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Griffin Ray (Hillsboro, MO) | Trackwrestling Profile
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Three-time state champ and going into junior year, however that works. Tall and thin and probably still growing. He'll need to develop his upper body. He posted a similar message the following day after visiting Maryland.
I saw that bio also, don't think he was a HS state champ. Not sure what he meant by "I am a 3x Missouri USA State Champion" but two sentences later he said "My goal is to become a better wrestler and person today than I was yesterday, Win a State championship in high school". He placed 3rd this past season as a sophomore. And looks like he was 5th as a freshman.
I don’t know how Missouri does it but NJ has a state tournament for 8th grade and younger but it’s unaffiliated with the NJSIAA
NY, FL and other states allow 7th and 8th graders to wrestle varsity. NJ should too.
Disagree. There are so few kids who can compete at the varsity level that young, and the few elites that can are probably going to be multi time state champs anyway. I would think states like NY and Minnesota and to a lesser extent Florida allow it because they’re not a densely populated so filling out a bracket in certain regions may be tougher than NJ.
Thanks for that clarification. Not so exciting after all.
BTW, I appreciate your depth chart and refer to it often but it is out of sync with the Rutgers roster or vice versa. Or maybe they're both in need of updating.
More kids than you think are ready to compete. Not everyone is elite and the majority of kids are average. It would help alleviate all the forfeits in dual meets so I'd expand eligibility to NJ 7th and 8th graders. If nothing else, that would allow those kids to practice and train with the HS which is a million times better than MS, but not allowed under NJSIAA rules.
I’ve coached at the middle and high school levels and in the districts in which I’ve coached, most middle school kids would get completely obliterated in a high school gym, at least any high school with a halfway respectable program. 7th graders for sure, 8th graders would be more case by case. I do agree that it would help with the forfeits though especially at the lighter weights, which I think is a separate problem.
I wouldn’t mix 7th and 8 th graders with 17,18,19 year olds.
Plenty of other states allow 7th and 8th graders to wrestle varsity. NY used to require passing certain physical fitness and maturity tests. It's not like every 7th and 8th grader would make every team. Many teams would have very few, if any, and more likely most teams would have single digits due to the strength of NJ wrestling. It's outdated and silly not to allow it.
I get what you’re saying but other states have a lower level talent pool compared to NJ. I also think that it’s better for the sport as a whole to not allow it, as weird as it sounds. There’s a lot of lower level kids who’s dream it is to simply qualify for the state tournament, and many don’t get their first chance until their senior year. If you add these 7th and 8th graders, I’m sure a handful will qualify and it could take the chance away from that late bloomer senior who worked hard for four years.
I get the “be the best, beat the best” mentality but you also have to remember NJ only qualifies 32 for the state tournament at each weight class. I’m not sure what the numbers are in the larger states as some of them don’t wrestle a true state championship down to one wrestler but I’m sure some of these states have many more kids considered state qualifiers.
Yes the top level 7th and 8th graders will get better wrestling a HS schedule, but any kid at that level is probably wrestling at a top club outside of the HS season anyway. NJ has a good enough wrestling infrastructure where it’s not needed for the few kids it would benefit vs the possibly more kids it would hurt. Just my opinion though.
All valid points, but I still prefer expanding the opportunity to 7th and 8th graders, as there are plenty of kids that would benefit, especially since a good number may not be able to afford a club, don't want to only go to a club or don't get enough attention at a club. Many clubs are mainly good for the very elite and that next rung below them, but otherwise they ignore or don't give enough attention to many of the kids that are just good or average, and the top kids won't wrestle with them either, so they don't develop as much from the large group training and would have to add private lessons to improve. Having those kids in a HS room would help them improve.
If they’re not good enough to get attention at a club they’ll get their head handed to them wrestling HS as 12-13 yr olds just on strength alone.
Your point that made sense was that if they were elite ( top 3 states) but those are def getting club attention
Your point that made sense was that if they were elite ( top 3 states) but those are def getting club attention
Nah. No question the elite kids would benefit, but there are also plenty of good kids at that next level below (4-8 at youth states, and win or place top 3 in the NJGSWL and other MS leagues) that don't get enough attention at clubs, yet they'd compete just fine in many HS rooms and duals.
