other than Soddy and the Bradley County schools. The rest of the state is getting better and better because they see the big picture and are doing what Chattanooga did 20-30 years ago with their feeders and middle school wrestling. Look at Wilson Central, Beech, Ravenswood, Blackman, Pigeon Forge, ect.. They are outworking everyone else and have passed the Chattanooga schools. A prime example is the Hcac middle school league in Chattanooga which is part of the the stupid Tmssaa middle school league. While our kids get 12-14 matches a year theirs get 50. While our kids cant wrestle outside their league theirs are wrestling all across the state and in national tournaments. The middle school coaches love it because they get a little 5 week season , wrestle a few matches and two tournaments and get their stipend. Meanwhile the rest of the state is passing you by. Basically what the coaches have said is, we cant beat you, we cant outwork you, we dont want to devote as much time as you do so we will just start our own division. Word it however you want, sugarcoat it, compare us to other states and so on but thats the bottom line. Small school duals has not grown our state wrestling and this wont either.

what are the div II team scores? I cant see them on the tssaa website

1) who is your favorite coacht posters? BCB, CUPCAKE, BUCKLATERAL, KEEF,STOVEPIPE,CHATTCITY 2) Who is your most despised coacht posters? SOMMERS,GHOUSE, MAJ, SCOTTMIKE 3) Who do you think the best technical coach in Tn is? PAT SIMPSON, BAYLOR COACHES, GORDON CONNELL 4) Who is the best motivator? LOGSDEN, BEN SMITH, COWBOY CORNERMAN, PHILLIPS 5) Who is your favorite referee? DANNY GILBERT 6) who is your favorite wrestler to watch? TJ HOLMES, WATSON, STEVENS FROM SD, BAKER, OLIVER , and ROBINSON from CBHS, HOOKER 7) Who is your most hated team/ fans? BROS 8) If your son had to wrestle for someone else who would you want it to be? HENRY, PHILLIPS, BEN SMITH, SCHACK AND STAFF 9) What team has the best support? SD, BRADLEY, FATHER RYAN, CLEVELAND, BAYLOR 10)Who do you predict will be the top teams 5 years from now? FATHER RYAN, BAYLOR, CLEVELAND 11) What gym do you like to wrestle in the most? UTC ARENA, SCIENCE HILL AND ANYTHING WITHOUT A DIRT FLOOR THAT HOSTS RODEOS 12) what gym do you hate wrestling in? ANYTHING WITH A DIRT FLOOR THAT HOSTS RODEOS 13) What coacht poster do you think is the most knowledgeable? BCB, BBB, GHOUSE 14) What coacht poster do you think is the biggest Homer? SCOTTMIKE, WRESTLE90 , RABITT ,CUPCAKE 15)who has the best singlets? THE "C" IN THEIR WHITE CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLETS. JUST KIDDING 16) who is the hottest wrestling mom? RYAN, SD, 17) Who is the hottest wrestling dad? ( I put that for the female posters on here, bcb you cant vote for yourself) THE BROS, THEY ARE QUITE FEMININE AND ALMOST LIKE WOMEN 18) what coacht screename would you most like to know their real identity? SCOTTMIKE, MAJ 19) what team has the best/unique tradition? BRADLEY 20) will Bcb really retire from coacht this year? NOPE, WHAT ELSE WOULD HE DO?

