Top 20 Programs In The State (all divisions)

[Ummmno]

14 hours ago, KidGloves said:

Blackman has a massive club program and successful MS program feeding it. With a good hire to fill the spot, they’ll be just as successful, if not more so, pretty quickly I imagine. 

Blackman is stuck in the same district as Cleveland and Bradley. Unless BC drops off HUGE Blackman will continue to not qualify for the duals. 

[KidGloves]

3 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

Blackman is stuck in the same district as Cleveland and Bradley. Unless BC drops off HUGE Blackman will continue to not qualify for the duals. 

Not arguing the tough district at all. 

[rideOut]

3 hours ago, Ummmno said:

Blackman is stuck in the same district as Cleveland and Bradley. Unless BC drops off HUGE Blackman will continue to not qualify for the duals. 

Just to clarify they are in the same sectional not district, although I think we all know what you meant. And the regions/sections usually get shaken up every reclassification cycle and I don't know if Rutherford and Bradley county have ever competed for a spot at state before this last cycle, so it is possible that within the next 3-5 years that Blackman has a clean shot a state every season, although nothing is guaranteed. This should be an enticing position regardless.

[KidGloves]

1 hour ago, rideOut said:

Just to clarify they are in the same sectional not district, although I think we all know what you meant. And the regions/sections usually get shaken up every reclassification cycle and I don't know if Rutherford and Bradley county have ever competed for a spot at state before this last cycle, so it is possible that within the next 3-5 years that Blackman has a clean shot a state every season, although nothing is guaranteed. This should be an enticing position regardless.

That was my point. I think the ingredients will be there much sooner rather than later, but they need the right chef in the kitchen. 

[sx1234]

I liked the idea of the sectionals two years ago, but I already can see why people in certain areas hate it.  The logistics of this state really makes any type of post season format difficult.  It doesn't help that the "level" of wrestling varies greatly across the state either.  Yes- there are great programs in every area, but on average, the central part of the state  and the south eastern part of the state are much tougher than the other areas.  The tri-cities area may not be far behind, but the counties in the greater Knoxville area, and the western part of the state have a distinct drop off compared to the rest of the state. 

[TotallynotLEO]

7 hours ago, sx1234 said:

I liked the idea of the sectionals two years ago, but I already can see why people in certain areas hate it.  The logistics of this state really makes any type of post season format difficult.  It doesn't help that the "level" of wrestling varies greatly across the state either.  Yes- there are great programs in every area, but on average, the central part of the state  and the south eastern part of the state are much tougher than the other areas.  The tri-cities area may not be far behind, but the counties in the greater Knoxville area, and the western part of the state have a distinct drop off compared to the rest of the state. 

Halls, Gibbs, Greeneville,  Pigeon forge...even Alcoa have all won titles or finished top 3 recently.  Some of them multiple team titles.  

Maryville is pretty consistent.  

 

I went back and checked TSSAA records. Since 2012, there have been 19 finishes in the top 3 for those teams.

7 of those were championships. 

Big school?  Absolutely Chattanooga,  middle and upper East Tennessee.  Small school is pretty strong in the eastern half of the state though.  

Edited April 11, 2023 by TotallynotLEO

[mat73557]

6 hours ago, sx1234 said:

I liked the idea of the sectionals two years ago, but I already can see why people in certain areas hate it.  The logistics of this state really makes any type of post season format difficult.  It doesn't help that the "level" of wrestling varies greatly across the state either.  Yes- there are great programs in every area, but on average, the central part of the state  and the south eastern part of the state are much tougher than the other areas.  The tri-cities area may not be far behind, but the counties in the greater Knoxville area, and the western part of the state have a distinct drop off compared to the rest of the state. 

I said it a long time ago.  Cutting back the number of teams who make it to state duals is bad for the sport  And cutting back the numbers of kids who make it to individual state is bad as well.  

[cbg]

6 minutes ago, mat73557 said:

I said it a long time ago.  Cutting back the number of teams who make it to state duals is bad for the sport  And cutting back the numbers of kids who make it to individual state is bad as well.  

Why is cutting back the number of teams and individuals that make it to the state tournament bad?  Just asking

[TotallynotLEO]

7 minutes ago, cbg said:

Why is cutting back the number of teams and individuals that make it to the state tournament bad?  Just asking

Whats wrong with it now? 

Before,  we had 32 man brackets.  With sectionals we now  have 16 man brackets but is tougher to get to state now.  

Team wise,  I think it's a good balance.  Pigeon forge,  good as they are with 600 kids in the whole school,  shouldn't have to compete against schools with  4 times that number.  Almost every sport has a classification that is based on enrollment numbers.  The more participating schools you have, the more it gets stratified. It can get too stratified,  like football for instance but overall it means there is more participants,  which is a good thing if the sport is growing.  I think football has over 300 teams but 8 or 9 championships. Wrestling has a little over half that number of teams but only 3 championships. 

Just my opinion.  

[mat73557]

Our goal should be to GROW wrestling.  You grow wrestling by increasing participation, which increases exposure, which increases interest which further fuels participation.  

The more kids who get to experience the state tournament the better.

Take our boys section for example.  All the kids from Franklin Co, McMinn Co, Riverdale, LaVergne, and Rockvale whose parents drove them to Chattanooga saw their seasons end at Howard High School.

No pomp and circumstance at all in any of these sectional tournaments.  Its just like a normal day.   I bet those car rides home were full or great memories of the sport and of the season and I bet those parents cant wait to do it again next year </sarcasm>.

We can and should do better to reward as many kids and parents as possible.  This is not an easy sport to participate in.

 

[Ummmno]

27 minutes ago, mat73557 said:

Our goal should be to GROW wrestling.  You grow wrestling by increasing participation, which increases exposure, which increases interest which further fuels participation.  

The more kids who get to experience the state tournament the better.

Take our boys section for example.  All the kids from Franklin Co, McMinn Co, Riverdale, LaVergne, and Rockvale whose parents drove them to Chattanooga saw their seasons end at Howard High School.

No pomp and circumstance at all in any of these sectional tournaments.  Its just like a normal day.   I bet those car rides home were full or great memories of the sport and of the season and I bet those parents cant wait to do it again next year </sarcasm>.

We can and should do better to reward as many kids and parents as possible.  This is not an easy sport to participate in.

 

So watering down a state title is going to grow the sport in our state...noted.

[Rasslinking]

25 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

So watering down a state title is going to grow the sport in our state...noted.

So more kids in a bracket is watering it down?

 Noted