dscicle

Girls' wrestling WILL be here before too much longer. Tennessee has already adopted it as has California, Texas, Hawaii, and I've been hearing some other states are considering experimenting with it. Personally, I think it is something worth pushing for here in Kentucky.

I hesitate to comment, but Carrir said it pretty well. We were ALWAYS given the choice when I was wrestling from youth all the way up (coach never said "no" or "yes") and I will tell you, only twice do I remember ANY of our guys wrestling a female (realize I was involved with a small, county school program for nearly 20 years). It's nothing personal, believe me. I personally never did because it violated my conscience, my brother ONLY ever wrestled a female once and that was only because he drew her first round of regional tournament his junior year of high school and was ranked #2 in the state at the time. If I ever coach, I plan to have the same policy...it will be up to the wrestler.

Having seen Region 2 in its entirety this season, I have to believe that LaRue, Meade, and North are the three favorites with John playing spoiler potentially. Keep in mind LaRue hasn't put together a truly full line-up this season yet, so no one has truly seen them at full strength. North has some individuals that can carry them far and Meade is solid top to bottom. The question is going to be which team's second tier wrestlers will carry them through??

Here is the schedule of events for the next several weeks folks: Regions this weekend State Duels (both HS and MS) next weekend. MS State Feb 6 High School Regionals Feb 12-13 High School State Feb. 19-20 The best solution from what I'm seeing is to move Regionals next weekend and just not wrestle state duels. Middle School State and High School state have contracts with their venues, so unless there's a major weather front that comes in and forces them to be pushed back, those MUST be wrestled on those dates. I realize it sucks for those teams who earned teh right to wrestle in State Duels and for those middle school kids who wrestle varsity, but unless someone has a better solution, realizing that MANY school districts DO NOT allow teams to travel or compete on Sundays unless the circumstances are dire, we may be up a creek with scheduling and solutions. From what I'm seeing, the schedule of the next few weekends may need to simply be this: Middle School Regionals and High School State Duels next weekend (January 30) Middle School State Feb. 6 in Louisville High School Regionals Feb. 12-13 (8 locations) High School State Feb 19-20 (Lexington)

The good news is this IS NOT State Duels weekend for once!! The bad news is that teams won't have the extra matches under their belts.

So will none of the Region 4 teams be attending State Duels now??

Yes, this is written towards the football audience, but it has bearing for wrestling too. With the season starting here within the next 2-3 weeks I thought it would be good for everyone to take a minute to read this article. This goes double for most of the officials in Kentucky I know with wrestling. http://www.dailybulletin.com/sports/20150925/much-of-what-football-officials-accomplish-is-unseen-by-general-public?source=most_viewed

Just looked up this gem because I knew at one time Gary Canter was highly paid at LaRue...LaRue County pays $10,000 to head Football, Basketball, and Wrestling coach at LCHS. $7,500 to JV coaches in all those sports. Be interesting to know what Union, Woodford, Campbell, and a few of the other top public schools pay. The bottom line in this issue is that we as a wrestling community need to be stepping up farther than we already are. Yes, the ideal situation is to be head coach at one of the "Big Dawgs." However, it seems to me no one wants to work their way up anymore. I know of several young coaches who could make an impact at a few of these schools who are still looking for a coach, yet I'm not sure they're willing to do that because "it's not a big name school." You don't get into coaching for the money. You get into it for the love of the sport. And Falcon...NH isn't having trouble...the administration DOESN'T WANT THE PROGRAM TO CONTINUE! I have that from someone involved with the school.

While I have no clue about some of the others, I know Barren County's situation. They have a coach (Luke Pniewski for those old guys who remember him from his days at Hoptown as a wrestler), but have been told until other teams in their area pick up the sport (Warren County teams, BGHS, Edmonson, Glasgow, etc...) they WILL NOT revive their team. North Bullitt and Pikeville both have coaches listed as of 3:00 eastern time today on the KHSAA website. My $0.02 on the situation: the US as a whole is dropping in quality. BEFORE ANYONE STARTS BASHING ME AND CALLING ME EVERY NAME IN THE BOOK, realize this is NOT just my views. I've talked with 2-3 college coaches in the past few weeks and they all say the exact same thing. One coach went as far as to predict that wrestling as a whole will be gone as a sport within the next 10 years. The cause? The sport is evolving and many coaches don't want to keep up with the changes. Being a coach today takes TONS of time and a desire to succeed. Gone are the days when as a coach, you walk in and simply run practice and ensure transportation to and from events. The top coaches in the nation, much less Kentucky, are the ones who spend 300+ days per year devoted to improving their programs, and find ways to travel to wrestle only the best. Challenging yourself makes you better. period. What will it take for wrestling to excel again?? We need one major thing: coaches who are willing to keep up with the changes and put in the time to make their programs better FROM THE BOTTOM UP (youth, middle school, high school. youth could simply be running a summer camp or two btw). Right now, I'd say those teams who don't have coaches will take ANYONE to just keep their program afloat though.