106 - pretty cut and dry except for 3rd-4th 1-Oliver Cbhs 2- Eckhart- Ryan 3- Westbrooks- McC 4- Murphy- Bay 5- Becci- Ba 6- Floyd- Mba 113 - should be a competetive weight class 1-Elsea- McC 2- Wesnofske- Ryan 3- Santi- Cbhs 4- Powell- Bay 5-Abraham- Briar 6- Stewart- Mus 120- another good weight class, any of the top 4 could swap places 1-Maloney- Ba 2-Ortale- Mba 3-Connell- McC 4-Gray- Cbhs 5-Fisher- Ryan 6-Eady- Bay 126- Watson wins this a little more comfortably 1- Watson- Bay 2- Robinson- Cbhs 3- Simpson -Ryan 4- Sirgo- Ba 5- Davis- McC 6- Tully -Mba 132- Tightest weight class. Any of the top 5 could swap places 1- Akers- Ryan 2- Johnson- Cbhs 3- Westbrooks- McC 4- Davidson- Mba 5- Brunner- Bay 6- Olson - Bga 138-Loaded weight class , suprised someone didnt bump to 145 1- Marchetti- Ryan 2- Ward- McC 3- Bellet- Mba 4- Parrish- Cbhs 5- Sutherland -Bay 6- Bascom- Sba 145- baker, baker, baker 1- Baker- Cbhs 2- Popp- Bay 3- Cosgrove- Ryan 4- (could be anybody 4-6,doesnt look like anybody wanted to face Baker ) 5- ? 6- ? 152- 1-Cate- Bay 2- Bellet- Mba 3- Nolan -Ryan 4- Hataway- Cbhs 5- Goldstein- Mus 6- Kurtz - St Ben 160 - can Clements upset Mosely in the semi's, how tough will Berz be after cutting down? Top 4 could be anybody 1-Mosley- Ryan 2-Isom- Cbhs 3- Clements- bay 4- berz- McC 5-Mingus- Fra 6- McClellan- Ba 170- top three are set in stone 1-Hooker- Ryan 2- Craig- Bay 3- walthall- Cbhs 4- Wallis- st Ben 5- Stone- ba 6- mcCroskey- McC 182- top 3 are set in stone 1- Holmes- Ryan 2- Bodine- Bay 3-McOlgan- Cbhs 4- garstin- Mba 5-Hoodenpyle- McC 6-Glass- briar 195- all fisher 1- Fisher- Ryan 2- lamer- St ben 3 (anybodys guess 3-6, Never should have added this weight class. look at the talent in 132-138 compared to this. Sure would have been nice to have a 130,135,140 instead of this weight) 4-? 5-? 6-? 220- 1-Mason- Ba 2-6 (anybodys guess) hwt 1-Youngblood- McC 2- Thomas- Cbhs 3-6 (anybodys guess)

106 - pretty cut and dry except for 3rd-4th 1-Oliver Cbhs 2- Eckhart- Ryan 3- Westbrooks- McC 4- Murphy- Bay 5- Becci- Ba 6- Floyd- Mba 113 - should be a competetive weight class 1-Elsea- McC 2- Wesnofske- Ryan 3- Santi- Cbhs 4- Powell- Bay 5-Abraham- Briar 6- Stewart- Mus 120- another good weight class, any of the top 4 could swap places 1-Maloney- Ba 2-Ortale- Mba 3-Connell- McC 4-Gray- Cbhs 5-Fisher- Ryan 6-Eady- Bay 126- Watson wins this a little more comfortably 1- Watson- Bay 2- Robinson- Cbhs 3- Simpson -Ryan 4- Sirgo- Ba 5- Davis- McC 6- Tully -Mba 132- Tightest weight class. Any of the top 5 could swap places 1- Akers- Ryan 2- Johnson- Cbhs 3- Westbrooks- McC 4- Davidson- Mba 5- Brunner- Bay 6- Olson - Bga 138-Loaded weight class , suprised someone didnt bump to 145 1- Marchetti- Ryan 2- Ward- McC 3- Bellet- Mba 4- Parrish- Cbhs 5- Sutherland -Bay 6- Bascom- Sba 145- baker, baker, baker 1- Baker- Cbhs 2- Popp- Bay 3- Cosgrove- Ryan 4- (could be anybody 4-6,doesnt look like anybody wanted to face Baker ) 5- ? 6- ? 152- 1-Cate- Bay 2- Bellet- Mba 3- Nolan -Ryan 4- Hataway- Cbhs 5- Goldstein- Mus 6- Kurtz - St Ben 160 - can Clements upset Mosely in the semi's, how tough will Berz be after cutting down? Top 4 could be anybody 1-Mosley- Ryan 2-Isom- Cbhs 3- Clements- bay 4- berz- McC 5-Mingus- Fra 6- McClellan- Ba 170- top three are set in stone 1-Hooker- Ryan 2- Craig- Bay 3- walthall- Cbhs 4- Wallis- st Ben 5- Stone- ba 6- mcCroskey- McC 182- top 3 are set in stone 1- Holmes- Ryan 2- Bodine- Bay 3-McOlgan- Cbhs 4- garstin- Mba 5-Hoodenpyle- McC 6-Glass- briar 195- all fisher 1- Fisher- Ryan 2- lamer- St ben 3 (anybodys guess 3-6, Never should have added this weight class. look at the talent in 132-138 compared to this. Sure would have been nice to have a 130,135,140 instead of this weight) 4-? 5-? 6-? 220- 1-Mason- Ba 2-6 (anybodys guess) hwt 1-Youngblood- McC 2- Thomas- Cbhs 3-6 (anybodys guess)

