My D1 Preseason Team Rankings

[aspan43]

Neither of them could beat Pewaukee in conference by themselves so they made up a sob story about low numbers to justify a co-op. 

[determined]

A number of Whitnall kids didn't come back. One of best Greendale kids didn't come out this year either.

[aarons23]

Many teams loose kids every year.....doesn't mean they need to coop....with your losses you still fielded a varsity, varsity reserve and a JV......according to track you have 46 wrestlers......most teams in WIAA have less than thirty......sure seems an inappropriate use of a coop.

[DocWrestling]

Can co-ops occur between any two schools that agree or does the WIAA have to approve?  I could see more schools going this route to share expenses.  Almost creating wrestling schools.

[Fan1]

Very sad it has come to this in Division 1 but it is obviously easier for an always competitive team like Whitnall to take that next step adding so many talented Greendale wrestlers to its lineup.  This is a slippery slope I fear as the WIAA requirements for a co-op seem to be more concerned with a board approval (I guess it is all about who you know) and not how many wrestlers the co-op will have.  How long until we see more schools taking advantage of this just trying to build super teams or trying to find cost savings by having two school districts pay for "one team". 

The WIAA should take a hard look at those requirements in my opinion before this gets out of control. 

[Ghetto]

Preface: I am in no way defending the co-op between Greendale and Whitnall. I've gone on record with their AD with my disapproval.

Whitnall body fats its powerlifters because of a weight cutting issue that team had in the past. Their numbers are inflated if you look at that.

The co-op reserve team scored like 15 points at the Nicolet Invite, which was a scramble.

Which Greendale kid didn't go out?

[boowrestle]

Div1 size schools thinking that they need to co-op ???something dont seem right here??

[aggressive]

And a mix of those reserves, some jv and some varsity is what each team would look like. they would have the same challenges as every other program and they would have to develop average wrestlers. What is being taught to kids on a team like this? Find a way around the rules. Do some shady deal so your only as strong as your strongest link

[mike]

As usual Whitnall would have ben a strong program this year but would have been few good wrestlers short of winning a conference title or making it to team state.  With the addition of Greendale they could "accomplish" both.  As they celebrate these possible "accomplishments" they will know they killed Greendale wrestling and will never know if they could have done it themselves.  Sad

[buc65]

Preface: I am in no way defending the co-op between Greendale and Whitnall. I've gone on record with their AD with my disapproval.

Whitnall body fats its powerlifters because of a weight cutting issue that team had in the past. Their numbers are inflated if you look at that.

The co-op reserve team scored like 15 points at the Nicolet Invite, which was a scramble.

Which Greendale kid didn't go out?

Kennedy Steinberg - 3rd place at sectionals last year

[aspan43]

As usual Whitnall would have ben a strong program this year but would have been few good wrestlers short of winning a conference title or making it to team state.  With the addition of Greendale they could "accomplish" both.  As they celebrate these possible "accomplishments" they will know they killed Greendale wrestling and will never know if they could have done it themselves.  Sad

If they do win it, it won't be them I'll be sad for.  I'll be sad for the 2nd place team that would have won it legit.

[mike]

http://www.whitwrestle.com/?p=316

Congrats

[Dizzy]

Okay enough of the Whitnall bashing. The Greendale coach approached Whitnall at the end of last year about the possibility of a co-op. He said whatever he was doing didn't seem to be working because their numbers were dropping rapidly and they were down to 8 kids. His biggest concern was that he had only 1 freshmen and 1 sophomore and only 2 8th graders at the middle school. He was afraid the program would possibly drop in another year. He said it was also hard on some kids that only had 1 kid within 30 pounds of them to practice with. We said we would try to help restore a fine wrestling tradition at Greendale. After the co=op was approved we worked very hard at trying to build up their numbers and welcome them in with work over the Summer and in the Fall. We tried contacting middle school kids to come out and I am very glad that currently there are 13-14 high school kids out.
Co=ops are set up as 2 year contracts. The goal is to try to get their numbers back up to 20 and then they can go back on their own at their own school. We are having a home meet at Greendale, having it be middle school night and introduce their middle school team.  We have invited Greendale alum and former 2 time Olympian Jim Gruenwald back for the meet to do the coin toss and talk to the teams. Hopefully having some success and having these events along with getting kids plenty of opportunities to wrestle will bring the numbers back up.
No, we were not totally stupid and knew they had some talent knowing that adding 6 seniors to the team would help the line-up, but getting some wins this year would also help in recruiting for the future before they drop down to 2-3 kids and the co-op last forever. There are some growing pains but so far the kids have meshed well, are hanging together outside the room, and I think it has been good for the kids and for the sport. Unfortunately, a sectional place winner chose not to come out but I think we have talked some into coming out that would not have otherwise.
The rules don't say one team has to suck or that you can only have 3-4 guys from one school participate. How can they go back on their own unless we try to get their numbers up, have fun and wrestle plenty of matches? That's the only way I can think of to end a successful co-op. But thinking that adding 3 sectional qualifiers to your line-up is going to automatically advance you to team state ahead of programs like Pewaukee, Mukwonago, West Allis Central, etc. is pretty ridiculous

I don't think it is sad at all, I think it is good for the sport. IMO

[aarons23]

How many wrestlers are currently from Greendale?

[mike]

Okay enough of the Whitnall bashing. The Greendale coach approached Whitnall at the end of last year about the possibility of a co-op. He said whatever he was doing didn't seem to be working because their numbers were dropping rapidly and they were down to 8 kids. His biggest concern was that he had only 1 freshmen and 1 sophomore and only 2 8th graders at the middle school. He was afraid the program would possibly drop in another year. He said it was also hard on some kids that only had 1 kid within 30 pounds of them to practice with. We said we would try to help restore a fine wrestling tradition at Greendale. After the co=op was approved we worked very hard at trying to build up their numbers and welcome them in with work over the Summer and in the Fall. We tried contacting middle school kids to come out and I am very glad that currently there are 13-14 high school kids out.
Co=ops are set up as 2 year contracts. The goal is to try to get their numbers back up to 20 and then they can go back on their own at their own school. We are having a home meet at Greendale, having it be middle school night and introduce their middle school team.  We have invited Greendale alum and former 2 time Olympian Jim Gruenwald back for the meet to do the coin toss and talk to the teams. Hopefully having some success and having these events along with getting kids plenty of opportunities to wrestle will bring the numbers back up.
No, we were not totally stupid and knew they had some talent knowing that adding 6 seniors to the team would help the line-up, but getting some wins this year would also help in recruiting for the future before they drop down to 2-3 kids and the co-op last forever. There are some growing pains but so far the kids have meshed well, are hanging together outside the room, and I think it has been good for the kids and for the sport. Unfortunately, a sectional place winner chose not to come out but I think we have talked some into coming out that would not have otherwise.
The rules don't say one team has to suck or that you can only have 3-4 guys from one school participate. How can they go back on their own unless we try to get their numbers up, have fun and wrestle plenty of matches? That's the only way I can think of to end a successful co-op. But thinking that adding 3 sectional qualifiers to your line-up is going to automatically advance you to team state ahead of programs like Pewaukee, Mukwonago, West Allis Central, etc. is pretty ridiculous

I don't think it is sad at all, I think it is good for the sport. IMO

why wasn't greenfield approached as they are closer and have smaller numbers?  A very fair question