I think we can all agree this was a crazy exciting and eventful state tournament! What was biggest upset?

145 #24 Jaquez Avery over #6 Zach Richerson?

285 #21 Andre Williams over #3 Raynel Brown? (Williams also knocked off #5 Lamichael Johnson)

Or would you go with something closer in rankings but more significant such as:

145 #9 Geordan Blanton over #3 Max Andreoni

Derrick Smallwood (NHAR 145) gets the iron man award. He lost in the first round and won 7 straight in conso's today take 3rd!

Derrick Smallwood (NHAR 145) gets the iron man award. He lost in the first round and won 7 straight in conso's today take 3rd!

If you make states next year singlet elimination he might win it.  Guess he likes the pressure.

The 145 match was awful. Blanton stalled the whole match.

Derrick Smallwood (NHAR 145) gets the iron man award. He lost in the first round and won 7 straight in conso's today take 3rd!

To win 7 matches in a row is a tough task..to do it as a freshman, and beat the quality kids he beat even tougher! My hat goes off to Smallwood! 

That is a horrible thing to say.  Blanton deserves all the credit in the world for what he did.  He wrestled his butt off.  Not to mention, you could say the same thing about Andreoni in the semis match.

Don't get me wrong I didn't have a problem with the way Andreoni wrestled in the semis but I heard a lot of people saying the same thing about him.

Heidorf taking 5th.

Well pinandwin did I see the semi....Nope. Did I see the finals. ...yep. So I can only comment I what I seen and Blanton stalled.

Blanton won. Kudos to blanton.

Blanton won the match fair and square. He had a couple clear takedowns not awarded, and definitely did more than Andreoni to deserve the win. I would hate to see a kid win a state title with an escape and three stalling points and I doubt the officials were ever gonna let it play out that way.

johnson central stalled.  this isn't even debatable. he was hit 3 times and it could've been more.  BUT he got a lead with a TD and milked it.  Max needed to score on offense and he didn't. That's why he lost.  He will be back in the finals.

Derrick Smallwood (NHAR 145) gets the iron man award. He lost in the first round and won 7 straight in conso's today take 3rd!

Great Job Derrick Smallwood

Blanton wrestled well, then backpedaled for the last 60 seconds. I agree there were takedowns that he should have been awarded but wasn't. It's easy to criticize a kid for stalling when he's close to achieving what has probably been his goal for around a decade. Not many of us have been in that situation so opinions would really be best kept to ourselves. Congrats to both Blanton and Andreoni. Andreoni will likely be back in the finals next year.

Maybe not the Ironman award but the kid who was most impressive to me wasn't even a champion but Brandon Leak was absolutely ON FIRE. What an insane first day of wrestling knocking off the #2 then #3 kid in the state in back to back matches! Then following it up by winning almost all the way out with a 1 pt loss in the finals.

Blanton looked impressive to me and I am an Andreoni fan for sure you win how you can and he showed some offense in my opinion not saying he didn't stall or he did Andreoni and Heidorf match may have been the most exciting of the tournament , except for Austins 9 second pin lol

Austin Myers getting dinged for stalling in the finals was a bit of an upset... Just saying. 

YEAH I AGREE I WAS PRETTY UPSET MYSELF LOL Austin didn't mind to much when most kids would have asked the ref wth are you talking about he simply understood that he knows ten x more than the ref and trapping a kids arm between your legs and making almost 0 attempt to improve position from bottom or even having your feet in the Mat and turtling up is stalling and the one time he did try to stand up he got lifted back to the Mat non the less some people did their homework and studied back up from the whistle to avoid tying up or getting shot "stalling " and go down quick and bundle up and go as far as locking your legs together to trap an arm on bottom , have to say that put a new twist on stalling .

In a normal match Austin would have tried a lot more tilts I think but I think they were looking for a Def pin or self inflicted pin and that wasn't worth risking .Just another thought Austin went from first match his fresh yr to the last his sr without giving up a reversal or any back points whatsoever .He never saw the lights once he has the cleanest back in KY high school history lol

IROQUOIS KID WAS MY KIND OF ATHLETE BIG STRONG AND LOOKs LIKE HE LIFTS AND TRAINs HARD WHEN HE ADDS SOME OFFENSE AND LEARNS SOME MORE WRESTLING HE WILL BE VERY GOOD INDEED , feel sorry for kids in a way but it's wrestling he's a big soph wrestling a SR legend and a few Yrs ago Austin was a fresh wrestling a SR returning champ , but win or be pinned you have to come out to win not survive , not going to discuss much anymore because Austin is a terror and you can't blame kids for trying to survive although I wouldn't coach it or stress it as a dad .

