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The definition of sportsmanship/character was shown in the 145 finals. After Nate Wheeler’s hand was raise Nathaniel Lawrence raised Nate’s hand acknowledging his win. Then in the back warmup area Nathaniel came to me and congratulated me and hugged me and thanked me for working with him this summer and said “Nate is the only person I could lose to and not be upset because I know how hard he’s worked for this.” He didn’t refuse to shake hands, throw his head gear or blame somebody for the loss. He acknowledged his opponents victory which in turn took away what he worked for that’s character. To top it off as I was walking up the stairs Ms. Lawrence waived at me and her and her husband met me at the top of the stairs and hugged me and congratulated me on the win and said thank you for working with their son they also spoke with my wife.This is the definition of Character/ Sportsmanship from an outstanding young man and his family. Coach Wheeler

Definitely need to work on Finals....we have the absolute WORST finals in the country.... no other state does it as poorly as we do....no excitement... and nobody stays....its truly pathetic.... SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE KHSAA !!!

When the finals were moved to Frankfort, Jack Cline modelled them after the Indiana State Finals. They were really special for the kids and the fans. That kind of thing is not too difficult to organize. It is just a matter of the KHSAA allowing someone to do so.

That looks like a smart pick next year at one of the top of list. He is a beast. You guys need to bottle up some of that air and soil down in Union County and sell it!!

Not sure the KHSAA wants to take the tlme to make the finals special. We seem to discuss this every year.

Agreed you should have the ability to scratch a ref.

Great idea. Some states even allow coaches to "scratch" certain refs so they are not allowed to work the matches for their team at the State Finals. (Not certain if it is allowed here.)

What about the 145 Final, Wheeler .vs Lawrence. Nathaniel raising Nate's hand after the match. A lesson I hope all was watching. First Class all the way.

What was y’alls favorite/most exciting match of the tourney? Moore and Thomas in the finals. That sure was a heart stopper.

If any programs are doing summer or off season workouts and allow other kids from other programs to come join and workout. Please post them on here, once you have the schedule figured out. Post the address and days and times of the practices. Also if your off season training is free or if a fee is involved also include that as well. Many programs do absolutely nothing during the off season. So this could be a great opportunity for Ky wrestlers who want to get better. I think this forum is the perfect place to post off season workouts that allow other programs to come join in. That way instead of searching facebook looking for teams that allow kids to come participate. We can just come here to the Kentucky wrestling forum and easily find information to get better.. #IronSharpensIron. #KyStrong #300.

Best match I saw was Eckman v Moore in the 2nd round. Great match with both kids working hard and going at it.

Was this the first time a girl won(pinned) a match at boy's state tournament? 106 Ashley Courtney

I believe this may be beating a dead horse, as years past have indicated, but how do we try to get the ball rolling? Contact Mike Breen? Contact Sarah Bridenbaugh? Is there a board of coaches who would do so? (There is not even a Sports Advisory Committee roster listed for wrestling) Honestly, if they gave us one hour (maybe less) to set-up before the finals we could do something great for the kids and spectators.

Agree again! This was my third state finals with my 9 year old son in tow. We were treated to some fantastic finals matches. It seemed to me that stalemates were inconsistent in the way they were called. Some were called really quick. Some were way overdue before they were called. What does the rule say about stalemates? Not bashing the officials. I feel like of the last 3 state finals I've watched, this was on par with previous years - nothing egregious, nothing fantastic.

That trip back tilt was awesome. He almost pulled it off again. One side note, there was a stalemate called that was extremely questionable. Deck was about to hook Bates' leg and would have secured a takedown. The stalemate was called way too quick.

I’d say contacting Julien Tackett or Mike Barron directly. If they offer it televised or streamed for Basketball, then that should used by the wrestling association to ask for transparency and equality. Just like Girls State Wrestling, I’m sure they will pick it up this year, since they didn’t last month and the association put it on, if they’re not wanting issues with title 9 lawsuits from parents with girls.

Thank you Ranger for all your hard work on keeping the whole state up with youth, middle, and High School. Always look forward to checking them out really appreciate it.

An issue I saw is that the second ref is basically superfluous in Kentucky the majority of the time. There was a heavyweight match where a takedown wasn’t scored because neither ref was watching the clock, there was also a noncall in a finals match where a secondary ref needs to step up and say, “yes that’s the rule.” It’s frustrating because this past state tournament I saw very good refs make mistakes they shouldn’t have had to make. I know that there is an issue with keeping our ref numbers up but just like with coaching just because we know and respect each other doesn’t mean we can’t push each other to do better. Some of the best refs in the country are here in Kentucky, but even then mistakes are made.

I bet they compromise and let us use MatBoss next year for a small fee of $500.

We have a tie, Lcalum and Cooka17 both have 78 points.

Nathaniel loves the sport and the challenges that go along with it. Whenever I talk to him, he’s always tells me the matches he hopes he gets so he can excite the crowd. He’s a rare breed and a great ambassador for the greatest sport known to man. Kudos to both competitors.

I can only speak to the Thomas side of the mat and say it was the most heart stopping roller coaster of a match I’ve been in. But with these 2, they’ve wrestled 6 times head to head this year and every match is like a 106 college match where they both respect each other’s talents. Hats off to them both for putting on a great finals match and for giving both Dad/Coaches something to be very proud of.

It wasn't special at all. They need to bring someone in.

Good Luck at States.. I thought this video was good .. Hope you all like it.. God bless y'all.. Praying for a fun healthy injury free day.. #KentuckyStong #300 #IronSharpenIron.

I'm not here to bash the Ref's. I understand this is a paid position so they should be held accountable. I also understand they can't see everything. If the state is not going to seed this tournament at the very least there should be 2 ref's from the quarterfinals on. These kids should not be penalized in a scramble because the ref is either out of position or afraid to correct himself.