GentleBeard

4/8/23 - Paducah Tilghman (flyer is attached) 4/15/23 - Ironman at Blackman HS (Murfreesboro, TN) 4/29/23 - FS/GR State at Great Crossing

Both statements can be true.

Couldn’t find the requirement in the rule book where the top wrestler must “hop sides” to avoid stalling, yet we all know if a wrestler rides on one side for too long, a stall call is coming. Yes, there are norms and “unwritten” rules. When a state title is on the line, the “unwritten rules” are that wrestlers will decide the match, even if it goes to UTB. In the Heavyweight snoozefest, I wonder what technique the ref would coach that kid to avoid stalling at the end, specifically. The kid never backed out of bounds, and was attempting to circle out of an under hook, if my memory serves me right.

Braedon Herron in the bracket, too? Name just misspelled. I missed that. Holy Smokes that bracket has to be the deepest Kentucky has had, right? I mean, with the help of hindsight, obviously. 1st, 3rd, and 5th placers are at D1 schools now, and Kinley is playing D1 football? To be honest, all the kids I remembered from that bracket were Devon, Cole, Spencer, and Blaine. I didn't realize the depth. 9 State titles among the bottom half of the bracket.

I wonder where that ranks all-time? I feel like that amount of state titles in a single bracket is an all-timer.

You’re right. No coaches who move to this state to help improve it should get praised, either. I mean, where’s the honor in moving to a situation with the goal of making it better than when you first arrived? If you’re in a bad spot, you should serve a life sentence in that situation.

That’s silly. You’re not on roids.

I'm not sure, but I know there were at least 11 state titles in that 16 man bracket

You don't let facts get in the way of your story, do you?

Not only did he have the cross face (which isn’t mandated to have), but he held that position past reaction…plus 12 more seconds. When he didn’t get his 2 awarded after holding position for 12 seconds, he put his arms behind his opponents to see if that would trigger a takedown. He had more control of his opponent than what’s necessary via the casebook.

Frazier actually has more control of his opponent than the casebook suggests he needs for him to be considered in control. His opponent's right knee is nearly touching Frazier's left knee. I'm pretty sure if a wrestler is on their hip, they are off their base.

Here's Another podium full of studs...Frazier, Grandstaff, Moore, Thomas, Herron. A lot of state titles in one picture. That bracket also had Jeffrey Kinley, Jude Powell, and Nick Giompalo. Crazy.

You’re right. My eyes are lying.

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First off, my interactions/experiences with 95% of the refs this year have been a positive. Mostly human error type calls that we just have to live with - but nothing egregious. I was bummed when I saw they didn’t get their chance to show their improvements from last year. I thought a few deserved it. However, I remember one official in particular manufacturing conflict with coaches and then blaming coaches for the conflict/friction that didn’t exist until that point. The same official stated he wants input and better communication between refs and coaches, but when coaches voice concerns and questions, he has condescending retorts or they fall on deaf ears. It’s hard to build trust in that environment. What could build trust and accountability might be a year long evaluation process for officials like other states to ensure the highest quality/consistent refs get the whistle at significant tournaments. There are refs across the state that have good relationships with coaches - regardless how perfect they are at making calls. My issue are those officials who want to maintain friction for no reason, play the blame game, and have an unquenchable thirst for power. Twenty years of experience doing something doesn’t automatically result in higher quality. A lot of people are mediocre at what they do for long periods of time. Lastly, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to play the experience game with certain coaches. As a competitor and coach, you have to know the rules like the ref. How else can you expect success? There are multiple coaches in this state who have competed AND coached in the tournaments you boasted about officiating. So, I think the pissing contest needs to end and you can stop trying to justify yourself. Honest introspection and a desire to be better and make adjustments could assuage some of the inadequacies we all have - not blaming others as the default position. Quality refs, successful coaches and competitors do this consistently over the long term (on top of competing).

Couple things… 1) if Alltech is back in play (which sounds like it is next year) then the KHSAA can’t complain about money. There are multiple better venues for a fraction of the cost. 2) If a high school gym isn’t packed for the finals, it’s going to look really bad at Alltech. I’m left with the conclusion that KHSAA is rich and lazy - caring more about their own convenience than properly giving the athletes what they deserve.

Gotta love 244 wrestlers warming up on 2 mats. Another feather to put in KHSAA’s cap along with kicking out the only D1 coach in the state. I can’t imagine them doing that to Calipari at the sweet 16.

Freestyle/Greco opportunity…

They did do it in 3 sessions. 448 is pretty close to 1/3 of 1300.

I’m not sure what Corbin Arena charges, but middle school and youth were held over a weekend. There were over 1,300 youth wrestlers competing and they were done by 7pm the same day (Strayer, Carr and crew did a phenomenal job). I realize there are different rule sets for high school and middle school regarding competition. My point is, Corbin Arena was big enough to accommodate 1,300 wrestlers + parents and 10 mats. If KYUSA has it in their budget to run a tournament like that, while sparing no expense for medals, I’m pretty sure KHSAA has the budget for it as well. Makes you wonder how much they’ve pocketed since COVID. Guaranteed, the profit margins have been gigantic over the last couple of years. If they plan to run it remotely (can’t imagine how efficient that is), then venue location is immaterial.

Corbin Arena is the perfect venue for Kentucky, in my opinion. Middle School doesn’t have a 5 match rule like High School does, and they only require 15 minute breaks between matches, so they are able to be done in one day - unlike high school. They had 20 man brackets, started at 9am and the finals were over by 6pm. The difference (besides match and time rules) is KYUSA/KFWC are willing to turn a penny loose for the kids, regardless of the convenience of those running the tournament. Priorities matter. We complain every year how bad the KHSAA tournament is, but unless they have an open mind to listen without getting offended, nothing will change. On a side note, my experience with refs in the western part of the state this year has been a LOT better than in years past. I’m interested to see if they get their shot to ref at state. But, that’s for another thread…

Because they probably didn’t think an ingrown hair/pimple requires a medical form, nor is it communicable.

3pt takedowns would warm this cold heart of mine.

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In a world of 4 point near-fall, comebacks are not only possible, but will likely happen more frequently. No lead is safe in that environment.