bigdaddycoach

We had another great day at the Midwest Nationals last weekend, with 34 Warriors making the trip. The tournament was tougher than ever, with over 1,100 wrestlers from 19 states competing this year, but our boys represented Kentucky well. We ended up winning the 9th & 10th grade division and second in the 7th & 8th grade division, with three champions and 9 third place winners. Most of our wrestlers won at least once, and many of them scored bonus points. Our top finishers were: 5th & 6th grade: Champion - Nathaniel Lawrence, 121# 3rd - Gabe Jacobs 7th & 8th grade: Champion - Zane Brown, 129# 3rd - Sam Jenkins Jakob McClintic Tristan Sellmer Nate Wheeler 9th & 10th grade: Champion - Connor Cambron, 125# 2nd - Donavon Smith 3rd - Elijah Allgeier Mike Klein 11th & 12th grade: 3rd - Kohl Dodd James Davis Coach Wheeler & I are really proud of our guys for all of the hard work they put in this summer and their excellent performance in Illinois. Thanks also to all of the other coaches who helped get them ready. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

We had another great day at the Midwest Nationals last weekend, with 34 Warriors making the trip. The tournament was tougher than ever, with over 1,100 wrestlers from 19 states competing this year, but our boys represented Kentucky well. We ended up winning the 9th & 10th grade division and second in the 7th & 8th grade division, with three champions and 9 third place winners. Most of our wrestlers won at least once, and many of them scored bonus points. Our top finishers were: 5th & 6th grade: Champion - Nathaniel Lawrence, 121# 3rd - Gabe Jacobs 7th & 8th grade: Champion - Zane Brown, 129# 3rd - Sam Jenkins Jakob McClintic Tristan Sellmer Nate Wheeler 9th & 10th grade: Champion - Connor Cambron, 125# 2nd - Donavon Smith 3rd - Elijah Allgeier Mike Klein 11th & 12th grade: 3rd - Kohl Dodd James Davis Coach Wheeler & I are really proud of our guys for all of the hard work they put in this summer and their excellent performance in Illinois. Thanks also to all of the other coaches who helped get them ready. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

We will be hosting Coach Avery Zerkle for a two-day Golden Cross Wrestling camp at South Oldham High School this Friday and Saturday (6-20 & 21). This camp is designed for experienced 5th - 12th grade wrestlers, and costs just $85. Both days will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Coach Zerkle has had great success at Cincinnati LaSalle & brings a tremendous amount of experience and intensity to his clinics. Last year's camp was one of the highlights of our Warrior season. We have a great group of wrestlers already signed up, but still have some spots available. If you are interested in participating or if you would like more information, please send me an e-mail or contact Coach Wheeler. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

We will be hosting Coach Avery Zerkle for a two-day Golden Cross Wrestling camp at South Oldham High School this Friday and Saturday (6-20 & 21). This camp is designed for experienced 5th - 12th grade wrestlers, and costs just $85. Both days will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Coach Zerkle has had great success at Cincinnati LaSalle & brings a tremendous amount of experience and intensity to his clinics. Last year's camp was one of the highlights of our Warrior season. We have a great group of wrestlers already signed up, but still have some spots available. If you are interested in participating or if you would like more information, please send me an e-mail or contact Coach Wheeler. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

Tony was here as a guest of the Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club and put on a great clinic for about 70 kids on Saturday. He is a first-class teacher in addition to being a champion wrestler, and really did a great job connecting with the team. We are excited that we could work together with the Bostons to provide a top-notch training opportunity to as many of our kids as possible. Between the two clubs, we have had well over 100 wrestlers working hard this spring. We are looking forward to bringing another large team to the Midwest Nationals in July to represent Kentucky. We'll do our best to make everyone proud. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

The Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club is pleased to announce that Tony Ramos will be conducting a clinic at our practice on Saturday 5-3 (Derby Weekend). Tony is a 2013 NCAA finalist, this year's Big Ten Champion, and a favorite to win the 133 pound class at the upcoming NCAA tournament. We look forward to meeting him and learning from one of the best college wrestlers in America. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

The Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club is pleased to announce that Tony Ramos will be conducting a clinic at our practice on Saturday 5-3 (Derby Weekend). Tony is a 2013 NCAA finalist, this year's Big Ten Champion, and a favorite to win the 133 pound class at the upcoming NCAA tournament. We look forward to meeting him and learning from one of the best college wrestlers in America. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

