Charger Coach

No offense taken at all. I know what you were trying to say. It's just one of those things that get written down wrong and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a little fun. I know Coach Brown has a lot credibility and truly knows what he's talking about. He just doesn't get on this site and post unvalidated facts. He's a smart guy and real tall too, lol.

Wow, I believe that was an inadvertant slap across the face. Last time I checked, I thought I was listed as a "real" coach. I get paid and everything, lol. Like I said, KHSAA schools still follow KHSAA bylaws and guidelines, but when they travel to the jurisdiction of another athletic governing body, they must follow their rules. Kentucky allows middle school kids to wrestle at the HS level so in Kentucky or any other state that does the same, MS kids can wrestle. Indiana does not allow MS kids to wrestle so when Kentucky schools or any other school that is a member of an athletic organization that does allow MS kids to wrestle travels to Indiana, they can't. Now, like Coach Brown was saying, Indiana does not allow MS kids to wrestle in HS competition regardless of where the event is held. IHSAA member schools still follow the IHSAA bylaws and regulations, so therefore, when an Indiana wrestles in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky or wherever, MS kids still can't wrestle at the HS level. Basically, Kentucky schools still follow KHSAA bylaws unless the host state's governing athletic body has more stringent bylaws, then KHSAA member schools must follow those. If the host state's governing athletic body has more lax bylaws, then KHSAA schools follow the KHSAA guidelines while still adhering to the host states's rules or bylaws.

119Rider is exactly right. When a Kentucky school goes to another state, they must follow the rules of whatever athletic "body" sanctions the event. In this case, Union was in Indiana for an event hosted by a member school of the IHSAA so they must follow IHSAA rules for that event which means no middle school kids can compete at the high school level. They still adhere to KHSAA guidelines, but if another sanctioned athletic governing body is more strict and the event is in their jurisdiction, they must follow those rules. I don't know what the OHSAA "head honchos" were on, but they misinformed you.

Bullitt East is looking for a tri/quad on either 1/20 or 2/3 preferably in the Louisville area. If anyone has any openings, please send me a PM. Thanks

I tend to agree with NOHS on this one. I would have to agree that pound-for-pound, you would probably have to look to someone in the middle weights to find the best in the past decade. However, I don't see why Travis shouldn't at least get mentioned in the discussion somewhere. Having 200+ wins over the course of your career is something that shouldn't be overlooked whether the person wrestled 103, 112 or whatever weight class. If I'm not mistaken, Wayne Co. did attend some pretty decent tournaments in Tennessee & West Virginia while Sullivan was there and I don't believe he ever lost at those so you can't say he only beat 103s & 112s from Kentucky in folkstyle. As far as his non-wrestling attributes (i.e. character, leadership, etc.), I definitely agree with NOHS that you can't coach that. Kids either have it or they don't, it's as simple as that. The real test of a person's character doesn't show when times are good, it shows when someone faces adversity. Judging by the way Travis handled himself after the state finals a few years ago, the kid has more character than a lot of adults I know. How many times do we see kids lose at the state tournament and run off the mat pouting, stomping and in general, acting like an a$$? And that's not when they lose in the state finals of their senior year while trying to accomplish something as amazing as becoming a 4x state champ regardless of what class it is. Is Travis Sullivan the best KY wrestler in the past decade? I think almost everyone would answer no. However, he has more than earned the right to at least be mentioned in the conversation.

I figured as much and that's partly why I had the semi smarta$$ response to begin my post. The other part is that it really might take them until the state tournament to give us an answer, lol.

I don't really know and I don't really want to ask. It took the KHSAA until just now to assign us to a region so I figure if I ask why we're in Region 3, I wouldn't get an answer until the state tournament. We're probably not even going to compete in the regional tournament this year and I'm pretty sure the KHSAA will do some realignment next year with the addition and unfortunate end of some programs within the last few years. It's now not a matter of wanting to do it, it's now a matter of having to do it. I really don't foresee any changes to Regions 1, 6, 7 or 8, but Regions 2, 3, 4 & 5 I think will see some significant changes by next year.