I'll agree that Blanton was stalling in the finals but Max, who I love and is a great kid, didn't do enough to show the ref other than push.  If you want those calls then you have to go get them.

Blanton did what he had to do to win.  He scored off a great counter in the 1st period and nearly had two other takedowns. The ankle pick called out of bounds in the 1st period and the pancake in the 3rd, also ruled out of bounds, should have been awarded 2 points.  I think that most can agree that these should have been takedowns.  Regardless, Blanton did attempt to, and ultimately succeeded in, milking a 3 point lead.  Andreoni did little in the match to show that he was the aggressor and scored only on escapes and points awarded to him through stalling calls.  Blanton was lucky that he wasn't hit more for stalling again in the closing seconds of the match but Andreoni did next to nothing offensively to win. Both are young, talented, and will likely meet up again in the future.  Great job, and congrats to both wrestlers on a successful season.

Cagen wallace placing 5th at 106-Bender had a bad call at the end of his match- ref blew it

YEAH I AGREE I WAS PRETTY UPSET MYSELF LOL Austin didn't mind to much when most kids would have asked the ref wth are you talking about he simply understood that he knows ten x more than the ref and trapping a kids arm between your legs and making almost 0 attempt to improve position from bottom or even having your feet in the Mat and turtling up is stalling and the one time he did try to stand up he got lifted back to the Mat non the less some people did their homework and studied back up from the whistle to avoid tying up or getting shot "stalling " and go down quick and bundle up and go as far as locking your legs together to trap an arm on bottom , have to say that put a new twist on stalling .

In a normal match Austin would have tried a lot more tilts I think but I think they were looking for a Def pin or self inflicted pin and that wasn't worth risking .Just another thought Austin went from first match his fresh yr to the last his sr without giving up a reversal or any back points whatsoever .He never saw the lights once he has the cleanest back in KY high school history lol

IROQUOIS KID WAS MY KIND OF ATHLETE BIG STRONG AND LOOKs LIKE HE LIFTS AND TRAINs HARD WHEN HE ADDS SOME OFFENSE AND LEARNS SOME MORE WRESTLING HE WILL BE VERY GOOD INDEED , feel sorry for kids in a way but it's wrestling he's a big soph wrestling a SR legend and a few Yrs ago Austin was a fresh wrestling a SR returning champ , but win or be pinned you have to come out to win not survive , not going to discuss much anymore because Austin is a terror and you can't blame kids for trying to survive although I wouldn't coach it or stress it as a dad .

I saw a a couple shots or fakes ,Austins re shot was pretty nasty .

Surprised no one actually brought up the Iroquois kid as a shocker I never heard of him but he is Austins friend on FB Austin said the kid trains hard , Congrats to him .

Let's stir the pot... Did anyone see the second round 120# match between Storck and Martinson? Martinson illegally slams Storck on his head/neck and took the wind out of Storck's sails. Storck tells his coach he doesn't want to continue but coach tells him he doesn't want to win by laying down. Laying down? Anyone here other than me ever had a concussion? Although some kid with a duffle bag and a few rolls of tape cleared him to wrestle, every coach needs to be more concerned with the safety and well being of his wrestlers. If Storck doesn't proceed he wins and then most likely loses to Sheffer and becomes Henry Clay's first freshman to place top eight in 15 years. But no. His coach put him back on the mat shell- shocked to say the least. The ref doesn't call an escape of Storck's and instead of winning 5-4 he loses 6-4 in overtime. Then his next match he tells the coach he's dizzy before stepping on the mat but he dismisses it and puts him out there anyways. Storck can hardly see and barely wrestle. He gets pinned. The FIRST time this season he gets pinned. That should say a lot right there. A 5th place finish at the Raider Rumble and a 3rd place finish at the Dragon and runner up in his region, all that hard work, determination, and the goal of placing at state, all down the tubes because a coach's ego got put in front of his wrestler's welfare. What if it was your kid? You know, the one that practices 6 days a week and sacrifices friends for wrestling and food to make weight. Yeah, I'm sure most of you have an opinion. And we all know those are like camaros (lol, or used to be) but what if it was your kid under these circumstances? It's really bothering both of us but we'll call it a learning curve. This is enough fuel to make him a champ next year maybe even a 3X champ. It's still a pretty disgusting way to end a great freshman season.

That said, congratulations to Brandon Miller. He will be considered the first freshman to place at state for Henry Clay in 15 years and worked pretty hard to get there!

Also, congratulations Zane Brown! He's a tough kid and definitely one to watch.

Angel Vasquez, couldn't think of a better kid to win at 138.

