pioneer_pride

I second that. I was hoping for another guitar version of the star spangled banner featuring chicken pickin Dusty Stangel the morning of the finals.

I think you all are giving the refs a free ride on this. It's not all in the wrestler's hands. You could hit a beautiful takedown to a wrestler's back and stick him but the ref has to get down and slap the mat. Again, 2 evenly matched kids, and a bad call can decide a match. What you all are saying about don't let the ref decide a match....i agree with you from a wrestler's mentality perspective. My coaches in h.s. said the same thing, and I tell any kid I ever coached the same thing. It's nice in theory. But ultimately sometimes you end up with 2 very evenly matched kids in a match and the ref makes a bad call. With hindsight, it's easy to say "you should have worked harder". But it is possible for a ref to blow a match. I remember Harrison's 8th grade match with Sanders and it was certainly controversial. Harrison seemed to be working pretty hard on top. Why call stalling right there? The ref felt like it.

OW - has someone taken over your account? You actually admitted to being wrong 10% of the time..what's up with that? I agree with you that the dodging is bad. My son had Courtney in his weight class, and he was very tempted to try and dodge to 152, but I told him he would be extremely weak and you never know if you would even face Courtney...there were others tough in that weight class. Honestly, I didn't see anyone really dodge 160 this year. You had Walls, Ray, and others that were quality wrestlers that stayed there despite a defending 3Xer there. The good news on this is that with the quality of wrestling improving dramatically each year, I think there are fewer and fewer easy weight classes to dodge guys. Each weight class is getting very solid and the depth is improving. Honestly, how many weight classes this year would people say was an "easy" weight class? I can only think of a couple if that.

LCwres08, I hope your response was not towards my post. I was simply trying to offer my unsolicited advice, not to criticize. Sorry if you were offended. Honestly, most of the posts on this thread don't really seem overly critical towards Fern Creek. I realize it's a bigger event than the m.s. state with 700+ kids. I still say it could be done if someone thinks it's worthwhile to have some sort of hospitality room. I'd guess that 95% of the coaches don't even think about a hospitality room until they are there and they are surprised to see one. It's not that big of a deal really. Most of these posts end with "great job on a well ran tournament" btw - i did manage to be at the fern creek m.s. tourney a few times when it was catered by the Hyatt regency, it was sensational. Now THAT hospitality room was looked forward to!

Coach, please don't take this as an insult. But more of another tip (that you probably don't want). But to avoid people taking advantage of the hospitality room, give each team a set number of tickets...or distribute wrist bands, etc. Something that can not be reused. At m.s. state a few years ago - as Danger pointed out - Central Hardin put on a heck of a spread. The m.s. association helped pay for subway, and some donuts and other stuff. We seen coaches sharing their name tags with parents...etc. That sort of thing is frustrating, but it's a long day and coaches usually can't leave. A hospitality room is a very nice touch if it can be pulled off. Even pizza, etc. I know exactly how you feel about getting online and seeing even 1 small criticism with all the hard work you put into this mammoth event. So I'm not criticizing, just giving you an idea how to maybe address it in the future. Like you said, if the only complaint people have about your tourney is not getting water and a hot dog, you did an excellent job. Great job, I've talked to 2 or 3 people who've said you guys did a great job.

Anything is possible, obviously. But he has more experience wrestling the toughest competition in the nation than any kid in our state. He is a counselor at Jeff Jordan's camps. No one is hyping this kid up. You will see.

That is very nice in theory. But let's face it...2 evenly matched kids, a bad call CAN decide a match.

No doubt on the team moms!! Behind any good team is a good team mom. Most coaches can't wipe their own butts without them. There are 2 that have always stood out in my mind as the best - Lori Osbourne (Ryle) & Barb Wolnitzek (Conner). These 2 should start up a team mom boot camp. They don't play around!

without a doubt. i don't think he'll lose a match in kentucky. he's gonna grow, but he'll still be strong for his size and his technique is a lot better than the majority of the lightweights he's going to face. next year will be the tricky year if he bumps up to like a 119 or 125 and runs into a stud there, but after that I think he'll cruise.

I do think that means more than rankings. I think it's safe to say Ervin did have the hardest way to go as others are trying to point out on this thread. I still think Davis was MOW by virtue of beating Shotwell who I feel is a better wrestler than the 3 you mentioned...but they are all 3 very tough as well. I just was most impressed with Davis. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I don't get a vote.

my bad, you're right - it was 135 last year.

