Ranger123

ATTENTION Wrestling fans! All Star Classic is back!

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I too am a little confused as to why we are unable to provide feedback. In fact, not too long ago, we had several people on this board call out the KHSAA, coaches association, etc. and that was infinitely more aggressive than this scenario. While I appreciate the effort Ranger has invested in to Kentucky wrestling, he is not immune to feedback. 

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7 hours ago, Nkawtg said:

Nah. It’s still a free country. I’m just asking simple questions. What’s the beef Jason has with Union County and why have this match in the middle of football season?

It's not all that complicated.  As I have said before and if you took a few minutes to research LOTS of Union County kids have been invited to this over the years.  They have chosen not to participate.  Reach out to Robert Ervin and he will confirm there is absolutely no beef.  As for pushing it back another month?  How about this.  If we push it back just another week the season has officially started and this becomes a scrimmage or possibly at an even later date an official weigh in for each of these teams.  Imagine how that goes over trying to get all of the coaches and teams to accommodate this event in the schedule for possibly 1 kid.  Yeah, that's likely not happening.  Not sure what Flo being national has to do with anything.  If kids are playing football, kids are playing football.  And yes a good number of national level kids are playing football.  And you know what?  Even flo has some top ranked kids turn them down and you know what they do?  They still show up and have the event.

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3 hours ago, Old wrestler said:

I too am a little confused as to why we are unable to provide feedback. In fact, not too long ago, we had several people on this board call out the KHSAA, coaches association, etc. and that was infinitely more aggressive than this scenario. While I appreciate the effort Ranger has invested in to Kentucky wrestling, he is not immune to feedback. 

There is a difference between providing feedback and just being a pain in the backside.  Another major difference is the the KHSAA guys are collecting a big fat paycheck to provide a service for our kids.  I have volunteered hundreds of hours a year on this stuff for the last 20+ years.  If someone wants to shoot me a pm and really discuss ideas for improvement I am 100% open to it.  It happens nearly every day.  Open fishing for an argument about "leaving out" Union County or the timing is not trying to do anything constructive for wrestling in the state.

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4 hours ago, Ranger123 said:

There is a difference between providing feedback and just being a pain in the backside.  Another major difference is the the KHSAA guys are collecting a big fat paycheck to provide a service for our kids.  I have volunteered hundreds of hours a year on this stuff for the last 20+ years.  If someone wants to shoot me a pm and really discuss ideas for improvement I am 100% open to it.  It happens nearly every day.  Open fishing for an argument about "leaving out" Union County or the timing is not trying to do anything constructive for wrestling in the state.

Not only do you volunteer your hours, but you also made a post regarding the countless others that helped get this event done. Some people are just silly.

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22 hours ago, Nkawtg said:

Nah. It’s still a free country. I’m just asking simple questions. What’s the beef Jason has with Union County and why have this match in the middle of football season?

TN is doing a Who's #1 in the middle of FB season too. 

Union hasn't participated in any of them if memory serves correctly. 

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15 hours ago, Ranger123 said:

There is a difference between providing feedback and just being a pain in the backside.  Another major difference is the the KHSAA guys are collecting a big fat paycheck to provide a service for our kids.  I have volunteered hundreds of hours a year on this stuff for the last 20+ years.  If someone wants to shoot me a pm and really discuss ideas for improvement I am 100% open to it.  It happens nearly every day.  Open fishing for an argument about "leaving out" Union County or the timing is not trying to do anything constructive for wrestling in the state.

Are the members of the coaches association compensated for their time? I understand they’re a governing body and are elected officials, but I am unclear if they’re compensated for their time. Genuine question, I know text doesn’t always provide context. 
 

Regardless, this is a public message board and others are allowed to share conflicting views. The message board is filled with Ranger apologists, and while I appreciate his unparalleled dedication, it’s odd to me that we can openly blast certain elements of the Kentucky wrestling community, while other segments are off limits. If it’s because Ranger is not compensated for his time, I guess that makes more sense, but given the majority of this board relies on Rangers knowledge/insight to generate conversation, I fear this board will continue to lose interest if opposing thoughts are considered ‘silly’ or told to just be grateful. 

