TN has 3 HS boys placers at Super32

[durdon]

106 Cooper Hilton 7th

145 Cody Chittum 1st 

220 Gunnar Garriques 6th

Champ and 2 placers 

[oceansize42]

Wondered what happened to Hilton but see that he listed PA as his state for Super 32.

[Ummmno]

21 minutes ago, oceansize42 said:

Wondered what happened to Hilton but see that he listed PA as his state for Super 32.

Wyoming Sem

[cbg]

1 hour ago, oceansize42 said:

Wondered what happened to Hilton but see that he listed PA as his state for Super 32.

Garriques (Baylor) is listed as IL

[ghouse]

Probably a very interesting statement about where TN wrestling is currently at on the national scene, though obviously not a really fair sample.  Taking a look at the kids mentioned here...

Hilton - one of TN's best youth wrestlers, trained in TN all his youth career (between mid-TN and Cleveland), last training in an environment at Cleveland that has produced plenty of quality wrestlers, leaves to head to Wyoming Sem to wrestle

Chittum - top prospect to come out of the state in a long time, wraps his HS career early even with lots of movement on his classification year.  Bounced around a ton in career and not wrestling in TN much (2 years of his active competition, 8th grade and SO / JR seasons depending on how you classified it).

Garriques - only wrestler that is competing in TN this year from this list and did his youth wrestling in IL before boarding at Baylor

I will also add in the below:

Herring - places 8th at 113, now wrestling for Bishop McCourt in PA as well... essentially repeat everything I said about Hilton above for him expect sub CBHS for Cleveland.

Interesting to see if this is a blip or if we start to see more of the trend of TN having trouble keeping its best talent home as they find other places to wrestle.  Not a unique problem to TN either.  Seeing this lots in the SE recently with kids headed to Blair, Wyoming Seminary, etc. for the richer grounds in PA / National Preps.

[oceansize42]

23 hours ago, ghouse said:

Probably a very interesting statement about where TN wrestling is currently at on the national scene, though obviously not a really fair sample.  Taking a look at the kids mentioned here...

Hilton - one of TN's best youth wrestlers, trained in TN all his youth career (between mid-TN and Cleveland), last training in an environment at Cleveland that has produced plenty of quality wrestlers, leaves to head to Wyoming Sem to wrestle

Chittum - top prospect to come out of the state in a long time, wraps his HS career early even with lots of movement on his classification year.  Bounced around a ton in career and not wrestling in TN much (2 years of his active competition, 8th grade and SO / JR seasons depending on how you classified it).

Garriques - only wrestler that is competing in TN this year from this list and did his youth wrestling in IL before boarding at Baylor

I will also add in the below:

Herring - places 8th at 113, now wrestling for Bishop McCourt in PA as well... essentially repeat everything I said about Hilton above for him expect sub CBHS for Cleveland.

Interesting to see if this is a blip or if we start to see more of the trend of TN having trouble keeping its best talent home as they find other places to wrestle.  Not a unique problem to TN either.  Seeing this lots in the SE recently with kids headed to Blair, Wyoming Seminary, etc. for the richer grounds in PA / National Preps.

I think it is unavoidable that many of the very very best leave.  Tennessee, as a whole, will not be at the level of PA, NJ, OH, or CA any time in the foreseeable future.  The population of PA is roughly 12.8 million.  The population of TN is roughly 6.8 million.  The simple math with respect to those numbers and how that relates to wrestling schools, participants, coaches, private clubs, private instruction, etc. don't bode well for smaller states.  Even NJ has 8.8 million people within the state.

Look at Nic Bouzakis who was at Lake Highland Prep in Florida.  That is a good wrestling school in the sunny south and a large populous state and yet he still left to go to Wyoming Seminary in PA.  

I do think the exodus will be limited to apex wrestlers like Chittum, Cooper Flynn, etc. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by oceansize42