Region Upsets

[WishICoachedSoccer]

11 minutes ago, nununu said:

Here is the honest truth as to why Calvin won it. Although he only wrestled a couple of matches, not his fault, when his name popped up. I guarantee you all of the Metro coaches voted for him.  That left the Williamson County teams to split their votes amongst the more deserving wrestlers from this season. I wasn’t in the room, but when I was coaching, there was a division amongst the 2 districts. 2016 COY in the region went to Chris Murray of Hillsboro. Yes he did a great job. But in my opinion the award should have gone to Jared Grindstaff, Phillip Pelkey, or Jerome Dooley. Why didn’t Jared or Pelkey win it. Votes were split, all the Metro coaches voted for Murray, because I wasn’t going to vote for myself. There you have it. It’s not about popularity, it’s just that the Metro coaches feel that Willco teams think they are better and will not vote for them if it is going to be determined by majority. Metro has an advantage, all they need is one Willco coach or Dickson Co to roll with them. It will never be a fair vote until regions are changed. Which I think is happening next year. Didn’t you all ever wonder why some of those coaches never wanted to wrestle you guys, or you didn’t see them until regions. That’s pretty much why. I didn’t really look at wrestling this season until duals, but I saw that there were a lot of kids that had outstanding seasons. There should not have been a Metro kid up for any award this season. Although through no fault of their own,  the body of work was not comparable to those that had full seasons.  

Totally agree with you. That happens a lot, and as someone who was in the room that’s what it was. However some coaches voted against certain schools because they are spiteful or insecure. A coach literally did not vote for a wrestler because that school did not vote for him for coach of the year. Apparently coaching high schoolers rubs off on some coaches to make them act like they are in high school again. Comes down to metro vs wilco, and unfortunately insecure and jealous people.

[cbg]

14 hours ago, WishICoachedSoccer said:

Totally agree with you. That happens a lot, and as someone who was in the room that’s what it was. However some coaches voted against certain schools because they are spiteful or insecure. A coach literally did not vote for a wrestler because that school did not vote for him for coach of the year. Apparently coaching high schoolers rubs off on some coaches to make them act like they are in high school again. Comes down to metro vs wilco, and unfortunately insecure and jealous people.

Back in the early 80's there was a guy that was 29-0 on the season that won OW for Middle Tennessee  He had wrestled against zero competition and it showed at the state tournament when he went 0-1 and a BBQ.  As a coach I early on adopted the Dan Gable philosophy that it is the coaches job to get the kid beat.  Few people learn anything from their victories but they learn a lot from their defeats.  Take them all over the country if necessary to face the very best competition available.  I would much prefer that a wrestler enter the state tournament 25-5 and those losses being to good out of state wrestlers or wrestlers from another division.  We are in the middle of a pandemic but in most years it makes no sense to dodge the very best competition.  

[Metroman1]

14 hours ago, nununu said:

Here is the honest truth as to why Calvin won it. Although he only wrestled a couple of matches, not his fault, when his name popped up. I guarantee you all of the Metro coaches voted for him.  That left the Williamson County teams to split their votes amongst the more deserving wrestlers from this season. I wasn’t in the room, but when I was coaching, there was a division amongst the 2 districts. 2016 COY in the region went to Chris Murray of Hillsboro. Yes he did a great job. But in my opinion the award should have gone to Jared Grindstaff, Phillip Pelkey, or Jerome Dooley. Why didn’t Jared or Pelkey win it. Votes were split, all the Metro coaches voted for Murray, because I wasn’t going to vote for myself. There you have it. It’s not about popularity, it’s just that the Metro coaches feel that Willco teams think they are better and will not vote for them if it is going to be determined by majority. Metro has an advantage, all they need is one Willco coach or Dickson Co to roll with them. It will never be a fair vote until regions are changed. Which I think is happening next year. Didn’t you all ever wonder why some of those coaches never wanted to wrestle you guys, or you didn’t see them until regions. That’s pretty much why. I didn’t really look at wrestling this season until duals, but I saw that there were a lot of kids that had outstanding seasons. There should not have been a Metro kid up for any award this season. Although through no fault of their own,  the body of work was not comparable to those that had full seasons.  

