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Hindsight is always 20/20. I guarantee that all the coaches come with a game plan. The crazy thing is if Crowder wins in 2OT we are talking about how they pulled out a gusty dual. You win some and you lose some. It’s part of leaving fate up to others. What if Crowder loses at HWT? These are all the things coaches think about. Coaching is a lose lose game until you win. It was a great dual and lots of changes will be occurring for both teams the next week.

Credentials on who?

Yea that is not true. There are a good wrestlers in Division 2 that could wrestle D1 but doesn't have the grades or wasn't liked in high school. I did count 3 D1 wrestlers on that staff. Look at Meridieth form Wyoming, he could not start at NC State and went back home and now is an All-American. You can not say that just because someone doesn't wrestle D1 doesn't mean they are not as good. It was what they thought was best for them.

I agree to everyone. The reason for AAU is gaining trust from the coach and AD in the part of them knowing you want a position within the school.

Some schools do not want to go out on a limb to give chances like that because of sue happy people now of days. I would probably say take a shot elsewhere or try to have a meeting with the AD to see where you can go from there. Sorry that stuff like that happens a lot. It happens a lot more in wrestling than in football because of the popularity. Have you talked to the coach and see if he would talk to the AD and principals?

There are a couple of things you can do, one become an AAU coach at the school and get experience inside the school system. You can also volunteer at the school to get your name out there. The problem you will have is most schools need someone they can hold accountable in the system as a teacher where taking a coaching position away is very little consequence.

I have been there and done that except it was in the match to place after coming out of the championship bracket losing 3-1 to the state champ in the second round as a returning medalist and beating 2 ranked wrestlers in the consolations. It happens. Do I regret it? No. Am I mad about it? No, because a legacy and character are built on how you handle the loss. Could I hold on to it? Yes, it was my senior year and only gave me my 4th loss that season, but you do not leave anything to chance. You fight for what is yours and the fact is this sport owes you nothing. The only thing you deserve is the right to compete if you work for it. This sport is so much harder than anything else, because your mistake is magnified to the nth degree and the mistakes fall on you. Your son will grow from this hopefully and move on. Do not hold to this or it WILL define you and that is not what you want. Wrestling is only a sport, not life. Excel in other things to define what type of man or women you will be because that is what counts, not what kind of wrestler you were 30 years ago.

I think the best part was when Cocke County, Volunteer, Crockett, Daniel Boone, and one of the Morristowns had a person in the third round of consolations. Those teams are coming up as well. It is very fun to watch. Enjoy the off-season and work as hard as possible. This is the time to make state champions

This is great showing that there is quality throughout the state and not only in a couple of regions, state is getting back to what it use to be before the split.

Because most outstanding wrestler is for that tournament, not the whole year. Plus who would have said he would have won out. Is he a great wrestler? By all means, but not for this tournament. The coach who made the call to sit his wrestler effected that. Is it right? No, but this happens a lot more than people think. It is a big rise up because it is Russo who is a great kid and wrestler. It is a shame, but we need to get off the boat and also celebrate the people who made it to the finals and won state. His career is flawed to end, but colleges already know what type of man and hard working wrestler they are getting. If they decide not to pursue more if he is not committed then shame on them as well for being shallow.

What is the plan then? If it can take up to 72 hours for symptoms to appear and take hours to have MRIs and CT scans you will be having week long tournaments. Bad concussions happen less, but they still happen. In 2012 wrestling had a 5.8% concussion rate in the nation. If there are 10,000 wrestlers that is 580 wrestlers who receive one. That is a lot

Then you will see wrestlers being taught to say they can not continue. There will always be a loop hole in this. You just hope people are doing this sport for the right reasons

It happens more than you think. There are a lot of this that flies under the radar. There is more news on this issue now which needs to be addressed.

They do, if the official or coach sees a kid with any concussion symptom by rule they are suppose to stop the match, and the wrestler is not allowed to return until signed off by a MD

Knowing this it changes everything and as a whole we are truly sorry to Russo and the Soddy program. Now we know we need to change the rules

Again the training staff has probably never seen this kid so they are talking to the wrestler to see if he felt like he could and do some initial stuff. The physical symptoms may not have happened. Until you know the story do not judge the wrestler or coaching staff. Only they know the real story

Again, as a health professional, maybe the coaches saw something that the trainers did not because of a great thing called a baseline. There are trainers who defer to the kid even though there could be something wrong because it is state tournament. There are trainers who ask the kid if they are okay and if they say yes they are "cleared." A quality concussion test takes 15-30 minutes and they can still pass it and have one. Sometimes we let our feelings of kids mask the good in maybe someone saved this kids life. You never know.

There is a lot more depth this year, region 1 has i think 13 or 14 wrestlers in the quarter finals, region 2 and 3 have a good showing, Memphis area or region 8 has shown that they can compete. I hope the growth continues to make this a competitive state nationwide. Now here is the question, do they seed the top 8 if it keeps doing this trend?

Here is the thing, by all accounts nothing has made any of us think otherwise that Russo was or is intending to hurt anyone. Does he wrestle hard? Yes. To wrestle at the level he is wrestling you have to. Did he make a mistake with how the guy was taken to the mat? Probably, but it is also a judgment call by the official with the force component. If the kid was not hurt and the trainers cleared him that is one thing. If the coaching staff took the TSSAA push for concussion and thought he would be better off not continuing then that is another thing as well. It will all depend on if the kid wrestles this morning, forfeits out, or wrestles like he is hurt. In any case I hate Russo going out like this, but I would not want to face him in the consolations, he is likely to hit a big hot streak and place 3rd.

Very much so! consolations will be key

Tennessee High has a lot of people in the quarters. They could compete.

Bagley is from SHHS. 160 Alex Jeffers could have a shot at sneaking in the 5 or 6 place match if he wrestles well, Spangler from Tenn High could sneak in as well. Cooper Williams from SHHS could be in there as well

trackwrestling.com under tournaments and search tssaa

2 coaches for 60 kids to the 6 coaches for 100 kids at the varsity level? That is 1:30 and 1:19 coach per player ratio in paid positions. The point is, there needs to be more support than there is for any region to "catch up" to Bradley, Cleveland, Soddy, WC

Hence the backing of the schools. There has been many times that schools hire coaches because they can coach multi-sports. Also, there are a lot of times that schools pay the head coach and not the assistances. That would come out of the budget of the wrestling team or the head coaches salary. The sad thing is the school pays 5-7 coaches in football to the 1 in wrestling. It is sad and needs change. It will not happen until people for one understand the sport and two, do something about it. That is why we need community support and local college support.