Here is what they are talking about in Mass. It is interesting stuff. They are taking freestyle pretty seriously and are making great efforts as a state to improve. They have a program to subsidize kids competing nationally and have set a goal of bringing over 50 wrestlers to Fargo. The funny thing is, that we, USAWCT already has a program in place to subsidize our athletes, but not enough kids are aware of it or utilize it. I know CT people are talking about how Mass seemed to clean up at New Englands. Well here is one of the ways they are doing it.
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If there is not enough awareness or even interest from our wrestlers to attend these tournaments regionally or even nationally then where are we dropping the ball as a state? If the oppurtunity exists there should be enough interest from CT to attend these events. And if the assistance exists to get there, then even better. In our state, these two factors are readily available during any month of the year. The only thing missing is a consistent flow of knowledge from the USACT governing authority to our Coaches and in turn to our kids and their parents. Not enough of our kids are aware that these events are out there and yes, USACT does have a program to help you expense the trip (providing that you meet some criteria). Here is this years form explaining that criteria and application.
this state is not serious about wrestling.. and when I say the state I don't meant the competitors and coaches, I mean the people who run the CIAC and referrers. This should be interesting to see what others say.
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On that point, there was recently a Freestyle event IN CONNECTICUT last weekend. At the New Fairfield Freestyle tournament I couldn't help but notice that a large majority of wrestlers were from outside the state (mostly NY). I wasn't disappointed at this in the least because it gave the CT wrestlers that were there an opportunity to go against some new competition. But why, in our own state, are we outnumbered in a tournament almost 2:1.
In talking with one of the event organizers, he noted that this year's wrestler capacity was about 300 which is normal. He went on to mention that last year, NY Wrestling moved their own state championships to the same day as this tournament. NF only received about 100 wrestlers because of this. Granted, New Fairfield is right over the state line from NY and you will see at least NY there. But seriously, 2:1? This is an old tournament (atleast 15 years). There should be enough knowledge floating around of its existence.
BTW, the next Freestyle Tournament in CT will be the Gladiator Freestyle Tournament on April 19. This one is more situated in the middle of the state, will be curious to see the turnout there.
Going forward, there may not be too many CT events to attend but our Eastern and Southern neighbors have plenty of events to choose from. Regionally speaking, CT has little excuse for not being the best Wrestling state in New England. Our accessibility to 3 of the most competitive states in the country is better than any. With NY, PA and NJ within our reach for competition, its hard to understand how any New England state would even be able to compete with us. But they do year in and year out.
NY Tournaments - http://nywrestling.com/
PA Tournaments - http://65.61.23.146/tlyouth.htm
NJ Tournaments - http://www.njwrestlingtournaments.com/
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Well I meant there should be more freestyle tourney's available throughout the state, not just the west. And there should be duals during the week sometime. As far as the New Fairfield tourney, everyone I know would go if it were on a different date then the mawa's.
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As for the MAWAs, the Willimantic event isn't the only MAWA qualifier in the area. There are many in the region and they are spread out over the month of March. Most are now closed to registration but good to know for next year. Keep in mind, the locations may change next year.
Bristol is considering hosting a second freestyle tournament. We are working out the details now with gym availability and volunteer support. We are shooting for Memorial Day weekend. If we think we can draw at least 125 then it will pay for itself, but of course we would like a little profit also to support kids from our club going to Nationals.
Another great opportunity for kids to take advantage of are the CT National Team practices held at Wesleyan. A tentative schedule should be released soon. Last year they were great practices with many of the top kids and coaches. I was at many of them personally and I can tell you for certain that the top high school teams in CT were all represented well at these practices.
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Listen, I'm not trying to put down our state, I want to see us succeed as much as the next guy. But there is something we are not doing to gather our teams together to get to these events. Any suggestions on what we can do different?
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i dunno about that one, war at the shore is a no joke tourney, I went a few years back there were only a handful of us CT kids there, not to mention thats a good 7-8 hour drive...
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Does that imply that CT should only go to joke tourneys? It's actually more like a 4-5 hour drive. Still, a long haul but I hear that the tournament setup alone is amazing not to mention the caliber of wrestling there is at the top. This will be our first year there.
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um this post was basically saying how ct doesnt barely even has freestyle competitors.. Do I think the CT kids should be driving 7-8 hours to a tournament thats one of the biggest of the year.. no not at all. Especially if you barely compete in freestyle tournaments up here. I mean if you have the money to waste I guess go for it. I think the tourney is in Wildwood or it was when I went which is right at the bottom.. I go to Buena NJ once a month which take a good 6 hours, so I still think its at least a 7 hour drive..
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wow I just woke up, that first sentence looks awful.. Should say something like The post was referring to how CT wrestling is weak in the freestyle area compared to other surrounding states.
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I am from a mindset that if you wrestle in the off season with National level competition, you will wrestle at that level in the regular season, and in turn benefit your CT competition to step it up against you. The more kids we have going to these tournaments, the more they will push the others in the regular season to wrestle at that level also. The War is actually a folkstyle event. I mentioned it in this "Freestyle" topic to drive a point that we have not figured something out about what these other states are doing right. I believe the key is in the off season. NY and PA have just as far to travel but they obviously have a system down to get to these events.
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the folksyle tourney and this one are very similar as far as they are ran.. I dunno I dont think people who barely wrestle freestyle up here should go to a stacked tournament like one involving 3 states that are some of the best in the country.. Not a good morale booster. Not a good place to start either but hey its anyones choice
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