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Quite an interesting view of our wrestling world.  Our only hope for survival is conflict.  I prefer to have a more positive outlook.  If we can instead work together to generate more interest in the sport and yes, even sometimes working with people and agendas we don't always agree with, that we might actually be able to grow the sport a little.

Speaking of coaches association, I was the president of the MS association for a number of years.  Tim Lange from Oldham County was doing a great job before me, but I decided rather than just be a keyboard hero with all of the criticism and doing little of the work, I ran for the office and feel like myself along with John Roth and Adam Lantman did a pretty darn good job of helping build MS wrestling in the state.  Tyler Baines took over after and did a fantastic job as well.  I didn't agree with everything the board did to change things up, but they did what they thought was best and I wasn't willing to be in there making something else happen, so in my opinion the last thing I should do is publicly criticize the guys doing all the hard work.

The bottom line is this.  Yes it is a public forum and people are virtually free to say whatever they want behind the screen.  But conflict just for the sake of conflict is pretty dumb to me.  And to be honest that is what will likely eventually run me away from this.  This site likely represents 90% of the conflict in my life and maybe 1% of the value added.  Maybe the people who know me and all that I have going on are on to something when they ask why in the world I continue to do this.  I'll tell you why.  It is the private messages I regularly receive of appreciation.  The kids, parents, and fans who take it for what it is and not a reason to be mad at the world.

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The Coaches association representatives do not receive compensation. Like Ranger, we do it for the love of the sport and the kids. Cant thank him enough for all he has done for the sport, as well as countless other coaches and people who have supported Kentucky wrestling over the years. 

 

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1 hour ago, Ranger123 said:

Quite an interesting view of our wrestling world.  Our only hope for survival is conflict.  I prefer to have a more positive outlook.  If we can instead work together to generate more interest in the sport and yes, even sometimes working with people and agendas we don't always agree with, that we might actually be able to grow the sport a little.

Speaking of coaches association, I was the president of the MS association for a number of years.  Tim Lange from Oldham County was doing a great job before me, but I decided rather than just be a keyboard hero with all of the criticism and doing little of the work, I ran for the office and feel like myself along with John Roth and Adam Lantman did a pretty darn good job of helping build MS wrestling in the state.  Tyler Baines took over after and did a fantastic job as well.  I didn't agree with everything the board did to change things up, but they did what they thought was best and I wasn't willing to be in there making something else happen, so in my opinion the last thing I should do is publicly criticize the guys doing all the hard work.

The bottom line is this.  Yes it is a public forum and people are virtually free to say whatever they want behind the screen.  But conflict just for the sake of conflict is pretty dumb to me.  And to be honest that is what will likely eventually run me away from this.  This site likely represents 90% of the conflict in my life and maybe 1% of the value added.  Maybe the people who know me and all that I have going on are on to something when they ask why in the world I continue to do this.  I'll tell you why.  It is the private messages I regularly receive of appreciation.  The kids, parents, and fans who take it for what it is and not a reason to be mad at the world.

I will also say this as a coach... Ranger does a lot of the hard work for some of us who are on an island in the west that do not know who 3/4 of the kids in the north. I have always appreciated Ranger's work. The year we all did it together was challenging but a lot of fun. 

 

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Do you think that maybe why this is organized during football season is that after that it is wrestling season and other teams are traveling to other states to compete? 

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On 9/11/2022 at 7:31 PM, Ranger123 said:

There is a difference between providing feedback and just being a pain in the backside.  Another major difference is the the KHSAA guys are collecting a big fat paycheck to provide a service for our kids.  I have volunteered hundreds of hours a year on this stuff for the last 20+ years.  If someone wants to shoot me a pm and really discuss ideas for improvement I am 100% open to it.  It happens nearly every day.  Open fishing for an argument about "leaving out" Union County or the timing is not trying to do anything constructive for wrestling in the state.

So now I’m a “pain in the backside”!?  All for asking why you conduct an “All Star” match in the middle of football season in a relatively small state?  An “All Star” match without including (for whatever reason) the top program in the state with many of the top kids!?