Coach Wheeler and I are excited for the start of another season for the Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club. Our format will be similar to last year - we will start after the Belt Series tournaments in March and finish after the Midwest Nationals in July. We will practice on Saturdays, usually at South Oldham High School. We are planning to have several regional and national-level coaches join us again as guest clinicians, and will feature another 2-day camp with Coach Zerkle in June. Our emphasis is on top-level middle school wrestlers, but I expect to have quite a few of our high school wrestlers return to train with the team again this year. If the club continues to grow as expected, we may also have a separate session most days for our younger & less experienced wrestlers. That will allow more kids to participate while keeping the level of competition at its highest for our best young athletes. The club dues are $100 for the season. That will include the registration fee for the Midwest Nationals and the fees for most of our guest clinicians, though there will be a small additional charge for the camp. Each wrestlers will also receive a long sleeve performance T shirt and a sports bottle with our Warrior logo. We are able to keep the cost low thanks to our corporate sponsors and the continued support of Keith Smith and Kentucky USA Wrestling. Based on the size of last year's team (82) and the amount of early interest we have seen, it looks like we may need to limit enrollment this year, so if you want to participate, send me an e-mail ASAP. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

There is a very competitive national organization for college-level club teams - the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, which has over 150 teams and sponsors a national tournament. Many of the clubs there are traditional Division III teams who have lost school funding due to budget cuts. Others are just starting wrestling programs at their schools. I have been working with the MIT club (where I wrestled a long time ago when it was D-III) for the past few years doing some fund-raising and recruiting. If you would like more information about any of this or any help getting your club going, please feel free to contact me. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

Our Kentucky Bluegrass Warriors team had another good year at the Midwest Nationals in Bloomington, Illinois last Saturday. We took our largest group ever, with 44 wrestlers. There were about 950 wrestlers in the tournament, with an especially big middle school group this year. Our 5th & 6th grade team placed 2nd, Our 7th & 8th grade team placed 4th, and Our 9th & 10th grade team placed 2nd. As usual, there were some great performances and there were a few really tough brackets. Once the final results are posted on the tournament website, I will follow up with a list of the individual place winners. Thanks to Keith Smith and Kentucky USA Wrestling for his ongoing support, and thanks to all of the coaches and parents who worked so hard to help our team represent Kentucky wrestling. Most of all, thanks to the 80+ wrestlers who trained for this event since March, both for themselves and their Warrior teammates. I'm proud to be part of such a first-class group. Mark Myers bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

The brackets finally went up. Our Warrior wrestlers who finished in the top three in their divisions were: 5th & 6th grade: Clayton Boyd 2nd Caleb Berquist 3rd Jakob McClintic 3rd Nate Wheeler 3rd 7th & 8th grade: Max Andreoni 1st Lucas Carrillo 3rd Jacob Henley 3rd 9th & 10th grade: Keegan Duncan 1st Hudson Heidorf 1st Zac Brooks 2nd Kohl Dodd 2nd Jack Fallon 2nd Ben Barton 3rd John Shirkey 3rd Jorge Vega 3rd We also had about a dozen guys who placed 4th to 6th. Once again, our Kentucky wrestlers proved that they can compete with the best on a national stage.

We are excited to host Coach Avery Zerkle at South Oldham High School for an intense 2-day camp later this month. Coach Zerkle's workouts are legendary, and many of our top wrestlers work with him at his Golden Cross Wrestling club in Ohio. If you are an experienced wrestler looking for some first-class training, this will be one of the best events of the summer. At only $85, the camp will also be one of the best values in the region. We are going to limit the number of participants to make sure everyone gets personal attention, and most of the spots are already filled. If you would like more information you can view the attached flier or contact me at: bigdaddycoach@gmail.com Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club Summer Camp June 21-22 South Oldham.pdf Summer Camp June 21-22 South Oldham.pdf

The June 21-22 camp will be at SOUTH OLDHAM HIGH SCHOOL. We are limiting the number of participants, and most of the spots are already filled. It looks like it will be a great group. If anyone would like more information, you can use the links above or contact me at: bigdaddycoach@gmail.com Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