While I was pulling for an all purple championship I have to agree. I was actually waiting for the Baylor fans to blow up this site with complaints after the last match in their dual with Cbhs. They have much more self control than I would have had in their shoes. The last match that was to decide the duals was one of the worst officiated matches I have ever seen. There was a horrible take down or reversal call earlier in the match that went in favor of Cbhs. The non takedown call towards the end of the match that would have sealed the tech fall and a Baylor win was one of the worst I have ever seen. It wasnt even debatable. I was watching all the other referee's reactions that were around the mat and they were astonished to say the least. I actually spoke to some of the refs afterwards and they were very adamament that Baylor should have won. In fact I think there were some discussions with the ref who officiated the match. The refs watching the match told me that the takedown should have been a moot point as they would have already disqualified the Cbhs wrestler for stalling at that point. That being said, Cbhs won the matches they needed to win, got the bonus points at 106,120,145 from their studs. Won at 132 where Im sure Baylor was expecting a win and kept it to a 1 pt decision at 152 where Baylor was probably hoping for Bonus points. You cant discredit what Cbhs kids accomplished but that last match was a travesty.

Now that's funny stuff. I actually did the same thing on a smaller scale. I was pissed I had to weed the garden so I started chopping anything that was green. I wanted to watch Lavern and Shirley instead. I probably only got down half a row before I felt the first lash from the switch hit my bare legs. You might be alright after all cupcake even if you have a man crush on bcb.

It will be an all purple finals!! I do look forward to Marchetti and Ward in the semis. I think Marchetti is too big and strong for Ward though. In the end Father Ryan dominates McCallie. I'm not picking the winner of the finals because I don't want to jinx us.

I had the uhhhh... joy of sitting next to two Baylor families at a Sunday brunch. After an hour of feasting and many many mimosas I think I am now an expert on all of their possible scenarios. They have more injuries, problems, options than a Rubiks cube. Let's see what I can remember and I will also throw in my predictions. 106 is a definite pin or tech for Cbhs. 113 Baylors 8th grader is back from injury. They thought he could possibly upset Santi if he can stay off his back. I say cbhs by decision. 120 they thought Eady is capable of winning here as well, I'm going with cbhs by decision.In the most anticipated match of the year they picked Watson by major. I'm going with Watson with a 3pt decision. At 132-160 is where they lost me on all the possibilities. They said there maybe a new 132 after challenge matches . In fact they predicted there would be. Then you had the possibility of Clemments or Popp dropping to 138 or they may bump up so who the heck knows. They said Clemments could go anywhere from 138-160.I think they win 132 no matter who is the starter and lose a decision if the other 132 bumps to 138. If Popp or Clements drops to 138 Baylor gets the decision there. At 145 cbhs wins and in my opinion gets the major. Clements hasn't wrestled but a few matches against less than spectacular wrestlers. No knock on his ability I just think he isn't back from his horrific injury to the point of being able to beat or even hang with the All American. I think they put Clements at 152 and get a pin. Bump Cate to 160 pin Baylor, 170 pin by Craig.184 pin by Bodine.195 pin cbhs. 220 Dec cbhs. Hwt Dec by cbhs. I think this comes out to 31-30 cbhs. I couldn't remember some of Baylors or cbhs big guys names. I think Baylor should wrestle cbhs straight up after 160 and get bonus points. Then if they can pull an upset at 113,120,138,195 or Hwt then they are in contention. It should be a good one.

Longtime poster here with a new screen name. Purchased a new computer and couldn't remember my password or email address I signed up with. I got reliant on the autosave! I will miss Bcb's insight. While sometimes too much of a Chattanooga homer he has always made it interesting to say the least. I have never seen him attack a kid. Sure he has made predictions that probably ruffled some feathers but if you can't take someone saying they think your kid will lose then you shouldnt be on here. With my new screen name I have decided to pull no punches and try and keep it a's interesting as bcb. . Now I do worry about this Cupcake fellows cult like following of bcb. I'm thinking cupcake and bcb may be one in the same or he's on Bcb's payroll or there may be some tendencies there that are not of the conservative mindset. Way too much hero worship going on there. Now to touch on mocs2011 he does bring up a very valid point. While I don't agree I do know there are a lot of people and especially coaches who cringe at the thought of bcb. I guess they are the same ones who think everyone should win, we should split our state into more divisions and the Tssaa is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sorry for any typos. I'm in Atlanta enjoying a nice healthy lunch at Hooters and trying to type on my phone while being somewhat distracted.

No need to discuss the "mans div". Soddy destroys everyone they face including Cleveland in the finals.