For anyone who does care to know, Bullitt East has been assigned to Region 3. What's 1 more team, right?

I appreciate the heads up. I'll definitely look into it. Thanks

There is no official region assignment for us as of yet, but I believe we'll actually be assigned to Region 5. There's a strong possibility we won't even compete in regions this year. If I had to take a guess, I'd say we'll only compete in about 5 or 6 duals this year (mostly JV) and about 2 to 3 tournaments with preference being on dual format tournaments, but we won't even attend our 1st tournament before Christmas break. I'm also looking into starting an MS program right off the bat. We're starting completely from scratch. The only thing we have right now is a couple of old mats for practice. No singlets, wrestlers with prior experience, etc. My assistant is great, but he doesn't have any wrestling experience either, not even coaching it. This should be an interesting challenge, but the administration is behind us 100% and that's 1/2 the battle right there.

We'll mostly compete in JV matches and the tournaments we attend will probably be dual style format, not invitational style. Dual style tournaments are better when 1st starting a program as you will almost certainly get more matches for each kid than invitational style. As the year progresses, we may hop into an invitational tournament just before regions. I've got plenty of experience coaching and running a program so I'm pretty confident we're in good shape. Thanks for your concern though. This is just a year to let the kids get their feet wet and see what it all about. We'll hit the mats hard in the offseason and then worry about being competitive on a the varsity level next year. The support by the BE administration is high, so I'm very optimistic the program has a bright future and will be competitive in a short period of time.

Not at all. The team will consist mostly of football players and we'll only compete in a handful of varsity matches. I will probably only schedule a saturday tournament or two, but definitely not one every weekend. We probably won't even have our 1st meet until mid-December. This year is just to test the water so we have plenty of time.

Yes, BE will have a team this year. Sorry, but more than likely we won't wrestle BC. I haven't finalized a schedule yet.

I've never heard of anything like this before, but I like it. It's different and sounds interesting, but do schools like Holmes have a middle school program? Would a school like Fern Creek, who doesn't have a middle school, just use the Fern Creek youth wrestling club as their middle school? I'll have to swing by and check this one out.

Gatsby, these are terrible, lol. Guys, it always helps to read the full post (including the disclaimer at the top) and not just skip down to your weight class. You Southern boys ever read a full book or just try to use cliff notes? Anyway, where's John Smothers? The kid is a monster and he isn't ranked. He will take HWT by storm this year. He's unstoppable and will win state.

I) Assignment of Schools to Regions The Kentucky High School Athletic Association shall sponsor postseason competition in wrestling for boys, provided that fifteen (15) percent of the member schools declare intentions to participate in said competition. Member schools desiring to participate in KHSAA sponsored postseason competition shall notify the Association office prior to November 1. The Commissioner shall divide the state into geographic sections with the approval of the Board of Control. Newly added or deleted programs will be handled on a case by case basis by the Commissioner

Manual and Male did use to be the same school. However, it Male was not created from Manual. Both schools were independent of each other and then merged back in the early 1900s for a few years. Back over a century ago, Male only taught academics and there were no high schools for individuals who wanted "manual" trades. You can see where I'm going with this, so eventually Manual was created for those students. The schools split up around 1915. Later on, the all famale high school in Louisville, which was created as a counterpart to Male merged with Manual to become a co-ed school and is what we refer to today as DuPont Manual H.S. Male is the oldest high school in the state of Kentucky and if I'm not mistaken is the oldest west of the Alleghenies. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Male is a public school, but it's traditional so you have to be accepted in order to attend. Male doesn't have a "home district" to speak of like the other JCP schools so the school doesn't have to accept a student who lives in their district. You almost certainly have to be either already in the traditional school program, a legacy or a good athlete to get in. Sorry for the last one, but it's true. The "H" does stand for High School because at the time, it was the only high school so that's why they used the "H". And yes, Flaget was an arch rival of Male. Not quite on the level of Manual, but close. Trust me, my Dad, brother, 4 uncles & 3 cousins all attended Male and played football for them so I've heard the stories plenty of times.