We have a tremendous group of wrestlers competing tomorrow at the Ohio Tournament of Champions in Columbus. All together there are about 90 Kentucky wrestlers making the trip, including more than 30 from our Bluegrass Warriors club alone. This is a lot more than previous years, and we should all be proud of the progress our wrestlers are making. As the results become available, I'll try to post them here. Best of luck to all of our boys. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club is hosting a two-day camp with Coach Avery Zerkle from Golden Cross Wrestling at South Oldham on Friday June 21 & Saturday June 22. There will be high-quality training for wrestlers of all ages. For more information or a camp flier, you can contact me or see the camp notice posted in this forum. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

Congratulations to the many Kentucky wrestlers who represented the state at the Ohio Tournament of Champions yesterday. We had 20 place winners, which is our best showing ever. They were: Bantam: 80 - JJ Chamblee 6th 95 - Caleb Poe 4th Midget 85 Noah Duke 7th Junior: 80 - Samuel Grandstaff 7th 160 - Kaden Kulmer 3rd Schoolboy: 76 - Tylan Tucker CHAMPION - Shay Horton 6th 84 - Blake Roth 4th 92 - Saul Ervin 5th 96 - Ryan Moore 2nd 140 - Jared Branch 6th Cadet: 85 - Zac Brooks 7th - Joey Delong 8th 115 - AJ Binder 8th 125 - Keegan Duncan 2nd 130 - Hudson Heidorf 5th 135 - Dylan West 3rd 242 - Cole Sherman 6th Elite: 118 - Jorge Vega 8th 171 - Lane Jones 8th In addition to those above, we had quite a few other wrestlers who won multiple matches and just missed placing. I would like to especially congratulate the 9 current or former Bluegrass Warrior wrestlers on the list above. I can attest that these young men have worked hard to achieve their success. On behalf of all of our Kentucky wrestlers, I would like to thank Keith Smith and KY USA Wrestling for their ongoing support. Finally, I would like to thank the large group of dedicated coaches and parents who made the trip to Columbus and helped our boys succeed there. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

Still the best day for Kentucky at the TOC ever. Many of our boys wrestled well. I will post a summary of the results as a separate thread in this forum.

We are excited to host this clinic together with Coach Whorton on Saturday. For anyone who doesn't know him, Frank Molinaro was a 4-time All-American at Penn State and the 2012 NCAA Champion at 149 pounds. He is now a coach at Rutgers University. This will be a great opportunity for our guys to work with one of the best wrestlers of the decade. The clinic runs from 9:00 to 4:30 and costs $55, with lunch and a T shirt included. You can get more information and the camp flier at cagehero.net/camp and can sign up by contacting Coach Whorton (coachwhorton@jhbulldogswrestling.com). For those who are attending the clinic, you can park in the main parking lot near the football stadium at South Oldham High School. As you walk through the gate toward the football stadium, the wrestling room is located just past the bleachers to your left in a separate green building. I look forward to seeing you Saturday. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

We are excited to host this clinic together with Coach Whorton on Saturday. For anyone who doesn't know him, Frank Molinaro was a 4-time All-American at Penn State and the 2012 NCAA Champion at 149 pounds. He is now a coach at Rutgers University. This will be a great opportunity for our guys to work with one of the best wrestlers of the decade. The clinic runs from 9:00 to 4:30, and costs $55, with lunch and a T shirt included. You can get more information and the camp flier at cagehero.net/camp and can sign up by contacting Coach Whorton (coachwhorton@jhbulldogswrestling.com). For those who are attending the clinic, you can park in the main parking lot near the football stadium at South Oldham High School. As you walk through the gate toward the football stadium, the wrestling room is located just past the bleachers to your left in a separate green building. I look forward to seeing you Saturday. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

For anyone who didn't participate with Team KY (and those who did), there are other opportunities to go to national tournaments with a team of Kentucky guys. Our club begins after Team KY gets back from National Duals and practices on Saturday mornings until mid-July in the Louisville area. We have traveled with teams of 20+ kids to both the Ohio Tournament of Champions and the Midwest Nationals (which we won) in each of the past two years, and it looks like this year's squad will be even stronger. Our team is open to everyone who wants to train with us. If you are interested or if you would like more information, send me an e-mail. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

