BigCoach

I have been around this group of seniors for a long time. I was blest to be a high school coach and then went down to the middle school level and coached there for years, and when my son went into high school, came back to the high school level. I know this group of seniors VERY WELL. I will say right off the bat, I am a bit prejudiced, but also as a coach in Kentucky for the past 16 years, I can't remember a group of seniors, from top to bottom, who are better. What a class of seniors! John Fahy, JJ Jude, Drew Newberry, Garth Yenter, Brent Hitchings, Nick Paden, Omar Jarvis, Bernard Ray, Shawn Hull, TJ Ruschell, Luke Troxell, Jake Maupin, Tyler Kaelin, Chase Boone, Corey McCall, Shane White, Chase Rusch, and the list goes on and on and on. Let's pay one last tribute to these guys. List the accomplishments of this group of men on here to just show how great of a combined career this group of men have had. I will start with my boys, then list your senior's career accomplishments (as many as you know of): Nick Paden - 201 wins, 19 losses. 80.5 pins. 978 team points. 5 time regional champ, State Finishes - 2nd, 3rd, 6th Drew Newberry - 160 wins, 10 losses. 100.5 pins. 876 team points. 3 time regional champ, State Finishes - 1st, 2nd Bernard Ray - 196 wins, 12 losses. 105.5 pins 1005 team points. 4 time regional champ, State Finishes - 1st 3rd 3rd 6th Shawn Hull - 156 wins, 24 losses. 81.5 pins. 816 team points. 3 time regional champ, State Finishes - 3rd, 4th, 7th If you don't know as much as I posted, that is alright, list what you do know. I have a strange feeling that this group of men have some pretty impressive numbers to show off!! For those who may not realize this, we award half a pin for a tech fall in LaRue County.

Region 2 was Nick Paden, LaRue County.

You are correct RYP about Wayne. I didn't go that far back to see results. I think Campbell has one loss to Ryle earlier in the season. I would agree with you: LaRue #1, #2 Union, #3 Trinity and #4 Campbell. IF those are indeed the fop 4 seeds, then that would put St. X on Larue and Campbell's side of the bracket and Simon Kenton on Union and Trinity's side of the bracket. St. X and Simon Kenton are very good 2 seeds and dangerous as well in that they could easily upset a top four seed on any given day. Should be fun on Saturday!

Yea, I know this is NOT the college forum, BUT, one of the greatest duals of all-time in college wrestling took place last night and wanted all to know you have the chance to Tivo it or tape it tomorrow night. Last night, #1 Iowa took on #2 Oklahoma State at Carver Hawkeye arena. It was sold out, 15,400 rabid fans watching the dual and the atmosphere was undescribable. It was not live anywhere last night, but Flowrestling was blogging it. Flowrestling has highlights of the dual as well and you can take in the atmosphere and what happened from the highlights. Iowa had a 84 match win streak, which tied OKlahoma State's record for college wrestling. Last night, in front of a packed house, the dual ended in a tie and came down to the third criteria for tie breakers and Okie State beat Iowa ending the streak. The hatred of these two teams and their fans is something you can't imagine unless you watch this dual. It is like Campbell County V Ryle; LaRue V Woodford (the old days); St. X V Trinity, all rolled up into one and then you have to add even more rivalry feelings to it to get anywhere close. They are reshowing the dual in its entirety tomorow night at 8:30 on the Big Ten network. Yea I know, I along with most of the rest of the country will be cheering Alabama on to victory (Roll Tide) but you can Tivo it or tape it or whatever and watch and enjoy. Trust me on this, this is one college dual you will WANT to WATCH!!

Great Job Ranger and thanks for the hard work you put into this. I also do know of one coaching staff that uses your rankings and view them as invaluable come state duals time.

This was just released by the good folks in Pigeon Forge (the host school) to the newspapers and teams concerning the Smokey Mountain Duals. This is indeed one TOUGH tournament! Good luck to ALL the Kentucky teams heading down to Pigeon Forge next week. We will need all the luck we can get!! The 10th Annual Smoky Mountain Duals will be held on December 22 and 23 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This years event will be, by far, the toughes SMD's we have ever hosted. Returning SMD Champions, Jefferson High School, GA, will be rerurning to once again defend their title! It will not be an easy task. Currently, out of the 25 teams entered, there are 7 ranked number 1 in their respected states; 5 ranked number 2 and overall, there are 17 teams that are currently ranked or were at the end of last season, in the top 8 of their respected states.

First bigedcoach, I like the username! I also like the post about the LaRue boys. Not sure I remember the chair incident, but that makes us sound like some WWF tag team duo! Too cool and thanks! While I don't remember the chair incident, I do remember Gary after one particular final's match throwing his jacket and then kicking it across the floor of the Civic Center. The result was he had to sit out the first dual of the next year and I got my first and only win as a head coach. So my winning percentage as a head coach is much better than his and I remind him of that often. You put together a good list (other than me being on there). And I will also give some cudos to coach Coomes. A true gentleman of the sport and a great coach.

