matpitts81

39 minutes ago, FR615 said:

1/4th of those will be at Mccallie. Like the one that left for Mccallie. …In 8th grade…You know the one whose family actually lives in North Carolina and rents out a piece of property I’m sure you aware of. Yost and his assistants are starting to steal talent. 
 

 

 

We’re developing our own too.  

2 hours ago, RMC said:

Ok......with all the team bashing that been going on I thought I'd try to bring some humor to CoachT.

Wrestler's and coaches are funny......so I thought I'd a couple of stories and hope some of you would have some to also share.

Story #1:
We used to travel up to the Cleveland Duals on the Friday before the duals, and even started squeezing in a match with Baylor the night before a few times.

I was typically a chaperone and would be put in a room with 4 wrestlers. One trip Coach Ramos said I have a special assignment for you, and put me in a room with 4 of the studs.  I generally slept in the floor and by the door in my sleeping bag.  

The next day I overheard one of the studs talking to Coach Ramos and telling him he didn't want me in the room anymore.  Coach Ramos asked if there was a problem; the kid replied that I snored and he couldn't get out the door. Cliff asked why he needed to get out the door and the kid replied "well we were supposed to meet up with the wrestlerettes for Bible study."  Cliff said "After curfew!!.....That's exactly why he was in your room....now go try not to get beat."

Story #2:
I was at the high school one day in wrestling office and chatting with Coach Ramos.  He said hold on, I gotta make a call.

He picks up the phone and as he's asking the person what they're doing and as they respond he turns white as a ghost and says hang up I'll call you back.

I asked him if everything was ok.  He said "I hope so."  I think I said "What??"  The he said "That was Kyle.....Kyle Maynard and I asked him what he was doing and he said he was driving"  

Now if you don't know who Kyle Maynard is he was wrestler that was a quadruple congenital amputee. He didn't have full arms or legs.  He did have stumps for arms and he had to use both to hold a phone.  This was before Bluetooth or phones integrated with the car.  So you can get the mental image of what Coach Ramos was imagining.  

Coach looked at me and said....."I hope I didn't just kill Kyle"

Story #3:

Coach Ramos asked me to get the middle schoolers used to traveling and put a team together and take to them to an away tournament. So I get a pretty good group of kids together for a tournament in Pigeon Forge. Actually a really good group....9 kids would go on to be future state placers and 4 of those wrestled in college.....2 played football in college.

As we walk in a local man stops me and asks me who are these rednecks from Georgia.  Mind you this guy was wearing overalls, Carhartt shirt with cutoff sleeves, muddy boots, and a straw hat......

On this same trip....we got snowed in and had to check back into the Econo Lodge there in Pigeon Forge. Later that evening when I'm thinking I'll never do this again; the front desk calls.  The nice woman asks if I still have 14 wrestlers with me.  I said yes and I think they're in their rooms.  She says no they're naked in the indoor pool and that's ok since we're the only ones in the hotel, but could they please get the pool furniture out of the pool.....

Alright....lets hear your funnies... 

I had a lot of love and respect for Coach Ramos.  Great coach, better man.

On 3/27/2023 at 9:52 AM, Rasslinking said:

MBA, FR and CB do a great job developing their own talent. That’s obvious bc they all have feeder programs represented in the youth state tournament. Bottom line is Baylor and McCallie would rather recruit kids to build a team, which is fine. But they aren’t better coaches than any of the other 3 programs. Past credentials are 100% irrelevant when it comes to ability to coach. 

2023 TVWC Middle School Conference Championships held last night at Cleveland  

1. McCallie 212

(Done with all wrestlers that started Mccallie in the 6th grade, missing one weight, and 8 total 1st-2nd year wrestlers) 

2. Cleveland 211

3. Boyd 113

4. Lake Forest 106

5. CCS 90

6. Baylor 63.5 

On 12/14/2023 at 6:41 AM, cobrakid8 said:

The finals forfeit was due to the fact that Georgia high school kids are prohibited from wrestling 8th grade wrestlers. Kind of weird but that’s how it went. Of course I’m pretty sure they still wrestled the match and the kid from Georgia was a senior and I think 2 time state champ and Dylan still won it. Just kind of weird that Georgia has that rule for their high school students.

Super weird GA decided to start enforcing this rule on Saturday.  I haven't seen it in over 30 years involved in the sport in GA.  After the forfeit in the finals they wrestled an exhibition.  Dylan was winning 10-2 when he pinned him.  Regardless of grade, that's pretty impressive for any 14 year old! 

2 hours ago, KidGloves said:

Is it a big enough accomplishment to call him a sensation when he’s a holdback? He’s not a real 8th grader. Heck of a wrestler. Just not a real 8th grader. 

 

Call him what you want, but he's currently in 8th grade and 14 years old.  Held back in 1st grade for reasons not associated with wrestling.  

McCallie Wrestling Clinic With Army West Point Head Coach Kevin Ward

Where: McCallie Wrestling Room
When: June 5, 6, & 7
Times: 9am-11am & 11:45am-1pm

Cost: $150 (cash or check; venmo: @Jake-Yost)

Contact Jake Yost for more information (jyost@mccallie.org; 423-309-5253)

https://goarmywestpoint.com/sports/wrestling/roster/coaches/kevin-ward/1541

I agree with you...we still have a lot to prove.  My comment was directed at your statement that we don't develop our own talent.  We're trying.  

On 3/27/2023 at 9:52 AM, Rasslinking said:

MBA, FR and CB do a great job developing their own talent. That’s obvious bc they all have feeder programs represented in the youth state tournament. Bottom line is Baylor and McCallie would rather recruit kids to build a team, which is fine. But they aren’t better coaches than any of the other 3 programs. Past credentials are 100% irrelevant when it comes to ability to coach. 

To be fair, 5 of our 8 State Medalists all started wrestling in 6th grade at McCallie.  The others entered into school as incoming 9th graders.  There's only 2 Borders on the team and they didn't come to McCallie for wrestling.  It's not like we're out pulling high school state champions off other teams.  Our middle school team has finally become quite competitive locally over the last couple years also.  We just had 5 current middle schoolers (all started  McCallie in 6th grade) place in TNAAU and GAUSA youth state championships.  You might want to check with your sources again before you say that we aren't trying to develop talent at McCallie.  That's one of the main reasons we all enjoy coaching. 

Also, Blackman will do a great job at Bradley.  Congratulations to Ben Smith on a great coaching career!