Preseason Rankings for D1

[BringBack119]

Baller95 I agree Tucker Russo is special and I believe you have him exactly in the right spot.

[baller95]

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I am no authority on wrestling, but I seriously question the data. For example, the 160 class does not mention Jack Jones (Tennessee High, Bristol), or Eric Buck (Elizabethton). eached finished in the top 15 in total wins last year, and 12 of those have graduated. Jones and Buck are arguably in the top three in the 160 class. Furthermore, also from Tennessee High, Jeremy Taylor (Placed in state at 120, and twin Jonathon (Injured last year at 126), both are going to hit the 100 win mark this year as seniors. They are not mentioned. In addition, junior Josh Spangler at 170 is one to look out for.

I think you have been mislead cause Jeremy Taylor wrestled 113 last year, finished 2nd in Region 1 (to Whitaker), went 2-2 at state, and did not place. Regular season records mean very little and even less if the region the wrestler is in is weak. Region 1 has 2 returning state placers - I think that says a lot. Buck went 0-2 at state last year. The other wrestler didn't qualify. Don't think season wins against average talent deserves state placer consideration. Sorry.

[THSFather]

Actually, Jones and Buck wrestled in the Regionals for the final spot. It went the distance by one point, and Buck qualified. The reason Buck was 0-2 in the state was because he was disqualified at state for a skin rash, and did not wrestle. In regards to the Taylor twins, okay........I missed their weight class. Either way, they are all good wrestlers. This year, look for Buck and Jones both in 160, Taylors in 126 and 132.

[KingGreene]

 

Oh boy... Here we go.

THSfather, you were correct on your first statement when you said you were no authority on wrestling. You should have stopped there.

You are just a typical ignorant Region 1 parent. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. I guess it's not your fault that you don't know how small the talent pool is in Region 1 compared to the rest of the state. But the fact is that people like you are one of the many reasons Region 1 is in the state that it is. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate parents being enthusiastic about their kid's sport. But you are going about it the wrong way.

 

Before I get started, let me inform you that I wrestled in Region 1, I have trained many Region 1 wrestlers during the summer for the last few years, and now coach in Region 1. So I've been around the region for a while and I'm very aware of how the region stacks up to state competition.

Also, I know your sons, I know the twins, I know Spangler, and I am very close with the coaching staff of TN high. Currently, TN High has a plague involving the older kids that think they are already good enough and are content with the level they are at beating most of the other Region 1 kids, and barely (or almost) qualifying for State. This is partly because of parents that continue to tell their kids how amazing they are and always have an excuse for anytime they lose (and it's never because they didn't work hard enough)..... I guarantee that any of this year's freshman, new kids, and any of the future studs flowing in from VWC will not have this mentality because the VWC kids have been held to a higher standard than mediocrity and Tim Marshall will continue to hold a high standard and push them to excell past what has previously been expected. Marshall will not settle for complacency!

 

Let us talk about facts. Region 1 had 56 wrestlers qualify for the state tournament... And we had 4 return with a medal. 4 of the 84 medals were given to Region 1 CHAMPS! I just can't see how you can so confidently sit there and say that wrestlers that were 2nd, 3rd, or NOT EVEN TOP 4 in Region 1 should automatically be considered as a contender for a state medal! That is comical!

 

Region 1 is not to that level yet! We are at the bottom of the totem pole, bud. I want it to be competitive state wide and I am doing my best to help anyone I encounter get to that level... But until kids and parents stop being in denial, and actually start putting the time in in the offseason like the rest of the state does, we will continue to remain at the bottom of the totem pole.

 

I know for a fact that TN High kids were given great opportunities during the summer that they did not take advantage of. Yes some of them went to the VT camp and went to the Super 32 unprepared... But that just doesn't cut it. They have a DII college 5 mins from them and have a wrestling academy 30 mins from them and they do not take advantage of it!... Because they're already good enough to almost qualify for state and that's ok.

 

As much as I like Logan (Eric) Buck, as hard as he works, and as much as he wants it, he was not even close to prepared to compete at the state tournament last year. It would have not mattered if he had passed that skin test or not. He wouldn't have placed. We did a lot of work last summer and he traveled any chance he got. He is also working with ETSU when he gets the chance. He is still not state level, but he understands that and he is working to change it. Which is more than I can say for a lot of the region.

 

Talking your kids up for no valid reason is not helping them. Who have they beaten worth noting? What tournaments have they won? Do you even know any of the other kids in the state? What they did last year? Who they've beaten? What they did this summer?... Based on your comments, I assume you do not.

What you should be doing instead, is looking for opportunities to make them better and help them take advantage of those opportunities. Let them know that they may be good, but they can be SO much better!

 

I hope you can learn a little bit from this rant. I hope the Vikings have a great season. And I hope Region 1 has more than 4 state medalists this year.

