Region 8 Summary and Outlook

[Nainten]

About 5-6 years ago I was bemoaning the state of affairs in Region 8 -- or maybe at the time it was Region 10.  If one were to add up the state placers from the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the region would total a whopping number of...one.    Kudos to you, Nate Enzor!   In large part due to the emergence of Arlington's program, those numbers have climbed to respectability culminating in ten placers and two state champions in the 2019 season.  This season the region once again had ten placers so there is hope that this reflects a true improvement in the overall health of the region and not just one-off year in 2019.  One may be inclined to take dim view of it that there were no state champs this year, but there is reason to remain hopeful that Region 8 will remain competitive in the next few years to come.  

One development is that Collierville is once again on the upswing.  They have a bright, shiny new high school with a dedicated wrestling facility and a third year coach in Brian Loeffler who has a history of developing state placers while at Cordova.  They also have a budding youth program that is already contributing to their HS ranks.  Although they are losing two state placers to graduation this year, they should return 7 state qualifiers next season.   All signs point to the Dragons trending up for the next several years.  

Houston was a revelation this year under Coach Shirley, who became the ultimate successor to Walt Holmes.  He had a very veteran squad this year with five seniors, four of whom who placed at state last week.  It was on the strength of this core that the team reached the final 8 at the state duals tournament knocking off rival Arlington in the process.  They also finished one spot out of the top ten just this past week.  They will be returning only five state qualifiers next season but if Coach Shirley can pull a rabbit out of his hat again it bodes well for the region.  

Speaking of revelations, Munford seems like they are a program also on the upswing.    They had the region's highest state placer in senior Keegan Shultz (3rd), and sent six kids to states.  They will return 5 of those qualifiers.  This is a program that was had shut down until only a few years ago, so definitely another great sign for Region 8.  

Arlington and Bartlett took steps back this year, but whereas I am not sure about Bartlett's outlook,  I can say with confidence that Arlington is not going anywhere.  They had a bit of a rebuild this season, having lost three state finalists (two champs) and one other top 6 placer to graduation.  They had a very young squad with 9 starters being freshmen or sophomores.  Even with that they still managed to win both region dual and individual titles and qualify eleven for states.  Of those eleven, 9 will be returning including top four placer Dylan Cockman.  This represents the largest group of returning qualifiers in the region.  Their youth program is also as healthy as it has ever been, and I believe there are building plans that include a dedicated wrestling facility in the very near future.  They will not be going away anytime soon.  

With only three placers due to return for next season one might be tempted to predict a backslide for the region, but we only had 4 returning placers to start the season this year and wound up with ten at the end.  One would assume that having 41 state qualifiers due to return next season also increases the odds of more placers.  Either way, with the fact that Arlington's outlook remains strong and the resurgence of teams like Collierville, Houston and Munford, I am not looking forward to the dark ages of 2014 and 2015 again for a very, very long time.  

[GoTNwrestling]

I hope you are right. With Arlington leading the charge, it looks like they could have from anywhere if 1-4 kids placing. Bartlett, Collierville, and Munford look to continue to keep getting better and have 1-2 kids place yearly. Things are looking up for Region 8 which is very exciting for our sport!

[MemphisTiger14]

28 minutes ago, Nainten said:

Houston was a revelation this year under Coach Shirley, who became the ultimate successor to Walt Holmes.  He had a very veteran squad this year with five seniors, four of whom who placed at state last week.  It was on the strength of this core that the team reached the final 8 at the state duals tournament knocking off rival Arlington in the process.  They also finished one spot out of the top ten just this past week.  They will be returning only five state qualifiers next season but if Coach Shirley can pull a rabbit out of his hat again it bodes well for the region.  

The head coach at Houston is Brad McCarter; Nelson Shirley is their head assistant coach. I will say, though, that their entire coaching staff does a phenomenal job. They're the first team from the region to beat Arlington in a while, so I expect that rivalry to grow in the coming years. 

Kudos to all the coaches in Region 8 that give up their time to grow the sport in an area that had previously lacked such enthusiasm for it.

[Nainten]

Yes, MT14, thanks for the correction.  Apologies to Coach McCarter.  His staff did a heck of a job this past season building up to the end of the year.  As for rivalries watch out for C'ville.