Best High School Wrestler

[cbg]

Let's not forget about Whit Dunning. Placed at 112 freshmen (weighed 95) and won state at 103 last season, looks good this season beating a very good kid from Helias.

[jcu]

I think Whit is a good wrestler, but not one of the top three in the state. As for Hiller, he lost to Kyle earlier this year. I would say that the best two in the state are Gibson and James.

 

Have either of these young gentlemen made a commitment to attend school some where?

 

What about other top wrestlers, Hiller, Ibrahim, Leen, Scott, Cleveland, are they commited anywhere. All of these wrestlers could make very good college wrestlers. There are more, but i can not think of them right now.

 

Has any TN wrestlers committed to schools. I heard that Leen may be going to Cornell.

[Rabbitt]

kyle has'nt decided on a college yet. he is waiting until after high school natioanls. hopefully he stays at home and goes to UTC. i dont see why any great wrestler would want to leave Chattanooga. Coach Brands is one of the best coaches in the country.

[Hamm]

I can't believe we are talking about the best wrestler and no one has mentioned the 5x state qualifier named Phillip Simpson!

[sly]

I think this discussion is about current High School wrestlers.

[delaWarr]

td42, "It would be a shame to have a Cadet National Champ without a State title."

 

Bruce Baumgartner never won a State title. He place third in New Jersey his senior year.

 

Yet, he went on to:

 

NCAA 2nd 2x

NCAA Champ

 

He has held and likely still holds US records for:

 

Most Olympic medals .......... 4

Most World medals ............. 9

Most US titles ................... 16

Most World Cup medals ..... 12

Most Pan-Am Game medals.. 4

 

...but "without a State title".

[Honaton]

kyle james is an exceptional wrestler, but it would be false to say he is better than jordan leen after jordan's numerous victories over kyle. He is by far the most technical wrestler in tennessee and his strength will only continue to grow. Jordan gets my vote

[takedown42]

Delawarr, you make a good point. However, you still miss the point that even you are making. Compare the two situations. Baumgartner never was that great of a wrestler in high school. Just my humble opinion, and I do have one on this because I did watch him in a few matches while he was in high school. Then eventually in college he grew much bigger and developed into a great college wrestler earning himself the title of a great college wrestler, which he truly deserved. The rest is history with his international accolades. Now to Marable which I have no intention of degrading because he doesn't deserve to be. Nick is a good high school wrestler with one win over Scott of McCallie last year. Nick does have high school credentials and I guess some would say more is expected of him now than would have been expected of Baumgartner if you compare their high school experiences. I hope I made my point clear. That is why I said "it would be a shame if we had a Cadet National Champ who hadn't won a state title."

 

Good luck to Nick at State.

[best_of_the_west]

Very interesting info, dela. I still think Nick will win at least one state title, if not two.

[delaWarr]

td42, Thanks. I guess I failed to see that your observation was dealing solely with circumstance and that "shame" was just a rhetorical expression not meant to be applied. I understand now. But we got a little refresher info on Baumgartner out of it anyway.

[walkenvol]

i dont see why any great wrestler would want to leave Chattanooga. Coach Brands is one of the best coaches in the country.

Rabbitt - I agree whole heartedly. Wrestling wise, UTC's coaching is right there with the best in the nation. For some young men (like a Jordan Leen) UTC academically may not be a good fit. Believe it or not (remember I went to CN also), some programs are funded such that they get to either fly or take charter buses when they travel. Do you miss those fun road trips with 15 people in a 12 passenger van, 4 to 5 people per hotel room, and that whopping $10 per day meal money? As UTC continues to enjoy greater success, I would hope that their funding would increase accordingly so that they are able to compete on a level field there also. Heck, the gate receipts from their dual meets alone have to be a huge improvement. I think Kyle would be a perfect fit at UTC and would enjoy great success there. I know that I would enjoy watching him there. Considering Kyle's age and with Pitts there now, a red shirt season would work great also.

[best_of_the_west]

I haven't noticed anyone mentioning Cody Cleveland. I would not have considered him one of the very top wrestlers until I heard he lost to John Lane only 4-1, giving up two points at the very end. Considering he is usually 130, I'd say that combined with his great performances at the McCallie and Father Ryan tournaments should at least put him towards the top.