D1 (A) Way Too Early Top 5

[cowcatcher]

12 hours ago, Mason422 said:

Keep the state tourney 3 days.  Run the individual tourney Thursday and Friday and the duals on Sunday.  Would be fun to watch and then we can see who the best is instead of just talking about it every year. 

Now that would be a 3 day tournament everyone could get behind!

Unfortunately, I believe Ummno is correct. I don't ever see it happening. The TSSAA isn't going to spend any money that they don't have to for something like this. 

If there's enough interest though, which it sounds like there is, someone should try to do an All-Start tri/dual to kick off the season. I know they used to do this for college, not sure if they still do. You could host something like this at one of the middle-TN high schools too v. cow palace after the state tournament. 

[cowcatcher]

On 5/7/2022 at 5:45 PM, JSamson7 said:

Not too sure about that.

Who you got this year, Sampson? I always like reading your insights! 

[JSamson7]

4 hours ago, cowcatcher said:

Who you got this year, Sampson? I always like reading your insights! 

Pigeon Forge, Halls, and Gibbs will be tough to beat in A this year. Each team will have some returners as well as some upcoming Freshmen who'll add to their lineup(s). Outside of JoJo I'm not sure who Signal Mountain has coming up in this Freshman class, but Pigeon Forge and Halls have more than a few who will be able to compete Day 1. Any of these 3 programs could be in the mix with Signal Mountain, Greeneville, or Fairview for the A title depending on how they manage their lineup(s).

Edited May 9, 2022 by JSamson7

[cowcatcher]

23 hours ago, JSamson7 said:

Pigeon Forge, Halls, and Gibbs will be tough to beat in A this year. Each team will have some returners as well as some upcoming Freshmen who'll add to their lineup(s). Outside of JoJo I'm not sure who Signal Mountain has coming up in this Freshman class, but Pigeon Forge and Halls have more than a few who will be able to compete Day 1. Any of these 3 programs could be in the mix with Signal Mountain, Greeneville, or Fairview for the A title depending on how they manage their lineup(s).

Great point, Samson. This is why this division is so great and has really helped grow wrestling in Tennessee. So many teams entering the year with legitimate shots of reaching the top! AA and D2 have felt like foregone conclusions with Cleveland and Baylor playing the role of Penn State. That's no hit on AA or D2...just speaks to how impressive both the Blue and Red Raiders runs have been.

[cbg]

1 hour ago, cowcatcher said:

Great point, Samson. This is why this division is so great and has really helped grow wrestling in Tennessee. So many teams entering the year with legitimate shots of reaching the top! AA and D2 have felt like foregone conclusions with Cleveland and Baylor playing the role of Penn State. That's no hit on AA or D2...just speaks to how impressive both the Blue and Red Raiders runs have been.

D1A has several strong teams and some very good individuals.  I would like to see a Dual State Tournament divided up between D1A, D1AA and D2.  After that tournament is completed lets throw everyone into the mix for one big combined traditional state tournament.  It would really make for some great scraps for the individual state championship 

[sx1234]

16 hours ago, cbg said:

D1A has several strong teams and some very good individuals.  I would like to see a Dual State Tournament divided up between D1A, D1AA and D2.  After that tournament is completed lets throw everyone into the mix for one big combined traditional state tournament.  It would really make for some great scraps for the individual state championship 

The new alignment certainly has added some excitement to the small school division. There's a few teams that are in the mix to win state duals that may not have a single kid reach the finals in individuals.