Poeta says Illinois kids are better than Wisconsin kids.

[imnofish]

Having wrestled in Illinois during childhood, I am well-aware of the long-term production of great wrestlers in that state.  For a long time, most of the best Illinois kids were wrestling for colleges in other states.  Without a strong college team in Illinois to showcase their talents, the strength of their scholastic programs were flying under the radar, for the most part.  Even with this strong tradition and the large number of students in the state, Illinois high school wrestling programs are struggling with some of the same issues as other states....   a decrease in the participation of "average" wrestlers, lower numbers, burnout of youth wrestlers, etc.

[imnofish]

Division I All Americans - 1928-2011 First number is # of individuals, second number is total # of All Americans.  It's amazing how dominant Pennsylvania is. 

Pennsylvania 368 602
Oklahoma 294 531
Iowa 258 463
Ohio 189 326
Illinois 179 312
California 156 247
New York 154 240
New Jersey 142 242
Michigan 118 207
Minnesota 94 151
Oregon 76 129
Colorado 59 88
Wisconsin 52 86

Pennsylvania has 4 times the population of OK and IA, so really those two states are the most impressive in my opinion.

Lots of Iowa college wrestlers are not products of their high schools.  Many of the best Illinois kids have wrestled in Iowa and some have even gone to Oklahoma. 

[imnofish]

Lots of Iowa college wrestlers are not products of their high schools.  Many of the best Illinois kids have wrestled in Iowa and some have even gone to Oklahoma. 

That list though only counts high school location, not college location.

Okay, thanks.  I missed that.   

[imnofish]

Ill. may currently have better statistics than our schoolboy, cadet and junior teams but I do believe coach Kluever, the national team coaches and the WWF is moving our national teams in the right direction! We brought 2 schoolboy/girl teams to IN. (previously only one team went) and a great group of young men/women to Fargo who represented our state well. Hopefully the wrestlers can continue to build on the previous year results.

Great to hear!  Statistics provide evidence of past successes, but they don't limit future potential.  Sounds like our guys are focused on building a more competitive future for Wisconsin wrestling.

[whatever]

There's no question that the WWF and the coaches involved have done a great job and this has led to much more success for Wisconsin wrestlers on the national scene.

That being said, there's no question that Illinois still is known for turning out more quality college recruits than WI.

I found it interesting that when asked about PA's dominance at the D1's over a long period of time, a long time coach there (can't remember who it was) but he mentioned there were quite a few D1 programs in PA.  Heck, how many are there? - 8??? The large number of D1 wrestlers coming out of PA colleges were in turn coaching at PA high schools resulting in PA wrestlers getting much better coaching/instruction across the state.

Makes sense when you stop and realize WI has one D1 program.....

[npope]

I wouldn't doubt at all that Askren asked Poeta for some sort of "poster board material" just to get things going.

[bigG]

Ben looks slow because he never sacrifices position. Shoots in great position, finishes in great position, defends in great position, and never seems to tire. Funk is what puts him over the top.

Many guys look quick as cats because they shoot fast; but with their heads down and their hips behind.

Poeta will look bad. Not a good time to talk trash.

Ill. is a much bigger state, bigger talent pool. I say we beat 'em in a war, though.

Poeta's pretty good; but we'll see if it's smack or just good-natured babble.

[MajaC]

"Buc65"   you listed about the cadet & junior nats results & compared the 2.  I just wanna add that Illinois had 68 cadets wrestling Greco & they had 17 all Americans which comes out to be a 1/4 of their team as all Americans, team Wisconsin had only 26 kids & 9 all Americans which is better than a 1/3 of our team earning all american status,  Illinois had 42 more kids & only 8 more all Americans, we got more out of our kids then Illinois did, watch out team Wisconsin is on the rise, hopefully we will show u that at Agon lll

[imnofish]

"Buc65"   you listed about the cadet & junior nats results & compared the 2.  I just wanna add that Illinois had 68 cadets wrestling Greco & they had 17 all Americans which comes out to be a 1/4 of their team as all Americans, team Wisconsin had only 26 kids & 9 all Americans which is better than a 1/3 of our team earning all american status,  Illinois had 42 more kids & only 8 more all Americans, we got more out of our kids then Illinois did, watch out team Wisconsin is on the rise, hopefully we will show u that at Agon lll

+1  Doing more with less!

[beastmode]

"Buc65"   you listed about the cadet & junior nats results & compared the 2.  I just wanna add that Illinois had 68 cadets wrestling Greco & they had 17 all Americans which comes out to be a 1/4 of their team as all Americans, team Wisconsin had only 26 kids & 9 all Americans which is better than a 1/3 of our team earning all american status,  Illinois had 42 more kids & only 8 more all Americans, we got more out of our kids then Illinois did, watch out team Wisconsin is on the rise, hopefully we will show u that at Agon lll

BOOM!

[whatever]

"Buc65"   you listed about the cadet & junior nats results & compared the 2.  I just wanna add that Illinois had 68 cadets wrestling Greco & they had 17 all Americans which comes out to be a 1/4 of their team as all Americans, team Wisconsin had only 26 kids & 9 all Americans which is better than a 1/3 of our team earning all american status,  Illinois had 42 more kids & only 8 more all Americans, we got more out of our kids then Illinois did, watch out team Wisconsin is on the rise, hopefully we will show u that at Agon lll

....and if WI really wanted to show who was better, next time they can just take those 9 wrestlers who were All-Americans and then they can have 100% of their team earn All-American status!!!

That will most certainly prove they are the best team in the country!

NOT.

[OneEyedFatMan]

+ 100

Poeta can't finish that low ankle on Ben, period.

Ben looks slow because he never sacrifices position. Shoots in great position, finishes in great position, defends in great position, and never seems to tire. Funk is what puts him over the top.

Many guys look quick as cats because they shoot fast; but with their heads down and their hips behind.

Poeta will look bad. Not a good time to talk trash.

Ill. is a much bigger state, bigger talent pool. I say we beat 'em in a war, though.

Poeta's pretty good; but we'll see if it's smack or just good-natured babble.