who's best

[Findthetruth]

Anyone know?

[WrestlingGod]

Anyone know?

ummm, there is no answer to this question, by asking this you will open up a can of worms, not good. everybody will have their own opinions...

[Findthetruth]

Anyone know?

ummm, there is no answer to this question, by asking this you will open up a can of worms, not good. everybody will have their own opinions...

 

What's the diiference between this and expressing your opinion in the pre-season pole? Can of worms?Not Good? It's just a Board lighten up.

[TNRankings]

I think it is obvious TN's best is Cameron Croy

 

Behind him in my opinion are

 

Michael Kennedy

Cole Hayes

Zach Watson

Cambell Lewis

Michael Hooker

Daniel Bauke

 

Most have Nation wide credentials

[2blLeg]

I think it is obvious TN's best is Cameron Croy

 

Behind him in my opinion are

 

Michael Kennedy

Cole Hayes

Zach Watson

Cambell Lewis

Michael Hooker

Daniel Bauke

 

Most have Nation wide credentials

 

Since this is for discussion, I'll throw this in there.

 

How do you leave Doster off the list, when he is a 2 time state champ and beat Hooker in the state finals?

 

Also, how on earth do you leave Duncan off this list. A 3 time champ, and no respect?

[WrestlingGod]

this is exactly what i was talking about, there will be no definitive answer here, and besides....if we do this post and the kid sees it, it is gonna skyrocket his ego, and i know of a couple people who are more than qualified to be on this list that dont need a bigger ego than they already have

[WrestlingGod]

but pound for pound, i would say zach watson

[wosbodog]

I tend to agree with WrestlingGod, there is no definite answer, and in some ways making the comparisons is unfair to the state champs who aren't mentioned that never get the chance to wrestle the other guys. However, it's a super fun topic to discuss, so I don't think I can resist.

 

I believe Mike Kennedy was ranked highest nationally this year, at 3rd in the country, but that was for juniors only. Cameron Croy was ranked 6th for seniors, and I would guess he's probably the most accomplished wrestler in the state overall, winning national championships on multiple occassions over the years, and last I heard he placed 5th at Fargo in 2008, for the Cadet division. Mike Hooker and Zach Watson were both in the top 20 for sophomores, and I can't remember if there were any others ranked (on that particular website), but I would imagine there are several more Tennessee All-Americans from various tournaments. Daniel Baucke placed 8th at Fargo at 98 lbs. in 2006, don't know if any other current TN high schoolers have placed at Fargo.

 

One thing I have noticed about Tennessee wrestling is we've been getting lots of middle-school superstars that have won just about everything there is to win, but by the time they reach their senior year the guys from other states have caught up and end up beating up on our guys at nationals. So this indicates that we have some really elite middle school programs, but other states probably have the upperhand in high school. In other words, if I'm right on this, we get a lot more national champs in the younger divisions than in seniors, with Jordan Leen I believe being the last TN wrestler to win nationals as a senior. Case in point, look at Courtney Coffey. The kid was unstoppable as a middle schooler, won state in DII as a sophomore and junior, then transfers schools to DI and gets humiliated by Matt Lettner of Soddy Daisy. No disrespect to Coffey, but think about it. At 215 pounds attending a school with a wrestling team composed almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores, going against Lettner whose entire school practically breathes wrestling, with superior tournaments like McCallie they attend, and UTC within driving distance. Anyway that's the problem our athletes outside the oasis of Chattanooga run into, not enough depth in the wrestling programs at the high school level (especially off-season) to keep pushing them and contend with the top states like New York and Ohio. But we're improving, and college is always there.

 

I will say that the most impressive State performance I've ever seen was Zach Watson last season at 112. Granted, I haven't been watching wrestling for that long of a time, but I've never seen a human being move like that, and the kid was only a freshman, already winning his second state title and being named most outstanding wrestler the previous year as an 8th grader! He and TJ Duncan both have good shots at becoming 5-time state champs, and I don't think that's happened in Tennessee before, ever.

 

I've never seen Turbo wrestle, but every time his name is mentioned people go nuts, so he must have some game.

 

The match I'm most looking forward to seeing is Cameron Croy and Mike Kennedy, assuming they'll be in the same weight class. I think Kennedy has a shot, because there is a disadvantage that Croy has. Like the case with Coffey, now that the stud is a senior, who around him is going to be able to push him in practice? There's no one of Croy's caliber to challenge him, let alone his size, and it's not like he can just drive to UTC and train with the college guys as opposed to someone from say, Baylor or McCallie could do. And I know Croy's also been active in several other sports, so that limits training time during the off-season. Kennedy on the other hand, has his dad and the whole Sharpshooters clan, tons of national experience, and Blackman keeps getting better and better, plus he lost to Croy last season in a fairly close contest, so you know he's got to be gunning for Croy like mad. It's going to be close. But either way, Croy's a hoss all around, I bet he'll win plenty of athletic awards, he is the "real mcCroy" after all, and I like to see him and all of coach Joe Blair's guys succeed.

 

You know, one way to "FindtheTruth" would be combining the state tournaments into a single unified Actual State tourney, but that's a topic for another time, a battle I may never see won; there's always hope though.

[Findthetruth]

You know, one way to "FindtheTruth" would be combining the state tournaments into a single unified Actual State tourney, but that's a topic for another time, a battle I may never see won; there's always hope though.

 

I think that is where the truth is.

[SheHateMe2]

Or even better we could consolidate all of the weight classes. Then we would know who the true best would be.

 

To make it fair we could make a giant shrinking machine and a giant growing machine. Then we could get them all in one weight class. Boy that would be something. One true champion to rule them all.

[budheavy]

ALL THESE KIDS ARE GREAT WRESTLERS, BUT ONLY ONE KID WAS NAMED NATIONAL CHAMPION AND ITS CAMPBELL LEWIS, SO HE IS THE FRONT RUNNER AFTER ALL HE IS THE ONLY ONE ON THIS LIST THAT HAS A CHANCE TO BE A 4X STATE CHAMP IN D1. AND A FOUR TIME NATIONAL CHAMP.

[WrestlingGod]

Mike Kennedy was also a national champ last year, and he got second in state to cameron croy, so that would put cameron back up there.