oceansize42 Posted April 18, 2023 Report Share Posted April 18, 2023 1 hour ago, BobCorker said: They are all certainly talented enough, but that is the same narrative the whole state has been saying for the last 25 years. Everyone always points to a few superstars who will carry the torch, but it never actually happens for whatever reason. Agreed but to @cbg point if Chittum can stay healthy I think he gets it done. At Iowa and working under the Brand's brothers certainly seems like a match made in heaven, at least from the outside. Chittum has performed extremely well in international freestyle this past year. Chittum and Trae are in the U20 US Open coming up. McDaniel is an interesting one. He really came on strong but to AA he will have to level up yet again. I'm certainly not going to doubt him because Trae really seems to like wrestling, well at least as much as anyone can like it. Palmer, man he is a wizard. That freaking crotch lock to offensive positions is ridiculous but I would like to see him open up a bit more or else I fear he can't beat who he needs to in order to achieve what I'm sure his goals are. He is going to keep every match close. Blows my mind. I'm rooting for him super hard. Would love to see him get it done. I'm pulling hard for Hunter as well at VT. Going to be fun to watch. Super high level kid who should be 100% healthy by that time but man does he have some stout competition in the form of Tom Crook at 141 and Henson at 149 unless they move up or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobCorker Posted April 18, 2023 Report Share Posted April 18, 2023 2 hours ago, cbg said: People forget that to AA at the D1 level kids must not only be exceptionally good but they must also stay injury free. I think it is pretty well known that there are a plethora of factors involved in being an AA. Not limited to: staying injury free, balancing college social life and staying on task once parents are not there to hold their hand, being able to pass college classes, having the athletic ability to keep up at the next level, not getting stuck behind an AA, not getting home sick, having a good support system, and being really good at wrestling. My point is that all those issues apply to kids from, let's say, Missouri, too. Yet their state puts 4-5 kids on the podium each year and doesn't have 15 year dry spells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobCorker Posted April 18, 2023 Report Share Posted April 18, 2023 1 hour ago, oceansize42 said: Agreed but to @cbg point if Chittum can stay healthy I think he gets it done. At Iowa and working under the Brand's brothers certainly seems like a match made in heaven, at least from the outside. Chittum has performed extremely well in international freestyle this past year. Chittum and Trae are in the U20 US Open coming up. McDaniel is an interesting one. He really came on strong but to AA he will have to level up yet again. I'm certainly not going to doubt him because Trae really seems to like wrestling, well at least as much as anyone can like it. Palmer, man he is a wizard. That freaking crotch lock to offensive positions is ridiculous but I would like to see him open up a bit more or else I fear he can't beat who he needs to in order to achieve what I'm sure his goals are. He is going to keep every match close. Blows my mind. I'm rooting for him super hard. Would love to see him get it done. I'm pulling hard for Hunter as well at VT. Going to be fun to watch. Super high level kid who should be 100% healthy by that time but man does he have some stout competition in the form of Tom Crook at 141 and Henson at 149 unless they move up or something. Chittum may win a title next year. But just because one kid got locked in a barn for a decade and came out really good at wrestling doesn't mean the state as a whole has gotten better. I still stand by my point: TN is light-years away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biffmar4 Posted April 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2023 1 hour ago, BobCorker said: Chittum may win a title next year. But just because one kid got locked in a barn for a decade and came out really good at wrestling doesn't mean the state as a whole has gotten better. I still stand by my point: TN is light-years away But we only need one to tie Japan! Anyways, I love our trajectory as a state and to the point of one versus three divisions, the more recognition a team or individuals get, the more likely others are to get involved in wrestling that otherwise wouldn’t have. I see the sport as more mainstreamed than ever before and maybe just bc I’m more submersed in it at the moment, feels like we have more guys competing and succeeding at the national level from all three divisions and I would say in all age groups, with some great talent and experience coming up from middle school and elementary school. We will never be PA, but this sport has a bright future as it continues to mature in this state IMO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biffmar4 Posted April 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2023 I'll also add that there appears to be an obvious love and deeper commitment for this sport from this generation of wrestlers that didn't exist 10-20-30 years ago. We have more than one guy in the state who loves the pursuit of perfecting his craft. With a higher level of commitment from the athletes, better coaching, more opportunities to compete, and better rooms geographically filled with tougher competition we will continue to improve as a state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMC Posted April 19, 2023 Report Share Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) Maybe it does come down to population......Georgia's got a bunch of people.....well...too many, but that's another story. I remember as a kid we didn't take Georgia wrestling too seriously...from a Tennessee point of view. That all seemed to change with the growth of the state and the migration of workers and their families....seems like many were from AT&T....from Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the 80's. You got guys like Bud Hennebaul move in and show people what wrestling is supposed to look like. Now we've got some stellar programs with Camden and Buford headlining it and many other solid programs. For extra training I used to take my kid and usually 2 or 3 others from Collins Hill with me over to Arturo at TWC in Smyrna, Ga two days a week. That was a drive from Gwinnett county during rush hour. Now we've got TWC (Arturo), TWA (Mike Rundell), Teknique Wrestling (Peter Yates, Daniel Bullard, Tyler Askey) and I'm sure many other sites I don't know about . Just seems with the influx of people came different attitudes and changed wrestling here for the better. Now if we could just get Georgia Tech to restart their wrestling program......by the way Tech is upside down in Title IX numbers and needs to add men's sports. I was with a group offering to fully fund a program there but the old AD turned us down. And Japan has more people than Tennessee....just saying.... Edited April 19, 2023 by RMC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbg Posted April 19, 2023 Report Share Posted April 19, 2023 12 minutes ago, RMC said: Maybe it does come down to population......Georgia's got a bunch of people.....well...too many, but that's another story. I remember as a kid we didn't take Georgia wrestling to seriously...from a Tennessee point of view. That all seemed to change with the growth of the state and the migration of workers and their families....seems like many were from AT&T....from Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the 80's. You got guys like Bud Hennebaul move in and show people what wrestling is supposed to look like. Now we've for some stellar programs with Camden and Buford headlining it and may other solid programs. For extra training I used to take my kid and usually 2 or 3 others from Collins Hill with me over to Arturo at TWC in Smyrna, Ga two days a week. That was a drive from Gwinnett county during rush hour. Now we've got TWC (Arturo), TWA (Mike Rundell), Teknique Wrestling (Peter Yates, Daniel Bullard, Tyler Askey) and I'm sure many other sites I don't know about . Just seems with the influx of people came different attitudes and changed wrestling here for the better. Now if we could just Georgia Tech to restart their wrestling program......by the way Tech is upside in Title IX numbers and needs to add men's sports. I was with a group offering to fully fund a program there but the old AD turned us down. And Japan has more people than Tennessee....just saying.... You are correct about the population explosion and the growth of wrestling in Georgia! It only makes sense that the more people you have living in a state the higher the level of competition. Let's also remember that those rust belt states being New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan are beginning to lose population due to the really good blue collar manufacturing jobs moving to the southern states along with no or very low state income taxes in the South. Those individuals that are moving South also bring with them a love for wrestling and often times much more knowledge and experience with the sport of wrestling. Today, Tennessee wrestling reminds me of where Georgia was in the late 1990's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackmanWrestlingClub Posted April 23, 2023 Report Share Posted April 23, 2023 On 4/18/2023 at 3:40 PM, cbg said: People forget that to AA at the D1 level kids must not only be exceptionally good but they must also stay injury free. AND academically eligible. Don't laugh. It can be a problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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