TotallynotLEO

More clear language about the cut back being illegal. It was illegal before, just added additional language in case it wasn't clear about leaving the feet to hit it. I don't like the move anyways. Unfortunately I've seen "coaches" hit this move on kids in practice. Showboats.

I couldn't agree more. This post nails it exactly why they're needs to be divisions. The whole participation trophy and life isn't fair argument is something a boomer would say. Picture an old man shaking his fist "back in my day". If anything the 1 class argument is more unfair. If you're whole argument is centered around making things unfair for kids as much as possible... good luck with that. You're probably a horrible person. To the people that hold up California as an example of a state with the 1 champion. Wrestling participation in that state has been dropping for years. There are clear unmistakable differences between schools that give advantages and disadvantages. I personally think it's correct as is. A AA D2 Makes sense.

You are correct. Shannon Sayne is a fantastic coach and human being. AC had a couple classes of kids that started and stayed with the program from 6th - 12th grade. They trained in the summers with Shannon. They also had parents that really supported and pushed the program forward. They hosted a Purler camp, held fundraisers, drove kids to events all over the state. Took kids to college mini camps. One parent sent their kid to Purler in Missouri for a week, then the next year they took 4 kids to it. It was a team effort. The parents and kids that did that would like to continue to help the program but are being run off by the White Buffalo crew.

Yeah, it's pretty bad. They have a big sign on the wall that says they "strive to build men that live up to a high moral code". Here are some if the things coaches have done. Made fun of parents Pressured kids to wrestle against doctors orders Denied kids requests to see a trainer if they thought they were injured and forced them to finish practice. Made fun of one of them for not wrestling on a torn acl, mcl. Spencer Lee story got told. Lee had world class Healthcare, we had a trainer that got $15 an hour. Kid was never going to wrestle in college anyways. Called kids ###### Told kids to lie to parents if they are injured Hit illegal cutbacks/scissor sweeps on kids in practice but tell them not to do it. Show up smelling like weed. I don't care if you partake, but don't show up smelling like it. Would you trust your kid to ride to a tournament with a coach that did that? Advertise a coach as a D1 wrestler. He was on the team long enough to get his picture taken before he quit the team and school. Didn't make it through a season, or even a semester. There's much more to it but those are the highlights. To be clear, this is the newly formed White Buffalo club that feeds into the high school. It's run by the booster club which has all new members. The actual high school coaches Matt and Tate are nothing like this and are great to the kids.

AC, like many schools will be up and down depending on getting a couple good classes of kids. They probably underperformed this season IMO. They will take a step back next year. They'll have 3 or 4 decent kids but that's about it. There are some major problems with the newly formed White Buffalo club team and HS booster club. They've gotten very toxic very quickly and ran off long time supporters and people that were friendly to the high school program. Example- club coaches and adults should never tell kids to keep secrets or hide things from their parents. Specifically injuries. The supporters that got the program where it was the last 2 years are leaving. Several kids are talking about transferring or quitting outright. The head coach is a very good man, Matt does very good but he's one guy. Unfortunately he has no control over the club. Gibbs and PF will be tops in region 2A. Probably Greeneville and PF next year out of sectionals. Greeneville is young and getting very good very fast.

I've got a lot invested in bringing a program forward and have relationships with some of the kids still. I will miss that part. I wont miss seeing the program crash and burn the next 2 or 3 years though. That's exactly where it's headed, the people there just don't realize it yet. They're too crazy.

The people in this sport in general are crazy, not everyone but enough. Our sport gets toxic, quicky. It's part of the reason I'm pulling back from it.

Amongst small schools... Region 1 10 state placers or 12% Region 2 16 state placers or 19% Region 3 10 state placers or 12% Region 4 18 state placers or 21% I think Soddy had 9 alone here. Region 5 7 state placers or 8% Region 6 8 state placers or 9.5% Region 7 6 state placers or 7% Region 8 7 state placers or 8% I've missed a couple somewhere but this is close. Sometime double check me.

At first glance... A 165lbs Davis is in the cons. Finals are Hood and Moore. I'm going with Moore. A 157lbs Howard A 215lbs Bingham

I can 100% get behind this. If it's not a cash cow like football, T$$AA treats it like a nuisance. We are still in the dark ages in other sports like wrestling.

Very nice explanation CBG

After reading CBGs comment I edited my response. I hadn't thought about that. There was a kid from Tullahoma for DQ'd at state duals for biting. It happens. I've also seen a kid get ring finger broken, like sideways broken. He was on top with a 2 on 1 and the kid on bottom turtled, fighting hands. Ref didn't see it, there's no way to see it. How you get that one finger sideways like that if you're supposed to grab multiple fingers is beyond me. It was a tight match, in a tight dual. Ref said he couldn't see it, no call.

Yes, 138 and 120 have been fun to watch this side of the state. Puryear, Pratt, Day, Relation and Wolfley all have wrestled each other multiple times. They've beat each other up a lot. Pratt just seemed to fall off towards the end of the season. I suspect he's not 100%. Wolfley is back closer to %100 now. I watched the Laxton/Pratt match close. Pratt tried to get cute and Laxton stayed calm. It'll be a fun bracket. The Allen kid has dec Hulet like 4 times this year. Thompson beat Allen. Hulet beat Thompson. Then Malin (Seymour) beat Thompson at sectionals. Crazy world.