This is why I have the utmost respect for Coach Brown, honest and straight to the point. I had the priviledge of being Mr. Granby's coach for 2 years and I do call it a priviledge. I have never been around a kid who worked harder at anything or cared more about the sport they loved. That includes 2 kids that I have coached in HS football who are now playing in the pros (Isaac Sowells / Doss / Cleveland Browns & Garry Williams / Seneca / Carolina Panthers). Dinubus is obviously is ignorant of that which he speaks. Derek wanted nothing more than to wrestle in college. He was unable to do so his 1st year after high school, yet he took classes at a JC and still worked on his wrestling skills. With no help from anyone, he worked his way towards achieving his goal of wrestling in college, just like he did with being a state champ, and now this fall, he will be attending Lindsey Wilson and competing for their wrestling team. That really sounds like a kid who doesn't care about being competitive on a larger scale, doesn't it?

I noticed on the khsaa site that there was no coach listed for BC. I was wondering what was going on there and why Coach Durham wasn't listed.

If I read the KHSAA site correctly, I believe we have another Coach Keith Smith in the state. His info is on that site, under the wrestling section.

Just Wrestle, that's exactly how I felt and what I was thinking when I read the news about Tim's passing. Having 2 kids of my own, I can't imagine what his parents' are feeling right now. I can't imagine what the coaching staff at UC is feeling right now either because when you coach these young men and spend as much time with them as coaches often do, they become like your own kids. My thoughts and prayers are with Tim's family and the entire UC wrestling community.

They are hoping to start a program soon, but finding a coach isn't the issue. I know both their ADs well. There are some other "adminstrative" issues that need to be ironed out first.

Sorry, last post was suppose to be in response to SO MK's list of possible schools to push for wrestling programs.

Another school to add to this list would be Bullitt East. My wife teaches there. They are usually very competitive in most sports and county rival Bullitt Central already has a program. They county is right next to Jefferson so they wouldn't have to travel far for tournaments and duals/tris. I have spoken to the AD about it and he's looking into it. They wouldn't have a problem finding a coach as I have already said I would take the job.

Alright then, how about this, jpizar83, Mr. Granby & yourself placed more "emphasis" on being an AA instead of a state champ. Is that better? Listen, I'm not saying your wrong so don't get your panties in a bunch. I respect your opinion, but it's just, that your opinion and I don't agree with it. Likewise, many may not agree with my opinion of which you're obviously one. Setting your goals high was what you preferred to do so great. Hopefully that worked out for you. I was different. I started out with smaller, more obtainable goals. As I reached those, I set my sights higher. I would have loved to play pro football, but it didn't happen. That was a goal of mine since I was 10 years old, but I wasn't good enough. That would have been the ultimate. However, my first goal was to start for my high school team. I accomplished that goal and it gave me a sense of satisfaction that I had done something. Next I set my goal to make all-conference which I also accomplished. Once again, I gained a sense of satisfaction. Then I went for all-state and I accomplished that. Then my goals became playing in college, etc. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Setting my goals at a "littler" level helped me to obtain some of those, which gave me the confidence to think bigger. That's what worked for me. Was I a failure since I didn't play professionally? The answer is hell no. I reached a lot of my goals and I'm proud of that. So once again, to my original point, the emphasis, priority, or whatever you want to call it, depends on the individual and can't be a generalized statement. To back up my point, I was very fortunate to coach an individual who as an 8th grader won 2 matches and again as a freshman only won 2 matches. He set his goal to make it to state his sophomore year and he did that. The next year, he set his goal higher and wanted to be a state champ and he did that. That's when he began to think even bigger like achieving AA status. It never happened, but he had the satisfaction of knowing he was a state champ and that was a goal of his that he obtained. I mean no offense when I ask this so please don't take this the wrong way, but did you have any other goals than to be an AA and if you didn't, do you feel like a failure since you obviously didn't achieve that, but might have accomplished other "littler" things like being a state champ?