Blanton has the sickest throws I've ever seen and a smart wrestler. I'm tired of hearing about stalling. Every wrestler stalls at some point or another. It's part of it... I'm not saying he did nor am I saying Max did. I would have liked to have seen a little more wrestling from both of them and that's for sure.

Post season begins Sunday. Good luck and happy training, Wrestlers!

Never mind...

I did speak to Headley and Critchfield face to face. This is the same coach that put our 145# kid back on the mat after being thrown (legal move) by Blanton this season that almost knocked him out. And I'll add that this wrestler went to the locker room after the match, fell asleep, and woke up remembering nothing. Spent the evening in the ER with a concussion. But you're missing the point completely. Have you ever wrestled after being slammed on your head? I haven't. But I didn't wrestle but did get a concussion playing football. And thank God for deep benches!

Was there another match during the tournament where a kid took a W from an illegal slam, etc? Just wondering. And it's not laying down to get a win... It's a kid who can't figure out what to do with kid in front of him so he resorts to illegal slams, locking hands, pulling head guards, illegal chokes out of the refs view... all those things we see all the time.

Can't comment on illegal slam or do you force a kid to get up and wrestle etc. I can just say if I felt my child is at danger due to what you described as a coach's ego then my child would no longer be wrestling for said coach.

I thought Blanton wrestled awesome ...i thought kohl Dodd wrestled amazing to win the 195s. meiman did his thing and wrestled his style to win his 2nd title. Frank rone is a beast and Atm put on a show with the kick outs and take downs just shows how dominant he really is

Hope you all watched his last high school match . He's a once in a lifetime kind of wrestler.

385, I know. And you're right. It's bothering me and my son even more. I really like Critchfield and Headley. And maybe they got caught up in the moment. It was ironic because I've had this conversation with my son about illegal slams particularly. Call me a wimp but in that State Tournament situation, I really think he would have fared better had he stopped. We know our kids are tough or they'd be playing basketball, right? Lol. There's no doubt he was seeing stars.

We want our kids to do their best and when we see them suffer from an injustice we get mad. I'm guilty of it. I'm glad that I can share this on this forum though because it's played out in my head a million times since Tuesday night and there's some freedom in writing this.

Cagen wallace placing 5th at 106-Bender had a bad call at the end of his match- ref blew it

385, I know. And you're right. It's bothering me and my son even more. I really like Critchfield and Headley. And maybe they got caught up in the moment. It was ironic because I've had this conversation with my son about illegal slams particularly. Call me a wimp but in that State Tournament situation, I really think he would have fared better had he stopped. We know our kids are tough or they'd be playing basketball, right? Lol. There's no doubt he was seeing stars.

We want our kids to do their best and when we see them suffer from an injustice we get mad. I'm guilty of it. I'm glad that I can share this on this forum though because it's played out in my head a million times since Tuesday night and there's some freedom in writing this.

I understand. It is a difficult spot for the coach to be in as well. But if the kids hurt you have to listen to what he's telling you. Hope he's feeling better today.

YEAH I AGREE I WAS PRETTY UPSET MYSELF LOL Austin didn't mind to much when most kids would have asked the ref wth are you talking about he simply understood that he knows ten x more than the ref and trapping a kids arm between your legs and making almost 0 attempt to improve position from bottom or even having your feet in the Mat and turtling up is stalling and the one time he did try to stand up he got lifted back to the Mat non the less some people did their homework and studied back up from the whistle to avoid tying up or getting shot "stalling " and go down quick and bundle up and go as far as locking your legs together to trap an arm on bottom , have to say that put a new twist on stalling .

In a normal match Austin would have tried a lot more tilts I think but I think they were looking for a Def pin or self inflicted pin and that wasn't worth risking .Just another thought Austin went from first match his fresh yr to the last his sr without giving up a reversal or any back points whatsoever .He never saw the lights once he has the cleanest back in KY high school history lol

IROQUOIS KID WAS MY KIND OF ATHLETE BIG STRONG AND LOOKs LIKE HE LIFTS AND TRAINs HARD WHEN HE ADDS SOME OFFENSE AND LEARNS SOME MORE WRESTLING HE WILL BE VERY GOOD INDEED , feel sorry for kids in a way but it's wrestling he's a big soph wrestling a SR legend and a few Yrs ago Austin was a fresh wrestling a SR returning champ , but win or be pinned you have to come out to win not survive , not going to discuss much anymore because Austin is a terror and you can't blame kids for trying to survive although I wouldn't coach it or stress it as a dad .

I thought it sad that the kid didn't even try to win. even if your out gunned at least you can say "I gave it my best shot"

  The only time I could see this tactic being applied is in a dual meet with the team victory in the balance.

