Posted by Wrestler on 1/11/2009, 8:17 pm
Here is one man’s opinion
Do
1. Do e-mail your case to Dave. Don’t just scream anonymously on the board. Tell him which of the other ranked kids your kid has beaten.
2. Do be sure to list what event they wrestled at, date, location, and what the score was.
3. Do list any major tournament placings such as State, Tri-State, Pac Coast, Battleground, Fargo, etc., but keep in mind, there is nothing like head to head wins.
4. Do be honest about your losses to the same person. Don’t say that Bobby beat Billy twice, and fail to mention that Billy beat Bobby 8 times. That will be found out, and then you will have no credibility.
5. Do get your coach to take you to at least one or two major tournaments. That is where you can prove yourself against the best. If that is not possible, you can still do freestyle and make your own tough schedule.
6. Do always remember that these rankers are all doing this for free and on their own time. They don’t have it in for your kid or you. They are just trying to pick 10 top kids in each weight out of a few hundred schools.
Don’ts
1. Don’t tell them how hard your little champ works, and how he really deserves it. The rankers are pretty analytical about wins and losses.
2. Don’t insult the rankers if they don’t put Bobby as high as you would like. It won’t help, and may put YOU on a watch list, and not a good one.
3. Don’t think because Bobby won the Cashmere Invitational or the Seattle Stomp that he should get ranked. There were 182 tournaments listed last year on the Wrestling Report (not counting all of the post season freestyle that is on Track Wrestling). Do the math. You need to beat some ranked wrestlers or have an incredible series of tournament wins against other decent guys.
4. And finally, Don’t get too caught up in it. Look at these as just someone’s opinion and remember that if your kid never shows up on any ranking list, but wins State, that is all anyone will remember. Conversely, if your kid is ranked first all year, and bombs in the post season, nobody is going to want to hear your “ranked highly story” the rest of your life.
Enjoy yourself. It will all be over too soon.