Challenge Cup

[garyjkel]

as one of the coaches for the 3rd/4th grade team last year I think I can provide Henry with some information. In the past the kids teams were selected by who won the Qualifier. This year some flexibility was provided in the selection process so that if a kid does not do well at the qualifier for some reason, but has demonstrated throughout the season that they dominate their respective weight class then a coach has the ability to select that wrestler for the team. The state coordinators for FCI choose the coaches for each team. There are 2 coaches per team and most often those coaches are head coaches of their FCI clubs. The coaches in turn select the wrestlers. As a coach I can tell you that we want to put the very best wrestlers on the mat, based on our knowledge of the wrestlers in each group. Since FCI sponsors the Challenge Cup, wrestlers have to have FCI cards. As a coach the only way I know who the best wrestlers are is if they compete against each other at some point in the season. So we will look at the results of every FCI tournament. Using the 3rd/4th grade team as an example, last year the team had kids from Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, Cookeville, and Memphis. I think that each team had a similar makeup of kids. The high school team is chosen from seniors who were state champions, or placed in state, in D1 and D2. Last years best match was certainly Chase Metcalf, Team Michigan, at the time ranked 3rd in the country, against Matt Keller, Team Tennessee, at the time ranked 4th/5th. You have to remember this match was 1/2 weeks before senior nationals. Once people in the gym realized these two were wrestling, action on each of the other 5 mats stopped, as everyone including the referees went over to the mat to watch the action. It is great weekend of some very outstanding wrestling. Last year the 3rd/4th grade team won as did the high school team, I believe. Tennessee came within a few points of taking home the Overall Champion trophy last year. I think we proved that Tennessee can match up with the Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina.

[BuckLateral]

Coach Garyjkel:

 

Thanks for the info. You guys did a great job with the 3rd and 4th graders last year. Can you shed any light on something else I have heard? In addition to the change in the selection process, I have also heard that the coaches may be looking at taking more than one kid at each weight since there are 5 hard dual matches over a 1 1/2 day span. The idea was that this would prevent losses in the event of injury and allow the coaches to rotate wrestlers so that if there are two equally deserving kids in the same weight class they can each get a chance to wrestle for Team Tennessee rather than someone having to choose between them. Makes sense to me. The more exposure we can get for our good youth wrestlers to competition from other states the bettter off Tennessee wrestling will be in the long run. Do you know if that will be the case?

[garyjkel]

In the past each team (age group) was allowed to bring up to 4 alternates in addition to the starters. I don't know yet if that number has been expanded but it would be nice to bring a few more kids to that tournament. It's a great opportunity to see top level competition, and you only get better by wrestling the best.

[mtnrasslin]

Has the high school team been selected? If so, who is wrestling?

[TojoYamamoto]

who are this year's 7th and 8th grade coaches?

[Guest AmericanDream]

Artie Johnson from Chattanooga and Bateman from Nashville will be the 7th & 8th coaches.

[timj]

what about highschool?

who is coaching?

[cmmndalum]

has the highschool team been decided yet? with lots of seniors out for senior nationals who will fill the holes???

[walkenvol]

I've been told that Coach Lennon of Notre Dame will be the coach and select the team.

[timj]

walkenvol,

do you know who might have an email address for him?

 

if so you can email me at tim.jeffers@newroads.com

 

thanks

 

tim j

[xbody91]

Coach Lennon can be contacted at jflennon@myndhs.com

 

xbody

[BayouBear]

Team Tennessee - 8th grade

 

75-Randolph-Bradley

80-Temple-OLPH

85-Johnson-OLPH

90-Konz-Franklin

95-Fuller-Soddy

100-Baucke-Memphis

105-Doster-Baylor

115-Felix-Franklin

115A-Johnson-Bradley

125-Creagan-Bradley

135-Mitchell-Franklin

145-Spain-Bradley

155-Bateman-Father Ryan

170-Morgan-Cleveland

190-Sively-Bradley

220-Coffey-Heritage

250-Parker-Franklin

 

Coaches-Art Johnson-OLPH, Paul Bateman-Father Ryan, Glenn Spain-Bradley

 

This is possibly the best 8th grade team Tennessee has ever put together for the Challenge Cup. Many of the members will be freshman starters next year for some of the top high school teams in the state. It is a great opportunity for all wrestling fans to get a preview of future Tennessee State Champions. The team will compete against all-star teams from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan and Ohio.

 

The team is a cross-section of Tennessee wrestling. There are kids from East, West and Middle Tennessee as well as kids headed to schools in both Division I and Division II. I would suggest to those who make the time and effort to come and support Tennessee wrestling that it would be a great idea to walk up to some or all of these young men and introduce yourself. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and dedication to the sport. A word of encouragement goes a long way with a wrestler.

 

Support Tennessee Wrestling. Make plans to attend the Challenge Cup this Friday and Saturday. Wrestling begins at 10:00 AM Friday, March 28.