Probably so, but kids get hot at the right time and just because "any 160 in the bracket" would take that match, doesn't mean it would be the right choice. Let's try another example then I give. Last year at 135, Davis was ranked 4th. He beat #1 ranked Dusty Brown handily. In that case, who would you rather face...the kid ranked higher or the kid that finished higher? I swear this is not a trick question.

Ranger, picking the finals matches was not really all that tough. It's ranking the ones below that that is more difficult. I could have picked 3 or 4 of those finals that had #1 vs #2...maybe all 5. It's rankings like Najee Calderon ranked 15th, places 6th, Bernard Ray ranked 2nd, DNP, and I'm sure there are more if I cared to look. If a kid beat Calderon en route to the state finals, you'd say that was nothing...but the kid placed 6th. That means more to me than what he was ranked prior to state. I'd be more impressed looking at a bracket and saying "this kid had to beat the guy that placed 2nd, 3rd, & 5th." I don't care if those guys were ranked or not. They were the best on that given day.

Caleb has always been one of my favorite wrestlers. I have no doubt he will win an MOW by the time he is done. But I liked the dislocated knee cap legend the first time i heard it with Caleb when he was an 8th grader. LOL. Just kidding, but seriously...I heard he had a dislocated knee cap when he was an 8th grader at m.s. state and needed surgery, and he was limping, etc. Are you sure it was truly a dislocated knee? Or is it possible it was just tweaked? Either way, 63-0, state champ says it all.

Ranger's rankings mean nothing at state, so how many ranked kids you beat on your way to the finals is really irrelevant. Those numbers are just his best guess. Based on Bulldog-leader's criteria, here's where I'd put them: 1. Is it the best wrestler that the state of KY offers? Harrison Courtney Brad Hitchings Justin Davis Caleb Ervin Matt Zarth 2. The best wrestler at the tourney that day? Justin Davis Caleb Ervin Brad Hitchings Matt Zarth Harrison Courtney

Avery Zerkle would definitely help for bigger guys. The #1 ranked 215 in the nation Oralando Scales from Elder is at his club practice every Sunday. Along with him, there is the #1 HWT in the state of Ohio, and the #1 215 in D II Ohio as well. Watching those 3 guys roll around is WELL worth the price of admission. It is a WAR zone when those 3 dudes are going ABC's. And big Avery man handles all 3. Matt Koz is another one of the coaches. He was a varsity 215 lber from Lakewood St Ed's all 4 years of high school and finished 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st. As well as some other accolades. Avery is a big guy himself, probably over 250....he is an incredible technician for a guy this size. They have camps, go to www.goldencrosswrestling.com to learn more.

so what do you think, a major or techfall by coyle? just curious.

Whachu talkin bout computer geek willis?!? http://usversusthem.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/gary-coleman.jpg

I second you on that eville dad. All the teams are responsible for making the call if it's safe for their kids to travel from their location. If the host school is in good shape, and they still want to host the event...then the show goes on with whoever shows up.

nuff said right there! it would take a terrorist attack to postpone a bball tourney in this state.

stay warm people, hope your pipes don't freeze & burst!! I heard Larue still has a lot of people without power. Hope you guys get turned back on soon. Hey Ranger, how about you give us a mock up of how you think state duals would have went? How do you think the pools would have been aligned? Who do you think were going to get the top 4 seeds?

Bradford looks very good this year, and I think Houchens got passed up by Jake in the off season. I don't think Houchens has enough time after the Dragon to catch Jake's conditioning. Anything is possible with a good upper body wrestler like Houchens, but I think Jake won't be fooled by any GR/FS stuff Houchens will throw at him. Both of these kids are as nice & respectful as they come. Hate to see either one lose, but I'm going for the region 6 guy. Good luck to you Jake, you got at least 1 campbell county fan rooting for you. I hope you take 4th at regions, but after that hope you take home the gold at state. :wink: :wink:

gotcha, thanks.

so was it 5-4 or 7-4 before the pin? Did you get a takedown or reversal and then 3 backs before the pin?

Ranger - i noticed in your rankings you don't have Ryle or Seneca listed in the team duals rankings. Any reason why..or just a slip? As far as the state duals seedings go...i can see Trinity is the obvious 1 seed. Beyond that, how does the arguments usually go in the seeding meeting? IHonestly I don't see Woodford as an "obvious" 2 seed. But then again, they are undefeated. Is that all they go by is record? What was more recent, Larue's win over Union or Seneca's win over Larue?