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[quote="citygirl86";p="117202"]And just because there are only 15-20 kids at Hyndman doesn't mean anything either, do you realize there was an Everett tournament too the same day, and some of the elementary kids from Bedford don't even go to tournaments around here they go to other ones away for better competition. I am sorry but all this you are saying is just people trying to make up excuse to keep this winning thing with Ridge going. Ok Ridge won Bedford is over it, and has been over it. But this is about Jr. High not the Varsity, and to be truthful Bedford could have won by a bigger margin in the Jr. High match, but the Coach didn't want to knock out a couple of kids from the line to insure that, he kept the line up and felt good about not knocking out a couple of kids and still won. And that made the victory even sweeter, because he had confidence that a couple of the wrestles could come back and win over some wrestlers that they lost to at the Bedford Tournament, and he was right.[/quote]

Yes, I am well aware there were 2 tourny's that same day. I'm also aware that some Bedford kids go to other tourny's and belong to matt clubs. In fact, at some tourny's, you'll see some Bedford kids not list themselves as a Bedford wrestler but as a matt club wrestler. That's great for team unity, don't you think?

I also go to many other tourny's in the area and I can tell you, it's not just tourny's where there are multiple one's the same day. Tussey, NBC, Ridge all had tourny's recently. Are that many going off to other tourny's out of the area?

Look, I'm not trying to bash Bedford wrestling here. I'm asking a legit question, and one that many other folks who go to these tourny's are asking. Where are all the Bedford kids?

In each grade, I think it's fair to estimate that no more than 20-30% of the kids from elementary will go out for varsity. That's not based on a scientific study or anything like that, just a guess. Maybe I'm wrong. But if that is about accurate, the numbers for Bedford kids in the coming years is going to be very, very low.

But like Ham said and like I tried to say, but your closed mind only read what you wanted to. Success at Jr. High doesn't always equate to success at varsity. I said it in the 1st paragraph I wrote.

Dr. Funk...we are not talking about the varsity here. We are talking about the Jr. High, right? Isn't this the Jr. High section??? And I do think that Bedford Jr. High is decent and I think they are showing that. I for one on here have shown my discourage about the varsity I believe. And I am getting tired of doing well in Jr. High and moving up and having problems with the team, it is something I think the school district needs to think about some ot the decisions on who are coaches and if they are helping the program. And for D-Nice, we don't ever want to go to smaller schools. We want to keep the tradition of our wrestling program going, and that doesn't mean changing who we wrestle, we are not scared to wrestle schools, we can take a loss and not leave a division. We as a program know we have things to work on, and I dont think any team ever thinks they can't improve in some way, no team is perfect.

Lion-Pride- I am curious to why you think I am close minded? All I am trying to say is I don't know how anyone can know how a team will br from Elementary? There are alot of good kids that wrestle that don't even start until Jr. High or even Varsity. Take Zack Hart from NBC, he hasn't been wrestling for very long and I feel he has developed extremely well. Same way with Dusty Ziegler who graduated from Bedford, he did wrestle till late and I think he was a state runner-up. And Josk McDannell I don't know for sure but I don't think he has been wrestling real long and he is having an extraordinary year. Just trying to make a point. I think it totally matters what kind of Varsity program a school has.

[quote="citygirl86";p="117235"]Lion-Pride- I am curious to why you think I am close minded? All I am trying to say is I don't know how anyone can know how a team will br from Elementary? There are alot of good kids that wrestle that don't even start until Jr. High or even Varsity. Take Zack Hart from NBC, he hasn't been wrestling for very long and I feel he has developed extremely well. Same way with Dusty Ziegler who graduated from Bedford, he did wrestle till late and I think he was a state runner-up. And Josk McDannell I don't know for sure but I don't think he has been wrestling real long and he is having an extraordinary year. Just trying to make a point. I think it totally matters what kind of Varsity program a school has.[/quote]

I agree that kids can come in, after not wrestling young, and be good. That happens less frequently than if the kid wrestled longer, but it does happen. I'm not disputing that.

Look at it like this. If my % of kids that wrestle elementary on through into varsity is anywhere near close, if you have 50 kids (and we had well over 80 kids sign up), ages 7-12, that's on average 10 kids per grade. Factor in the % that will wrestle in varsity, that's 2 or 3 kids per grade.

I don't go to Bedford practices, so I have no idea how many kids wrestle at practice. But let's say it's 30 kids, ages 7-12, that's on average 6 kids per grade. Now factor in the %, it's down to 1 or 2 kids per grade.

Now, I say your closed minded because you can sit there with your blinders on and say that numbers don't matter and Bedford will bring out the best and yada yada yada - but if you don't have an effective feeder system in place, the program as a whole is going to suffer down the road. Just ask some of the coaches from Everett. Bedford is always going to have their great wrestlers, but can a couple of great wrestlers carry a TEAM to a lot of victories - just ask Hyndman.

And finally - you should be prepared to take a hit when you call someone's comments stupid.

I can take a hit just fine, and Bedford Elementary had about 75 kids sign up, there are alot whose parents aren't really taking them to tournaments yet and for what reason I am not sure but they are just practicing. We had some problems early on with the location of practice moving to our elementary school and that caused some friction with coaches and school administration.
Also I never said that Bedford would bring out the best! I don't know where you got that from. In fact, I said I am tired of having a good Jr. High team and then having things not go so good in varstiy. And I do agree that not only a few good wrestlers can carry a team. So take a chill.

Wow, some real Bedford Bashing going on in here! I think people just want them to lose so bad that look for any reasoning behind it. I am not from Bedford, but you have to admit they have a good tradition in the past and not every school can be on the winning end of things for that many years. I hope the program can get things straightened out. Good luck to all the schools.

Lion Pride:

You are right.The way it looks bedfords going down :!:

citygirl86:

You were right when you said you don't need an army. BUT you do need a full team or the forfeits will kill you. You arent going to get a full team of late starters.maybe a couple,but not a team.

[quote="Sports Fan 203";p="125432"]Lion Pride:

You are right.The way it looks bedfords going down :!:[/quote]

This is an older topic, so I had to read a little to get caught up.

I don't believe I ever said Bedford is "going down". What my point was is that it's a shame we don't see more Bedford kids at tournaments. What are their numbers going to look like in high school? That's a big question for me, and others I've talked to at these tournaments.

Bedford is always going to have a good wrestling program, no question. And they will compete with (if not out-compete), every school in the county. But I do hope they continue to get the wrestlers out for high school. Obviously, I want CR (and a few other schools) to win against them in high school, but no one that is a true competitor wants to beat them through forfeits. I hope that's not what is in store down the road.

Bedford jr. is not as good as everyone thinks they are, they have what 3 loses this year and rigde is back on top. losing none this year.