Rawlinson would be a finalist. Bull got teched by Finstad so I'm not sure he'd make the finals unless he had a really favorable draw. Same for Laxton. Bingham pinned him pretty easily earlier this season so unless he could get a favorable draw away from him and probably Retting/ Click in not sure he'd make the finals. Solid comments on other stuff, I like hearing other perspectives. Thompson (Crockett) 120lbs finished 4th at his sectional. He lost to an AC kids and Seymour. At 138lbs watch out for Day (Greeneville). He's not getting Ethan, no one is. Sucks for him to be in that half of the bracket because I think he's a shoe in to make the finals if he's in the bottom half. Instead he gets Ethan in the semi. Wolfley from AC might make a run. It's crazy that the Pratt kid from Pigeon Forge didn't even qualify for state out of that sectional this year after finishing 3rd at state last year.

I can't argue. 5 returning medalists in the bottom half. I guess it comes down to winning your sectional? Several medalists didn't win sectionals is the only thing I can think of. (Cruz, Evans, Voories)

I saw Congdon early and he's solid. He did some leg riding. Just going off similar competition Romano looked a bit better but we all know anything can happen. The wild card is Rohn. Either way, great match ups to be had.

I watched the Howard and Levell match last year. Iwatched both in other matches multiple times. Both those guys know how to wrestle and win close matches. Levell is just more athletic. Howard got his 200th win recently so he's no slouch. I got to watch Romano go against a couple really good A (small school) 144s at beat down in the mountains tournament earlier this year. He was very impressive. He dec Finstad from Gibbs who is a hammer, regardless of classification. For reference, Finstad had just TF the Soddy kid (Bull) at the same tournament. On the girls side, I don't know that I've ever seen a more lopsided bracket than 120lbs.

Boys or girls? The girls 120 has 5 returning medalists in the bottom half of the bracket. 1 in the top.

I'm on the Leavell and Romano train. I've seen em both up close. To me the most insane bracket is that AA 120LBS

Solid comments. I'm not to sure on some of the middle and most of the West kids. 150 should be Cosper. 157 will be Howard, he will sleep walk through his bracket. Same for Davis at 175lbs. Rawlinson was really improved over last year and he was the only one that was remotely any threat. He's out though. The rest of 175 is really wide open. Retting and Bingham for 215. I don't know much about Retting but Bingham is on a mission this year. He's lost one match to a national ranked kid from VA. He's beaten everyone else in dominant fashion.

Small school is petty well set. Higdon Mayhan/Lopez 126 is interesting, pretty wide open. The Urochuck brothers. Cosper at 150 Howard 157 165 Q. Davis , Hood, Wentzel maybe Jackson Davis 175 190 is pretty wide open. Jonathan Davis heavy. 144 might be a good finals but my money is on Finstad. 215 finals takes place in the lower half of the bracket between Bingham and Retting. Bingham beat Click twice this season. That's my take on it.

We allow a lot of toxicity in the wrestling community and call it being tough. Telling kids to hide injuries from parents. Not letting them see a trainer when they say they are hurt. A doctor doesn't clear them but a coach says you should tough it out. Kid has a blown out knee and you bring up Spencer Lee to convince him to push through. It's the dark side of our sports culture.

Been several good kids that have been injured or missed weight. 138, 144, 157, 175, 215 are some that I know of with really good kids missing. Ferrell, Bull, Prewitt, Rawlinson. I know the talent pool is deeper in AA but there are some hammers in A too. I hope the Houston Retting kid meets Josh Bingham in the 215 finals. Should make for a good match. I know Ethan has 138 locked up in A but sectional 1 for that weight was tough. Pratt (3rd place at state last year) didn't qualify out of it this year. That sectional at 144 is loaded too. Other than Villars and the Ramono kid from Independence, I think the Finstad kid from Gibbs is easily the next best 144, all classifications. He lost early by dec to Romano this season so he's not far from challenging for the top. Howard will run through his bracket and get his championship this year at 157.

I'm of the opinion that most parents think everything is dirty. Low single? They're trying to take out a knee. Assassin? They're choking them. Hard club? He's literally punching him ref, do something.

Ramblings. I know this is an old post but as a community we still see behavior like this from time to time. Wrestling is an ultra competitive sport that can bring out the best and worst in people. I've seen seriously toxic behavior by parents and coaches. I absolutely believe that there should be room in the sport for kids at all levels of dedication and enjoyment. Your kids wants to be a D1 athlete? Go for it. Your kid want to just be a part of a team, maybe lose a couple pounds and that's it? Absolutely. No need to prey on a senior kids emotions when he blows his knee out week one (total acl/mcl tear) and tell him if he was tough he'd be like Spencer Lee. He had world class medical treatment. Our high school team has a trainer that makes $14 an hour. That's just one example of how this can quicky go toxic. Kid was never going to college to begin with. I've been to tournaments and got to talk to all kinds of kids and parents. At a preseason tournament I frequent (grapple on the gridiron) I got to know a couple kids from another small school. They were brothers and were there without a coach. I ended up helping them in the corner and giving them some strategy tips, at least what I could in such limited time but it worked. The parents (and kids) were incredibly appreciative. One ended up getting 5th at state later that year. Saw them again the next year and they asked me to help out again. It's positive interactions and relationships like this that we should be striving for. I've helped a senior on our team that may not qualify for state this year but he is the absolute best kid. I've watched and helped him from middle school until now. Watching him grow up, put in work, get to HIS potential has been a blessing to me. There's another senior on the team that is a bit soft and not particularly good. Hes a good kid though. He's lost almost 100lbs since middle school (yes, that's right) and has now joined the military. He has changed his life trajectory in a good way. Things like this, kids like this. This is the true value of what the sport can bring. We get so caught up in winning I think we miss this sometimes. Just my ramblings about the sport.