Getting a team nationally ranked..

[lovetowrestle]

I look at the National rankings year after year and want to know what we have to do to get a Tennessee team ranked. I know the McCallie tournament this weekend is a great way, especially if the team from Florida would have not backed out, but also helped if Bradley would settle what ever issues they have to settle to wrestle all the teams in the state. Not putting down Bradley, but would like to see every top team in the state get an oppurtunity to wrestle each other through out the year, to at least give State Champions from D1 and D2 a chance to battle out on the mat rather than fight it out with words over the message boards. I feel that Tennessee has been getting out of the state and dominanting a couple tournaments in the Southeast and even a couple D2 teams taking it to some Ohio teams. I just want to pick up the USA today and read a Tennessee team ranked in the top 25 and make other states want to come wrestle us. Does Bradley have a chance or Baylor have a chance to get nationally ranked if maybe winning state championships this year? I know Overton was in and out of the top 25 in the mid 90's and I think McCallie might have gotten a couple votes along with Ryan and Cleveland?? Who all knows about this??

On another note I was talking to a quote unquote old timer the other night at a wrestling match and brought up the National rankings and he said that if, former coach Frank Simpson of MBA didnt take the job at MBA where he had to take a couple sons out of Catholic schools in Middle Tennessee, that he might be an assitant coach at Father Ryan and sending all of his sons to graduate and wrestle for brother Pat Simpson wow would that have brought a National ranking or what? Those kids are definition great wrestlers and helped MBA build a prestige program and seem to be doing the same for Army right now. Does anyone know any truth about this??

Just trying to throw in a new thread instead of the best wrestlers in Tennessee history. What was the best team ever In Tenneessee???? year and team!!

Lovetowrestle

[TNwrestler]

lovetowrestle-

In what I have seen in the past, it takes a few years to get nationally ranked. In football for instance, MBA won the state championship a few years in a row under a highly recruited Ingle Martin. The same thing in baseball, Oakland and CBHS both have been nationally ranked because of several successful seasons and big name players. I think wrestling has a similar criteria. I was surprised that Bradely wasn't ranked last or this year because they have come off consecutive state championships with a highly recruited Matt Keller. I also thought that Father Ryan would have broke into national ranks after winning state 4 times in 5 years (96,98,99,00). However, that didn't pan out either. This has to be a result of DI schools not wrestling DII schools. No one will say a Tennessee team is one of the best in the nation without them knowing if they are the best in Tennessee.

 

Unless the divisions reunite, the DI state champ wrestles the DII, or Baylor and Bradely keep winning the state a few more years in a row while knocking off a top ranked team, then we won't see Tennessee or Tennessee teams get the respect they deserve.

 

By the way, I like the fresh change of topic.

[Edited by TNwrestler on 12-18-02 12:13A]

 

[SilentJohn]

When I wrestled back in the lae 80's, things were not really developed in TN to maximize the exposure of our best wrestlers. Having not been around wrestling since that time until just recently, I am glad to see that has changed a lot.

I was a more of a wrestling fan than the average Chattanooga area high school wrestler. I susbribed to "Wrestling USA" magazine--is that still around?--and even submitted articles. I followed freestyle tournament

results and kept up with national rankings, etc. I lived and breathed that stuff. I lived in the cradle of the sport in TN, but there just wasn't a lot of interest in the wrestling scene beyond the State. They had the 1 freestyle tournament at UTC in the Spring, but that as about it.

Needless to say I think the key to establishing our state's national reputation is participation and exposure. In the past, we would have a guy like a Norfleet or a Vance every 6 or 7 years that you knew could compete anywhere.

But in the last decade, we've had a lot of guys start to compete and win nationally, and it is starting to be less of a huge thing for one of our guys to get a college scholarship.

I think that just getting our kids envolved and competing at the national level will, over time, increase our national reputation, thus making it easier to get one of our teams ranked as they should be.

[Artist]

back in 97 when we were ranked in the top twenty it took traveling to the high quality tournaments such as the Virginia Duals, the Reno Tournament of Champions, Iron Man etc.... At Reno we had three finalist and we had wrestlers that beat guys from schools like Blair Academy, Welsh Jesuit, Calvary Chapel, etc... We had at least five guys who were offered D1 scholarships and of course having Charles win the National Championship the year before was very important in getting us ranked. Steve Henry helped as well by getting me nominated as a nationl coach of the year finalist. Today we have Rob Sherrill who is connected to the guys who pick, so using the same type of formula and getting Rob to talk up a team can be helpful. Also it pays to be in good with the guys who rank as there are several different groups and individuals who generate thse things. The most impotant thing is that we keep producing solid wrestlers who continue to wrestle in college. They bring attention to their schools and also to pollsters.