We are getting ready for our 6th season for the Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club. We practice on Saturday mornings in the Louisville area and are open to experienced elementary and middle school wrestlers from anywhere in Kentucky. A few of our Warrior alumni who have moved on to high school will be back to help train the next generation as well. Last year, we had 60+ wrestlers participate, with 25-30 for most practices. We took a team of over 20 kids to both the Ohio Tournament of Champions and the Midwest Nationals, where we are the two-time defending champions. Because many of our wrestlers will be part of Team Kentucky, we are going to start our season after National Duals. As always, we will end the year at the Midwest Nationals (7-13). In addition to our local coaches, we anticipate having several of the top coaches from the area join us this year as Guest Clinicians. The details and schedule will be available soon. The cost to participate is $75. Our wrestlers will have their entry fees to both national tournaments subsidized and everyone who signs up by the end of April will receive a custom performance T shirt and a pair of really cool custom Warrior MMA fight shorts. If you want to participate or if you would like more information, please send me an e-mail. I look forward to seeing you soon. Mark Myers Bluegrass Warriors Wrestling Club bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

As noted above, it depends a lot on the quality of the camps and the tournaments. There are few training methods more productive than a high-quality camp like Jordan or a few others, especially for a wrestler who has advanced to the point where they are ready to apply the lessons they learn. Tournaments are much less predictable. I think a wrestler is generally going to get more from a tough 2-hour practice than an "easy" tournament, especially one against wrestlers he already knows. To me, tournaments are most useful in keeping young wrestlers motivated to keep practicing in the offseason. Mpire also makes an important point about taking a few weeks off every year. I like to remind parents that developing a young wrestler is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm sure we all have seen guys who were world-beaters in 8th grade, but never made it to their senoir year.

It was a great day for the Warriors and Kentucky wrestling. We won the 7th & 8th grade division again this year. Our top place winners were: Keegan Duncan - 2-time Champion Collin Portman - Champion Adam Miller - 2nd Seamus Sallee - 2nd Dylan West - 3rd Our 5th & 6th grade team placed fourth, and was lead by: Tylan Tucker - Champion Mason Smith - Champion Jakob McClintic - 3rd Blake Roth - 3rd We also had two place winners in the 9th & 10th grade group: Jorge Vega - 2nd Kohl Dodd - 3rd Our wrestlers fought hard, were good sports, and represented Kentucky well. I am really proud of them. Thanks to all of the coaches who worked with the team since March. We were among the most fundamentally sound and best-conditioned wrestlers at the event again this year. Special thanks as well to the many coaches who there yesterday to help lead the boys through the chaos. Mark Myers Kentucky Bluegrass Warriors bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

It's unfortunate that so many people have chosen this public site to throw stones at one of the most successful coaches (and programs) in our state and have brought the futures of two fine young wrestlers into the discussion. I have coached Keegan and Hudson for years and have gotten to know both boys and their fathers well. I have had many conversations with them about their futures and can assure everyone that they have chosen to attend Trinity for all of the right reasons. It's a first-rate academic institution, which also trains young boys to be proper men and produces championship-quality wrestlers. How could anyone second-guess a decision to go there? Some of you will choose to misunderstand these comments to mean that I am an apologist for Trinity, and you would be wrong. Though I coached in the middle school program there and am well-acquainted with all of the people and issues that have been discussed on this site, I am no longer part of the program. Even though Coach Brown and I had different visions for how to run a youth program, I have great respect for him as a coach. I have been around wrestling for 40+ years, was a 3-time college letterman, and have been coaching middle school wrestling for several years. Richard is one of the top technical instructors I have known at any level. In addition, his postseason successes should make it clear to everyone that he is excellent in getting the most from his teams when it counts. It would also be a mistake to attribute Trinity's success to recruiting. Although many of the top wrestlers there started their careers elsewhere, there have also been quite a few successful wrestlers in their program who didn't start wrestling until they got to Trinity. During my time there, it was my experience that Coach Brown was consistently careful to follow the rules governing contacts with potential wrestlers from youth programs at other schools. Finally, those of you who have chosen to use this web site to anonymously make accusations should either be a man and sign your comments or keep them to yourself. Many of the basest allegations on the other Trinity thread here have been posted by someone who has a grudge against the program as a result of his own personal issues. Yes, many of us know who you are and you are dishonoring yourself with these attacks. It's time to move on. Mark Myers bigdaddycoach@gmail.com

It's great to see a first-class dedicated wrestling facility in our region. Thw Bluegrass Warriors club will be practicing there on Thursday evening next week. We are looking forward to working with Cris.