I think this is true, but I think there is more to it.  Several of the Metro coaches vote as a block on these awards, and they heavily slant toward Metro.  Calvin and Ables were very deserving candidates based on past performance, and I think the Metro coaches wanted to give Calvin the award because of all the crap Metro has put up with this year.  We could argue whether that is a correct interpretation of how to vote, but it isn't malicious against Ables, Centennial, or Wilco in general.

Metro wrestling has its problems, for sure. There are several coaches that don't work hard and several that are in over their heads, but I think a lot of the issues in the voting come from petty disagreements within the Wilco coaches.  They remember a perceived slight in a single match from years prior and then won't vote for that wrestler or coach for years to come.  

There is a huge divide between the 2 counties (poor Spring Hill and Dickson County are stuck) and it is probably best that they will be split up next year, but I think the silliness will continue because there are a lot of really good Wilco coaches with really big egos.  The problems with Metro will transfer over to Wilson County.  It will be sad to see Wilson Central kids and coaches not get awards because Metro coaches have such an inferiority complex.  

One last thing, the idea that Ravenwood should have won coach of the year is silly.  Yes, there program has improved over the last couple of years, but so has Summit's.  And Summit obviously has the hardware to prove it.  Hopefully, Ravenwood will be able to lay claim in a couple of years.

[WishICoachedSoccer]

18 minutes ago, Metroman1 said:

I think this is true, but I think there is more to it.  Several of the Metro coaches vote as a block on these awards, and they heavily slant toward Metro.  Calvin and Ables were very deserving candidates based on past performance, and I think the Metro coaches wanted to give Calvin the award because of all the crap Metro has put up with this year.  We could argue whether that is a correct interpretation of how to vote, but it isn't malicious against Ables, Centennial, or Wilco in general.

Metro wrestling has its problems, for sure. There are several coaches that don't work hard and several that are in over their heads, but I think a lot of the issues in the voting come from petty disagreements within the Wilco coaches.  They remember a perceived slight in a single match from years prior and then won't vote for that wrestler or coach for years to come.  

There is a huge divide between the 2 counties (poor Spring Hill and Dickson County are stuck) and it is probably best that they will be split up next year, but I think the silliness will continue because there are a lot of really good Wilco coaches with really big egos.  The problems with Metro will transfer over to Wilson County.  It will be sad to see Wilson Central kids and coaches not get awards because Metro coaches have such an inferiority complex.  

One last thing, the idea that Ravenwood should have won coach of the year is silly.  Yes, there program has improved over the last couple of years, but so has Summit's.  And Summit obviously has the hardware to prove it.  Hopefully, Ravenwood will be able to lay claim in a couple of years.

I would say it was malicious towards the kids, and I’m definitely not saying that every coach had that attitude. I think Calvin is a great wrestler so to vote for him wasnt an insanely horrible idea, even though I think others were more deserving. However, a coach explicitly told another coaching staff they did not vote for a specific wrestler because that staff didn’t vote for his in another award. That is just complete pettiness and insecurity to the likes that only belongs in a high school classroom or a sorority house

[Sommers]

On 2/13/2021 at 8:23 PM, JIII said:

This is the same way OW is decided at the tournament. Skyler Coffee won last year and was impressive but Tyler Seeley gave up zero points and won a state title. I would argue that the competition at Seeleys weight was substantially better. It’s a popularity contest and not based on performance. OW is about the tournament and not your career or season of work.

I'll never forget sophomore Nic Bundy buzz sawing through former medalists including Jr Danny Coleman (who was really good most days), but Bundy wasn't the brand yet. Then Sr Coleman hangs on only to squeak out his final match(s) vs a scattered field who didn't drop or increase. A HS career selection was Coleman, and a Brand, but NOT Kenny Meredith of Blackman (1st Gold medalist if I remember right for that fairly unknown new school), who also buzz sawed through highest quality competition (including Clarksville's incredible Weakley in the finals), but again Meredith was NOT a brand...

...Shocking selection down there in Chattanooga that particular year. I was stunned, but it was clear what was going on.

2021, I predict a home cooking in D2 and Big schools. Not sure how MOW goes, but Baylor and Cleveland once again gets the nod. A Grand Championship would be fun.

AA could get interesting w a few schools like PF, SM, Hixson and Fairview...+