That Brandon Reed of Iroquois has improved tremendously in the 220 class. He was just learning last year and he finished third in the Tournament of Champions this year, I think.

He is going to be very good if he keeps it up.

He was strong and in shape but had little offense and stalled like I have never seen in my life .That said he can be a beast with some work and he seems to have great desire and is a good kid .Saw some pretty shady 220 wrestling Goin on it will be interesting next yr .

Personally I'm impressed with Iroquois having a finalist. Of course there was some luck in the draw, but Brandon is a great kid who works hard. And there are only 4 people on earth that can say they wrestled ATM for a state championship, none of which can say they scored much offense. And with a kid that seemingly gets better each time he steps on the mat as of now Brandon Reed wrestled the best ATM that has ever wrestled. I can't knock the kid one bit really. I agree I wish he would have wrestled to win and not stalled out so much, but he should be proud of himself for making it there, and really honored to have been the other man in ATM last high school match ever.

I see him winning before he's done .And I would be very proud of him myself if he were my boy.

Did ATM wrestle patiently with Reed, or is it just that hard to do something in a match when the opponent is that conservative? Reed seemed to hold his own with his game plan by not getting rolled. Did ATM take what was given and tried to savor his last match or is it that hard to wrestle an opponent when a match goes that way?

Austin had a lot of offense probably could have kicked a bunch early as he did late scoring a few x quick thing is Reed stalled on bottom even trapping Austins leg and arm with his own legs something that shocked me when the ref let it go Austin already had 2 points for stalling more would have went into 2s.

He tried no tilts whatsoever as he was worried about a defensive pins that his coaches and others thought the refs were looking for when he ran so many in his 16_0 zip tech over Chandler .

Reed never advanced the only step Austin took back was to center and even then Reed was very slow to get up and engage another surprise , have to say it was a bit of a strange match calling Austin for stalling was very weird not sure why the ref didn't do anything about Reed laying on the mat with the bottom of his shoes towards the sky and continuously trying to trap Austins arm and leg , not blasting the kid I know Austin is a beast but that's not wrestling I'm sorry .

Captain America, what was your take on the Bender/Yenter semifinals match?

I WAS AT THE OTHER END OF THE Arena watching Both Yenter and Wells .

Since you ask I will be myself and give a truthful take on the subject .

I WAS WATCHING WELLS AND Hurst having seen Yenter beat Binder once already I figured he was in good shape .I had spent time talking to Binder at the Capitol classic he impressed me and I talked training with him and his coaches .I know a bit about the subject I am very limited in movement and have been for many years and I train still and have and I have worked with many people with disabilities .

ANY WHO I WAS WATCHING WELLS AND Hurst wells having been going to open mats with me and Austin some at Moeller and Prodigy and watching him impress the people in Ohio .His match was a bit tighter or at least expected to be Hurst a state champ and all but it was not Wells stepped up and did work .I kept looking way down and seeing Yenter sprawled out and in trouble earlier with Binders great tilts but from what I gather Binder locked hands a couple times and had a caution so he gave up 2 and two on multiple violations .that's that or at least what I was told .

I understand people are sensitive and have big hearts I do to and everyone booed that's fine later I found out that when Yenters mom walked up the steps people thrust their heads out and booed her , taking her to tears .Wish I would have been walking beside her so I could have knocked out some people's teeth by thrusting my head into their crap faces .She is a kind and gentle lady undeserving of trash heckling her over her son's wrestling match .Luckily I was not there I would have hated missing Austin win his four and take his place on the Pantheon of wrestling God's lol .

TANNER WORKS HARD WRESTLES ALL YEAR like Austin and Wells .those three are Real wrestlers wrestlers like a handful of others in the state .Perhaps if I would have seen the match close I would have had a real thought about it , locking hands is locking hands doesn't matter if you have one leg or two .My grandfather had one arm his whole life and half of one foot and my own arm only moves a little over 20degrees at the elbow pretty much the same for my shoulders I would do anything for anyone who asked and help anyone but rules are rules regardless of handicap .

Congrats to Mieman Myers and Johnson. All repeat title winners from NKY. When was last HWT to win back to back?

Chris Floyd (Wayne co) 98 and 99

Think Austin and a wrestler from Connor won 4 from NKY.

A look into reality is that if Johnson put as much effort into wrestling as he does football over the years he would probably have ended up at an even bigger school as a hvy with some muscle put on .Just my thoughts on him he's a good kid it seems like and knows some wrestling for sure.

How upsetting seeing a kid that could have taken top 5 lose 2 rounds before placing. Castellano should not have lost. The way he acted afterward was crazy never seen him do that since last year..