Confirmed, LaRue will be at Ryle this year. Good tournament, KOB, loved it last year, but this year we are trying something different.

LaRue 44 Simon Kenton 18 160 - Hull (LC) win by pin over Clark (SK) 170 - Canter (LC) decision (4-2) over Chamblee (SK) 182 - Ray (LC) win by tech (19-4) over Hicks (SK) 195 - Carman (LC) major decision (13-3) over Bergman (SK) 220 - Newberry (LC) win by pin over Mueller (SK) 285 - Patrick (SK) decision (12-5) over Meredith (LC) 106 - Edlin (LC) win by decision (8-3) over Owens (SK) 113 - Sheldon (LC) win by pin over Kloentrup (SK) 120 - Parrot (SK) win by decision (6-4) over Mouser (LC) 126 - Paden (LC) win by pin over Lutes (SK) 132 - Harris (SK) win over OT (10-8) over Perez (LC) 138 - Alberts (LC) win by pin over Roberts (SK) 145 - Cooper (SK) pin by pin over Brown (LC) 152 - Stevens (SK) win by decision (3-1) over Whitlock (LC)

2003 140 State Finals between Scott Cooper (LARU) and Luke Metzger (HENC) I had this posted on our website (LaRue Co) a few years ago. I have it downloaded somewhere and if I can find it will repost it and then post a link to it on here. It was an incredible match and from the perspective of a LaRue coach, there was nothing controversial about the final call!

LaRue County does and has for years. We have a stereo in our wrestling room and the wrestlers will either put together a CD or put music on an Ipod and bring the music to the room and play it on the stereo. Canter has a remote control for the stereo and will either turn off the music or turn it down when he instructs or talks to the team. We like the music loud and fasted paced. The only rule Canter has is no cussing allowed in the songs. That one rule seems to limit certain types/genres of music. In all honesty, we have found that fasted paced music adds quite a bit to a practice. At least for our wrestlers.

Glad we got some good KY schools in attendance to this thing. Here is a short list of top teams/schools attending: Gilmer, GA #1 3A Jefferson, GA #1 2A Chapin, SC #1 3A Somerset Academy, FL #2 1A Father Ryan, TN Top 3 in 1A (Private Schools in TN) Pigeon Forge, TN #4 TN 2A (Public Schools in TN) Holy Innocents, GA #4 1A Carrollton, GA #4 3A Then some team from PA, Northwest Regional is how they are listed, can't find them anywhere in the rankings in PA, so not sure who they are, but if they are from PA, they are pretty good I am sure. Glad to have you guys going ubtappin! I think you guys will have fun at this thing and see some awesome competition. This is a tough dual's tournament!

LaRue County has their own room. It is attached to our indoor practice facility for baseball/softball. Size is 80 X 40 (two and half mats). Showers, two locker rooms and a wrestling coaches office. Our locker rooms, showers and coaches office are solely for wrestling. We practice normally for two hours or so after school each day. Our district has taken pretty good care of us. The only thing we don't have that we would like to have is wifi but we are working on that for the upcoming season.

LaRue County has attended this tournament four of the last five years or something like that. We didn't attend last year but are going back this year. The highest we have ever finished is 4th at this dual's tournament. It is without a doubt, the hardest tournament we attend each year including our state duals. I think it was two or three years back that we lost two duals and only won like no more than 2 or 3 indivual matches in each dual. We got hammered! I would highly recommend this tournament to anyone who has a team they think can win state duals. Most other states, duals is the state championship defining tournament, not their state tournament. Most teams that come, from South Carlonia, Georgia, Florida, etc. come to prepare them for a run at their state title. The Jefferson, GA and Gilmer, GA are normally crazy good and loaded. Two years ago when we wrestled Gilmer in the gold pool, I think only Nick and Drew won their individual matches. Bernard might have, but I don't think so. Yea, they were tough. We are hoping to finish higher than fourth this year. All of our guys are hoping we can break top 3 this year. If we do, it will be a major accomplishment!

Oops, then reverse that, Union would be the one and Trinity the 4 seed.

Let me throw this out for consideration. According to the state dual guidelines the coaches have developed over the past few years (yep, all written down and sent out to each coach attending each year) the seeds are based on records and head to head competition. What does this mean? Union has a loss, to Trinity, LaRue and Johnson Central have no losses. So based on the criteria for seeding, the number one seed will most likely be Trinity since they have a win over a top team, the second and third seeds will be LaRue and Johnson Central and who cares in what order as 2 and 3 gains no advantage and if they win their pools they meet in semis, and the 4th seed is Union. So, most likely, Union and Trinity meet in semis if they win their pools. The real fun will be after the top four teams are seeded and "The Pill Bottle" comes out. That is when the rest of the teams are placed in pools. Since Ryle and St. X are #2's out of their regions, they are going into a pool with either, LaRue, Johnson Centrl and Union and Ryle could go with Trinity. Just like the individual state touranment, so much will be decided upon the luck of the draw!

