John Paul II

[BuckLateral]

Has anyone heard anything about the wrestling program being started up at the new John Paul II high school in Hendersonville? Are they on anyone's schedule? Any well-known wrestlers going there from any of the middle schools, the NCW league, or maybe the Hendersonville FCI club? Their head coach is former MBA state champ ( 1996 or 1997, 191 lbs., I think) and University of North Carolina wrestler, Johnny Rich. I also heard ( but have not actually seen) that they have constructed an 'auxiliary' gym for wrestling matches. Sounds like they mean business and want to be a factor on the local wrestling scene in general and DII in particular. Wonder if they will siphon off any of the local Catholic talent from Ryan? Whatever, I think the addition of another school that is going to aggressively support a wrestling program will only make the Nashville area wrestling better so we can smack down the Baylor/McCallie and Bradley/Soddy regimes. Maybe Coach Rich can call in some markers and get some of those ACC wrestling coaches to come to Nashville for camps/clinics similar to what Matt Gorham at Harding Middle School did back in September with the weekend clinic put on by Army Coach Barbee (with Phillip Simpson along)or what Coach Blair has done the last few summers at Brentwood with the Ohio State Commuter camp. Its time-----Let the games begin.

[cbg]

I spoke with Johnny Rich for just a few minutes about two weeks ago. He is happy with the way things are going but has no assistant coach. If JP2 were very serious about the program they would have another former college wrestler involved in their program to help Johnny. How can one man coach 2 teams (freshman & JV) with 30 wrestlers and get the max out of them? I wish Johnny the best but JP2 needs to give him some help.

[soccerpro1]

I heard that Pope John Paul II(or JP to the folks around the Vatican) was one heck, er I mean, one heck of a wrestler. He went 80kilo freestyle for the 1952 Italian City State champion. His best move was a gut wrench. I heard he was going to be at his namesake's first match of the season to tell a few Polish jokes and loosen the crowd up.

 

After the match, he'll debate Ronnie Carter about the public private split and give autographs. Should be a lot of fun!

[flyingmerkel]

I hear John Paul II was a beast back in the day. Considering the circumstances, I wonder if the TSSAA could make an eligibility exception for the holy father. Im sure coach Rich could use a bit of divine presence in his middle weights. -Flying M-

[BuckLateral]

JP II may need some divine presence. They have not yet posted their wrestling schedule on the school website but FRA shows JPII and Clarksville on its schedule in a match at JPII on 12/3 and MBA has JPII on its schedule for Jan.28. Also heard that they may be wrestling Hillsboro and maybe Hillwood. Team will be frosh and sophomores so it looks like Coach Rich has decided to give his youngsters a baptism by fire. But since they are in DII where everyone will get a shot at the state in Chattanooga in February it is a good way to get them ready and they might pull a few surprises. All I know is that it looks like another DII school seriously interested in wrestling that might pick off some unsuspecting Baylor or McCallie grapplers who haven't seen them before giving our area wrestlers a better shot at the dual and individual titles.