While this is not "official" per say, there are major rumors going around that North Hardin High School is dropping their wrestling program. Yes, that's right...North Hardin, KHSAA State Tournament winners in 1968, 1969, 1978, and 1981 is dropping their wrestling program. Many know the Trojans were looking for a coach during the off-season, but apparently the school and school board were not looking very hard. While North's success has been few and far between recently as a team, no one can deny they have produced NUMEROUS strong individuals as well as putting on a very competitive individual High School tournament over the past few years, even adding a strong middle school AND youth tournament the past few seasons. If this rumor is true, and it's looking more and more that it is each day that passes, the wrestling community will be losing a great program this season.

Ok...while I think this is a good idea, albeit one that will prevent overall champs from wrestling one another, I see one MAJOR issue here: what happens if Montgomery qualifies for State Duels?! They are a big school. Wouldn't it make much more sense for a Big school to host Big and Small School to host small?!

Denied the bid for 14-18. According to the committee, most cities who apply are denied the first time. Louisville was encouraged to apply again for the next cycle. Here's where NCAA D1's are for the next few years: 15: St. Louis 16: New York (MSG) 17: St. Louis 18: Cleveland

Let me point something out: in 1996 or 1997 (if I remember right), there was a MASSIVE ice storm that hit what was then Region 1 (present regions 1 and 2 combined)...and the KHSAA told the teams "if you can make it, wrestle because we can't reschedule state"...EVERY ONE OF THOSE TEAMS found a way to get there, and even though the tournament took close to 18 hours to run (8 man brackets but teh power kept going out), they got it in. While based on the pictures on twitter I've seen it may be better for those teams who have a pre-dominantly rural populationt to reschedule, I don't see it happening. I have a buddy who is one of the top refs in this state (not saying much I realize to many of you, but I also know many coaches ask for him when he's at their tournaments), and he has scraped his driveway and moved his car to an area where he can get out easier so he can get to Lexington. I know many of the refs who officiate will not be able to get off work next weekend if we reschedule. And there are only a HANDFUL of gyms that I can think of that could even hold 5 much less 6 mats. While many here won't be happy with my next statement, it's what will more than likely happen, and honestly what needs to happen: WRESTLE. It sucks for kids who can't be there because of teh weather, but when is life ever fair?!

considering I've seen most if not all the top teams this season in my copious travels... Region 1: Union Co (is there anyone who can even stay within 100pts of them?!) Region 2: Meade is the clear cut favorite simply because they field a FULL 14 weights which is more than any other team in this region can say. But, and I never thought I'd say these words, LaRue is a better tournament team this season so they have an extremely outside shot. Don't count out North Hardin either. Region 3: Fern Creek Region 4: Dogfight between St. X and Trinity (Lou.) with Male having an outside shot Region 5: Oldham Co is the favorite to me with Woodford having a shot with a few upsets Region 6: Campbell Co Region 7: Call me crazy but I like Wayne Co here. Lafayette and Henry Clay will push them but after a disappointing showing at State Duels I think the young Cardinals will be looking for redemption. Region 8: I haven't seen many of these teams, but from what I've heard, this could be a region that isn't decided until the finals. Johnson Central, Montgomery and Harrison all have to be the favorites here. State Tournament will start this weekend folks!!! How many wrestlers finish in their region will determine where they have a chance to finish at State Tournament. Draws and how you finish will play a HUGE HUGE roll in how many wrestlers (and also teams) will finish in Lexington on the 20th and 21st this season.

Interesting bit of info folks...Small School has pools released on trackwrestling but Big School doesn't...