Ranger123

Have not heard that. And does “at Union County” mean in school or just working out with them and planning to be there next year?

Not sure how many of you have seen these, but Alex Green has been traveling around the state doing interviews with Ky state championship winners from throughout the years and reviewing their title matches. If you haven’t had a chance go give them a watch. Alex is putting a ton of time and energy into this project. It’s an awesome chance to share some previously “lost” footage with the wrestlers and fans around the state and capture a brief look into the personalities of these men. https://youtube.com/c/AlexGreenDifferentBreed

100%

No problem at all. Stat away!!! 1) I am coming around to this format. Last year’s format not so much. This year with top 8 was pretty darn good. 2) what weight was the issue? The 2 and 3 from same SS should not hit in quarters. I hold my tongue on some of the other items.

A very important component is preparation. As coach mentions our best kids can compete with the best around the country. But we can’t just show up in Fargo and expect to do well. It takes focused training and kids from the power states get it. Spencer didn’t make the world team last year by just putting in mat time, but it also didn’t require spending a ton of money or travel time to big name clubs. Virtually 100% of his freestyle prep was in the barn with myself, Ryan, and Wilder training with his usual teammates. And he made it through one of the deepest weight at the cadet trials. We have good resources in Ky. Take advantage of them. Show up at these clinics and learn.

I know Thomas More is a university, but they are in fact in Ky and finished 9th. Ha ha ha.

Disagree

Tired from scoring. Very possible. Something I know for sure that makes this story tougher is the kid was battling through a serious injury just to compete this post season. Instead of recovering from surgery this senior battled for one last shot at making the podium.

In my mind I think you make a very good point goo. This was a brief, quiet expression of their faith that was not anything out of the ordinary. I would like to think a wrestler of any religion could take a few moments to do something similar without backlash. Now if we introduce any extraordinary actions we likely do get a different response especially if done on the mat. The time to take off shoes or bring items (rug, water) to the mat is a little different. But I would like to think we could be tolerant of that happening off to the side of the mat.

I actually have told an official to change a call that went in my wrestlers favor. Now those situations all involved my sons so I didn’t have to worry about parent feedback. But generally that’s not happening.

One thing I have made an effort to do recently (the last couple years) and did a LOT this year is point out the positives when I saw an official do really well both personally as well as to the assignors. It’s not kissing their butts. It’s being respectful and balancing out all of the negativity that they receive every single week with at least some positive feedback. It is also a welcome change for those making the post season decisions to hear who is doing well. And what I found is that a lot of the guys who I think did a great job this season get rewarded for their efforts. Respectful communication is the key. I know as coaches we feel like we need to yell and scream at the official to be heard. I’ve done it. Pretty sure I did it to Dennison in the 144 conso semi match this weekend. But we have to realize that doesn’t help anything. When we approach the ref with some level of sanity and ask questions instead of make accusations it generally benefits both parties. Back to Sedoris, he does a great job of communicating what he saw when making his call. Makes it much easier to accept the call I may not agree with and consider what I may not have seem. Case in point 144 3rd place match with Sedoris officiating. Late in the match my kid goes for a headlock and gets taken down as the wrestlers go off the mat. I know I saw the other kids right foot hit out. He calls 2. I question the call and point out that the kids foot was out and he can confirm with the assistant ref who was in position to see it. He calmly said yes it was out but red had one point in and green had one point in. Something I didn’t see or even consider.

I will also add that most of the guys on the floor this weekend are very good officials that deserved to be there. Doesn’t mean they were perfect or I didn’t disagree with a call or two. But we have good officials. We just need to support them and get the right guys there.

I should add no business at state

I will split the difference on the ref topic. One side we have some great officials in Ky. And like has been mentioned they all make mistakes but we also make many mistakes as coaches. We have to separate a call we don’t like with thinking someone is a bad official. The best example I can think of and I’ve said this multiple times. Jason Sedoris called the state finals match with Spencer v Thomas. While I disagreed with the call on the last second sequence that did not change my opinion of Jason being one of the best officials in the state. I would be perfectly happy to have him officiate any state finals matches for any of my kids. But on the other side we have to create a better evaluation system because some guys have no business being there. And there has to be a process where we can pivot in the moment and give guys a break if they are having a bad day.

Video definitely exists. From some things I heard this weekend I believe we may be in a position to have access to lots of great historical content in the future. Check out Alex Green on Facebook or YouTube. He just started a state championship review series that sounds absolutely amazing.

Definitely not grandstanding. I won’t claim to be totally unbiased given my religious preference, but this expression of faith was totally in silence and not at all about bringing attention to the kids on the mat. In fact the wrestler who initiated this was the underdog and asked the favorite to pray prior to the match regardless of who came out on top. If we had more kids like these kids our world would be such a better place.

IMO Cooper v Metzger was quite possibly the best state finals match I have seen

You are very welcome. It’s a lot of work and painful at times, but I really enjoy it and knowing how much so many kids and parents and coaches and fans enjoy it make it worthwhile.

Ok, before I head to the hotel I am posting part 1. Never enough hours in the day to fully do this to the level I would like, but it is what it is. Best years were when Dutch was helping me out. Part 2 will include more of the historical stats. See you guys at GRC and good luck! 2022 Ranger Report Part 1.pdf

Great great season for that team! Overcame a ton. I know Coach Matney was smiling down on them this weekend and could not be more proud of the effort those boys and coaches gave.

Oh my yeah. Total machine on the mat. I have a Paul Bunyan story about him. Before I got into coaching I spent one year as an official. Mark Hitchings called me to come over and officiate a dual meet for his Fern Creek MS team that was the gold standard at that time. They were wrestling a tough IN team. After a few matches of light kids Coach Hitchings informed me that he had a really tough kid who was going to wrestle a few weights and matches in a row. That kid was Wolsiefer. This bad little dude proceeded to murder like 7 kids in a row each one a little bigger. His HS career didn’t finish the way anyone wanted, but at his peak he was one of the most dominant 152/160 range kids I’ve seen.

Just to make it clear: 1) I graduated from Harrison County 2) I have very close family that is a big part of the program 3) I also have good friends that are big parts of the program 4) Rick Dingus who is the founder of that program is my hero

I debated including 2021 results because the process was so different from the 32 man bracket stats. But I figured I would just use my predictions made pre-semistate. It's still not exactly apples to apples since the final state bracket was seeded so kids moved around and I really didn't get a chance to predict how the bracket would fall, but such is life. Not sure what I will do with 2022. Predicting the who finishes in the top 8 of a 16 man bracket isn't the same either. Oh well, it is getting late so I should probably sleep a couple hours before stressing through day 1. After this weekend I really want to dig into some region level stats. Interested in analyzing how much region 6 (now 5) has slipped the last couple years vs how much region 1 has improved (and we know it has a TON). Then just digging into the competitive imbalance. 2022 Ranger Report Part 2.pdf

Ha ha. Yeah that might have triggered some ptsd. But can’t say much he beat me at SKIT then I missed weight. So he has the hardware and all I got were the mental scars.

Dang MLee you can’t end the discussion that quickly by immediately giving the best answer. You hit a home run with that lineup. But I will sugges one adjustment. Since Kyle never weighed 119 in high school I’m dropping him to 112. I literally saw him step on the scale his senior year at the Dragon less than 113 pounds and stil wrecked that bracket. Then you slide Boston in at 119.