LaRue County will be there.

I agree that we come to Frankfort to find out who is the best and not second best. But allow me to throw out a legitmate reason why we need to seed at state tournament. We come to NOT ONLY FIND OUT THE INDIVDUAL STATE CHAMPIONS, but we also come to name a TEAM STATE CHAMPION. Bracketing does indeed determine the team state champion. Let me give you two examples from just this year and how the blind draw plays a role in determining the team champion. At 112, you have Ruschell and Fahy, by all rights, meeting in the semis. Ruschell would be the three seed and should, if seeded get a chance to advance to finals and score points for his team by meeting Paden instead of Fahy in the semis. Olhman has a brutal draw, meeting Sloane in the quarters and Shotwell in the semis. While we will determine individual state champions, these two draws will also determine the team state champion. If the KHSAA is going to name a team champion, there needs to be a seeding set up for individuals. Or, just use state duals as the team state championship and state tournament ONLY for indivuals.

Hey pioneer pride, Unlike us when we did middle school and had to purchase our own separate insurance policy to cover us, all high school events are covered by the KHSAA insurance policy. Host schools or districts are not liable. They pay the KHSAA to carry insurance for them.

I am pretty disappointed that state duals are not being held this weekend. I think about all the kids and coaches and all the time and effort preparing for this thing. I just want to comment about a post or two that has been made concerning the cancellation. First, this decision was made by a few associated with the KWCA. I say a select few because I know for a fact that not all the officers of the KWCA were consulted. Henry Clay nor the Fayette schools made this decision. Second, someone on here stated that this was made for the safety of the kids. To that person, who is also a coach, come state tournament time, if there is going to be an inch and half of snow in Frankfort, are you not taking your team to Frankfort? The safest thing to do would not go, after all, you need to think about the safety of your wrestlers don't you? What if even one got hurt? Why do I say and inch and half because that is all snow forecast in Lexington at this time. Third, why make the call at all? I would think that there are many pretty responsible folks at each school district that can make this call for their kids. You know like superintendents, transportation directors, principals, etc. those who get paid to make that call. I think they will do what is best for the kids of their own district and if they think it is ok for them to come and participate, let them. You know the KWCA will be having a meeting right before the state tournament and I have the feeling that many coaches will be discussing the cancellation of this tournament. There was more discussion of cancelling the tournament last year when half the state had no electricity and ice covered not only the roads but everything in the state than was made this year.

Seeds? A few years back I believe, the coaches decided to seed the tournament with the first criteria being head to head, wins and losses. So with that in mind, I believe both LaRue and Johnson Central are undefeated in state. I am pretty sure LaRue is, and 99% sure Johnson Central is, someone correct me if I am wrong. Trinity has one loss to Union County. Union County has one loss to LaRue. Woodford has one loss to Central Hardin and Campbell County has one loss to Ryle. I can't remember how far down the coaches decided to seed this thing. Now before someone says, correctly I might add, that Trinity didn't have Fahy, Bradbury, and Hitchings in their dual, and they didn't, the coaches decided it doesn't matter who the teams had when they wrestled and who they didn't. If you wrestle one another and lose, you lost. And before someone gets on here and talks about who finished in front of whom at some tournament, tournament finishes don't matter in a dual seeding. Nowwith that in mind, who are your top seeds? I am not sure and just let me say that this seed meeting on Saturday will be VERY intersting and could take a while!!

Let me also throw this out as well. The KHSAA cannot keep middle school kids from wrestling high school varsity. About 8 or 9 years back, the LaRue coaches contacted their state senator (Dan Kelly and thus bypassing the KHSAA) and had their senator submit a bill allowing 7th and 8th graders to participate in high school wrestling. They did it because they had a 6th grader at the time who they were confident could start and do well at the high school varsity level in his 7th grade year. The bill was passed and signed into law by the governor. The only way middle schoolers now cannot participate is if the legislature passes a law disallowing it. That sixth grader for the LaRue County team was Patrick Banks who went on to break all wrestling records for LaRue.

Hull beat Kriby Goodwine from John Hardin at the Oldham Super Duals, 10-8. I believe that is why Hull moved up. He will be going 35 later in the year as well from what I hear.

LaRue County will be there and I think Seneca as well.

The main college wrestling forum has been talking about the Metcalf push since it happened, just like this forum has. An article has been posted on TheMat.com message board and it is pretty good. Thought I would post on here as well for all to read: SESKER COLUMN: Bashing of Iowa's Metcalf needs to end Craig Sesker USA Wrestling 03/26/2009 The Brent Metcalf bashing needs to stop. Did Metcalf go over the line when he pushed North Carolina State