[humorwrestling]

Facts are facts. KingGreene states many here and there is a lot to take note of and we can all learn from this.

 

In the book “Outliers,†author Malcolm Gladwell put forth the theory that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become “great†at something. From my calculations and I'm being very generous, the average high school wrestling season runs from November to February. Thats approximately 100 days. If a wrestler practices 3 hours each of those days he chalks up 300 hours of wrestling each season. If he works preseason every day starting in August he gets approximately 300 more hours. The "average" wrestler in TN, especially East TN doesn't work every day during preseason or regular season due to many factors such as other sports, weekends, other activities, etc. But just for arguments sake I'm giving the average TN wrestler 600 hours of wrestling each year. From freshman to senior year he racks up a grand total of 2,400 hours. Unfortunately, far short of the 10,000 required to become great.

 

Now I'm going to go a step further than Gladwell and say that there are some truly gifted wrestlers who become great by putting in their 600 hours per year, but these are rare and many times as the t-shirt slogan says, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." There are pockets of each area of the state where there are exceptions to every rule, but obviously the areas such Chattanooga, Murfeesboro, Pigeon Forge have subscribed to this belief that it takes much more than practice during a wrestling season to become a great wrestler. Their results show and they dominate state competition. I would guess that many of the wrestlers in the schools mentioned have 10,000 hours of wrestling before they even start high school. Its really not a far-fetched idea, if you don’t believe me, attend some of the youth tournaments in those areas.

 

KingGreene is correct, there are so many options for wrestlers these days to improve and wrestle year round, even in East TN. There are wrestlers who take advantage of these opportunities, and THOSE are the wrestlers from Region 1 that you see listed on Baller’s preseason rankings. Is it coincidence? I think not. In addition, the level of commitment is required not only from the wrestler but from the parent and their coaches. There are parents who are not willing or able to give what it takes to help their wrestler get to this level. There are wrestling coaches who are collecting a supplement and checking the box until football season rolls back around. Its changing in Tennessee but slowly. There are people in every town in the state that are trying to make their home school just like Cleveland or Soddy or Bradley. They all want to be there. But there has to be action to go along with the want.

 

Now back to the topic at hand, it seems to me that with message boards there are always those who get offended when someone attempts to put up rankings or discuss potential place winners. I rarely see a coach (that I know) come to the site to defend the honor of his wrestler, most coaches know to let the wrestler speak for himself on the mat. And unfortunately, KingGreene is correct about the level of talent in Region 1. I would love to be proven wrong and see14 finalists from East TN but I’m also a realist….Its not happening. Disillusioned parents are to be expected, from the earliest age everyone thinks their child is the smartest, prettiest, fastest, etc. All parents do this, but what hurts most is for parents to allow mediocrity. When parents allow wrestlers to not work preseason or miss practices during season. When parents make excuses for their wrestlers, they ultimately hurt everyone involved. This is not just true in wrestling but in all sports and our society. This is why you now see so many “participation trophies.†Wrestling is not built on this idea. There are parents who overcome the pitfall of coddling, pampering, and indulging excuses and there are coaches who cease to tolerate it. Those are the teams with the wrestlers standing on the podiums.

[Sommers]

Whatever happened to simple lists and some commentary, even odd positions like the ol soms will make occasionally?

[TC56]

Whatever happened to simple lists and some commentary, even odd positions like the ol soms will make occasionally?

Nice 3rd person reference there slick. I think the last couple posts were pretty right on and needed to be said no matter what the original topic was. Should probably be a topic all to its own - dillusional parents or just Region 1 and what needs to change to improve.

[Sommers]

Thx for helping make my point regarding this thread, but allow me to make another slick point,,, may I suggest that the top 6 does their 400-600 hrs in TN and after spending a spring & summer in GA it was clear that 600 hours is a minimum their and as a result their top kids make more noise around the country. And then you have PA, NJ, OH, MI, CA etc. 3 yr old to K-12 = 13,000 hours and a truck load of hardware moving many to THE BIG TIME. May I add opportunity cost + add'l expenses could exceed $100/hr.

[PeterD]

KingGreene/humorwrestling, you both have made some great points. The bottom line is I think we all want to see Region 1 wrestling improve and it is going to take a joint effort from the wrestler,the parent and the coaching staff. I think we are headed in the right direction but unfortunately this is not going to be a quick fix. Wrestling requires a great deal of talent, It also requires a very strong mind-set and until the wrestler,the parent and the coaching staff come together and are never satisfied with the level there are competing at this will never change! Good luck to all, I hope everyone has a great season!

[Hammer77]

Interesting prognostication but all wrong except for a couple of spots. However, I do appreciate the early read with all of its risks and respect the step out there.

[humorwrestling]

Hammer--Care to enlighten us as what you feel are the correct rankings?

[Hammer77]

I am itching to but can't just yet. Sources suggest that several are in the wrong weight class and a couple of significant guys won't be on the mat this year.