It’s criticism.  Not sure why you think you should be immune from it.  

 

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Well, let's think about this for a second.  There are essentially 2 reason for criticism.  One is to provide constructive feedback and help improve.  Two is to just be a pain.  Given your level in really getting involved and helping this event I feel pretty safe in assuming you aren't all that interested in the first option.  The Union situation has been covered.  Timing is fairly simple as well; football is busy starting in mid July so should we do this in June? 

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5 hours ago, Ranger123 said:

Well, let's think about this for a second.  There are essentially 2 reason for criticism.  One is to provide constructive feedback and help improve.  Two is to just be a pain.  Given your level in really getting involved and helping this event I feel pretty safe in assuming you aren't all that interested in the first option.  The Union situation has been covered.  Timing is fairly simple as well; football is busy starting in mid July so should we do this in June? 

I think you, and people like you, who push and push to make Kentucky wrestling a year round endeavor are hurting the sport in general. Your sons seem to have excelled and done well in the sport. Good for you and them. Maybe they didn’t play other sports?  Maybe they didn’t like football?  I don’t know. But doing this All Star event in Oct just takes away from the wrestlers who do other fall sports. Your attitude towards anyone questioning anything you do just reveals your “little man syndrome.”

 

I love the sport. My kids are in college and med school so I have no skin in the game. Play the victim all you want. 

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2 hours ago, Nkawtg said:

I think you, and people like you, who push and push to make Kentucky wrestling a year round endeavor are hurting the sport in general. Your sons seem to have excelled and done well in the sport. Good for you and them. Maybe they didn’t play other sports?  Maybe they didn’t like football?  I don’t know. But doing this All Star event in Oct just takes away from the wrestlers who do other fall sports. Your attitude towards anyone questioning anything you do just reveals your “little man syndrome.”

 

I love the sport. My kids are in college and med school so I have no skin in the game. Play the victim all you want. 

Whatever dude.  If you love the sport so much then actually do something more productive than your worthless posts about how horrible people like me are for the sport.  Statements like that show exactly how truly ignorant you are about the topic.

If you want to continue this nonsensical tangent regarding this event destroying the foundation of Ky wrestling, start another thread. 

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38 minutes ago, Ranger123 said:

Whatever dude.  If you love the sport so much then actually do something more productive than your worthless posts about how horrible people like me are for the sport.  Statements like that show exactly how truly ignorant you are about the topic.

If you want to continue this nonsensical tangent regarding this event destroying the foundation of Ky wrestling, start another thread. 

I won’t defend points I never made. Ignorant because I have a different opinion than yours?  Fathom the possibility that you’re not as right about everything as you think you are. 
 

Go rank some 11 year olds. 

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12 hours ago, Nkawtg said:

I think you, and people like you, who push and push to make Kentucky wrestling a year round endeavor are hurting the sport in general. Your sons seem to have excelled and done well in the sport. Good for you and them. Maybe they didn’t play other sports?  Maybe they didn’t like football?  I don’t know. But doing this All Star event in Oct just takes away from the wrestlers who do other fall sports. Your attitude towards anyone questioning anything you do just reveals your “little man syndrome.”

 

I love the sport. My kids are in college and med school so I have no skin in the game. Play the victim all you want. 

This is absolutely discussing. For you to go at ranger like that is unreal. Anyone that is that upset over a pre-season event has nothing better to do with there life than complain must have "little man syndrome". Come on man find something better to do with your time than throw shots at ranger and complain about the all star. I think we can all agree that we are tired of your comments and don't really care what you have to say at this point. 

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Maybe the All Star classic is an event to put on exciting matches before the start of the season. There are always people complaining around this time of year anyway. It never fails. 

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Agreed! This event has always brought excitement before the beginning of the season. More people than not want this event to take place and are just fine with the timing of it. The matches are the top 5 ranked for each weight class so should make for an exciting dual. I for one appreciate everything that Ranger does and has done for this sport. 

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Ranger thank you first off for all you do for all the kids and fans across the state. As for this debate or disagreement I don't see how on one hand someone can complain that this event is trying to make wrestling step on anyone. From where I sit its football and other sports that are always going on. From 7 on 7 to now travel leagues during all seasons. Now that doesn't so much effect me but does step on each other all the time. Lets be honest here we might not like it but all sports in high school overlap and run extra off-season stuff that sometimes leaves dual sport kids out. They all have to pick which to play at certain times. Weather it be travel baseball or summer Basketball, 7 on 7 football or Baseball or summer basketball or Fargo is it fair. Yes it is and some will decide not to do this sport and do that one its the way it is year around. Kids that love them all find a way to make it work and they will miss this or that sometimes move on. So it might not be true #1 vs #2 and so on but it is some of the best in the state getting their time in the show. Thanks again Ranger.

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Unfortunately we have to announce our fist substitution of the event.  And interestingly enough, a football player will be stepping in and is excited to step up and pull double duty.  Joshua Strayer of Great Crossing will be taking Lane Kiser's spot at 190.

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19 minutes ago, panthers said:

Ranger thank you first off for all you do for all the kids and fans across the state. As for this debate or disagreement I don't see how on one hand someone can complain that this event is trying to make wrestling step on anyone. From where I sit its football and other sports that are always going on. From 7 on 7 to now travel leagues during all seasons. Now that doesn't so much effect me but does step on each other all the time. Lets be honest here we might not like it but all sports in high school overlap and run extra off-season stuff that sometimes leaves dual sport kids out. They all have to pick which to play at certain times. Weather it be travel baseball or summer Basketball, 7 on 7 football or Baseball or summer basketball or Fargo is it fair. Yes it is and some will decide not to do this sport and do that one its the way it is year around. Kids that love them all find a way to make it work and they will miss this or that sometimes move on. So it might not be true #1 vs #2 and so on but it is some of the best in the state getting their time in the show. Thanks again Ranger.

I really like this post.  I am one to agree with Nkawtg about the year round thing. But individuals have the right to make their own decisions on this.  This event cannot occur on or after Oct 15th. It would then be an in-season event.  Football starts on July 10 (Helmets) Baseball ends around June 17th.  Kentucky dead period was June 25 through  July 9th. 

That would only leave a small opening from June 18th to June 24th for no conflicts in Ky.  I have no idea if something nationally is occurring during this time. 

I always thought this was just a preview event.  Trying to get the top ranked kids to participate if they can.  Something to get our juices flowing going into the season.  I have been around for a very long time and have seen the sport grow tremendously, all due to people like Ranger who have put their own time in to make it grow.  I personally have not attended this event (I barely have enough time to take care of my own business) but I follow to see the results. 

Take it for what it is.  Try to improve it, try to promote it, try to attend it. Or just sit back and let it happen.  Really doesn't matter which you do or don't do, in the end it only helps wrestling in the state of KY.  Would be awesome if each area of the state held their own to make a culminating event at the end with all the winners. 

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2 minutes ago, Ranger123 said:

Unfortunately we have to announce our fist substitution of the event.  And interestingly enough, a football player will be stepping in and is excited to step up and pull double duty.  Joshua Strayer of Great Crossing will be taking Lane Kiser's spot at 190.

Oh no what happened to Kiser. I was hoping to see him at 190. Strayer is a great kid so congrats to him though. 
 

You have to have this during football season every state I know does this during football season. You would Not have anyone able to do it if you wait till wrestling season except small teams without full line ups. The rest of us have to get matches for the whole team. 
 

Also timing is good. A week before super 32. Now it would be nice if we get more kids doing national events. 

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3 minutes ago, WVhighlander said:

Oh no what happened to Kiser. I was hoping to see him at 190. Strayer is a great kid so congrats to him though. 
 

You have to have this during football season every state I know does this during football season. You would Not have anyone able to do it if you wait till wrestling season except small teams without full line ups. The rest of us have to get matches for the whole team. 
 

Also timing is good. A week before super 32. Now it would be nice if we get more kids doing national events. 

I won't share any personal information about Kiser, but nothing major.  Just needs to address it before the season.

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Ranger, from a parent who has a kid competing in this event, thank you.  We look forward to your rankings during the season and appreciate all of your hard work and energy.

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