Wow. If Joe Bach would have gone 285 I would have been near perfect at that weight. At least I included the disclaimer that any of those 4 could place top 3.

I nailed 5 out of 6 at 285. I'll have to take my crystal ball to the shop! I hope I'm right on my 2009 prediction for Jacob!

Jordan Brown (as tough as he is) can't beat Detmer and Langford can't beat Crank. Agreed?

Eric, while I appreciate the nod towards Dylan for possible 2009 State Champ 5A at 112, however, I believe that Blaine Smith, Salina South deserves that spot over Dylan due to his victory over Dylan in the finals at 5A State this year at 103. Blaine is a tough wrestler and a deserving champion, and I would think that he will be wresling 112 next year.

Doug Penka

Thanks Doug. I sure know how tough Blaine is and I missed that. Since it's already in print, I'll have to stick to my first thought. The pressure is now on Dylan.

Eric:

You did an excellent job of predicting 5A 285 and if you remember I stated that to you in a private e-mail that I sent you after you came out with your original predictions. I told you in that e-mail that it was a little difficult to see Jacob rated 6th after he took 5th the year before, but after thinking about it for a couple of minutes with Atticus coming into 5A and possibly Joe Bach into 285 I could see that you were exactly correct in putting Jacob at sixth in your preseason prediction. I think the only thing you were off base with in your 5A 285 predictions is that you were pretty insistent on keeping Joe Bach in 285 even though his Dad mentioned a couple of times on here that Joe was going to wrestle 215 this year.

I really do think you do a pretty good job with your predictions. I don't agree with all of them and I am sure everyone who reads them can find something they will disagree with. But for the most part I think you make a very good attempt to predict the weights and places kids will end up at. I enjoy reading them. When you put your predictions out there in this forum like you do, you are putting yourself out there on the limb and you know you are going to get some feedback.

I hope you are right about your prediction for Jacob next year too. At this point though Jacob is not sure if he is wrestling 215 or 285 next year. He is wrestling Kids this year at 215 to see how he likes 215. He has a lot of people advising him to stay at 285 though. We will see.

Jacob is not alone!

Eric lost credibility when, while replying to a post about his Eastern Kansas bias, claimed to be from SE Kansas.

Post number 113291 on November 07, 2007 at 11:20 PM

and post number 114806, on December, 2, 2007 at 02:09 PM stated:

Richard,

I should have added in that post that Jacob thinks that Eric's predictive powers for next year's tournament have improved immensely!

I will add though that if I was predicting that I would say Jordan Brown and Kyle Detmer will both win State titles next year. I don't think they will end up in the same weight class next year just like I did not think Elliot and Cotton would end up in the same weight class this year. I also did not think that Bach and Disney would end up in the same weight class. I will show my Johnson County-Aquinas bias here and I will predict that Jake Walker will win a State title next year. I really think Walker has a good chance to win a title next year but I do not know what weight he will end up at.

Richard,

Another unprovoked swing from the peanut section from you?! It was kinda nice on here while you were away. How does going to an OKC High School hurt my credibility? I have lived in Kansas for 20 years. Does that qualify me again? The posts, emails and personal comments that I've received about myself and about you tell much more of the truth than your personal agenda slams. Your warning at the end of your posts fits your statewide and nationwide reputation.

Here is a clue.... When most people laugh when your name is mentioned, it's not a good thing.

Eric:

I did not mean to cause you problems with my remark on Jacob's opinion on your predictions last year. I was trying to be a little humorous about it.

My main purpose for that post was to let Mr. Johnson know that I was a little disappointed last year when I saw your initial predictions that listed Jacob sixth last year after he had placed fifth the year before. Jacob was upset with the prediction too last year. I do know that other parents and wrestlers read your predictions last year and some were upset with them. I wanted to point out to him that you can use your predictions as a motivation for yourself and that in truth your predictions do not mean it is going to come out that way.

I listed all your predictions for 5A because if you look at the initial predictions there were some differences in the weights that wrestlers ended up at and their finishes. It appears that you picked 7 champions last year in 5A and I think two of them won in different weight classes. I think four champions you predicted took second. I believe at least one of the champions you predicted chose not to wrestle this year. I think you predicted pretty good because it is very difficult to pick the eventual winners this early in the game. Look at the beginning of the season college football polls and how different they end up by year end. Basically that was my intention to point out to Mr. Johnson that your predictions were pretty much like those college football polls and that the eventual finish will probably end up quite a bit different than the polls. It is pretty much the same for the rankings that come out during the year too.

Vince,

I understood your post was light-hearted and knew where you were coming from. If there is ever an opportunity for Richard to advance his agenda, he'll take it with or without the truth on his side. He is the cut and paste king, but socially challenged.

Thanks for the post and good luck to Jacob!

Vince,

I did not mean to question Eric's ability to predict state placers, or see into the future. And, yes, I do agree that rankings can be used as a motivation tool. I have always told my son that rankings are nothing more than one persons opinion, and if you don't like the line-up they have, than it's in your court to prove them wrong. I was just asking how Eric came to the conclusion that Nate Davis was his pick at 215, seeing how earlier in the year I suggested that Nate be considered in the overall rankings, and it was Eric that asked "Who has he beat". Abd don't get me wrong about Nate3 I think he's a kid with allot of talent, but knowing tht the kid who pladed 6th in state at 189 in 5A, beat Nate twice, each time they wrestled, at a Dual meet and again at regionals. So with the reason Eric gave on how he picked Nate at 215 was the only reason I mentioned Brown and Langford, and why he did not use the same reasoning at their weights. I won't go as far as Eric did by using the words "Can't Beat" because we all know Detmer and Crank are beatable. And I have seen Jordan Brown wrestle for a long time and every year he comes back just a tad bit better than the year before. So back to the rankings look at last year, someone did not think Joe Bach was worthy of the rankings until a few weeks before State, and than only gave him at best finishing 5th. I would not even of questioned how he came up with his picks if the reasoning wasn't based on record but how can you have a record of 15-2 on Jan. 26th and by Feb. 23rd be 35-5.

RJohnson

Joe Bach was always my #1 215, after I realized that he could make the weight. I'm surprised anyone had him ranked lower. I didn't realize that Davis was 0-2 against the 6th place kid. On the Brown/Langford vs. Detmer/Crank match-ups, there is clear criteria that Detmer has over Brown and it is my opinion that Crank would major Langford. Neither of those comments are digs on Brown or Langford. I know and have great respect for both of them.

Eric:

Mr. Johnson may be referring to the 2007 rankings. That was during Joe Bach's junior year. I don't think Joe was ranked No.1 going into the state tournament his junior year. He may have been undefeated at that point though.

Also Nate Davis is wrestling Kids at 16&U 215 this year. It will be interesting to see how Nate does. He took second last weekend to Kyle Caylor at Wichita. 215 looks like a pretty good bracket. I saw that Steven Kyler (I think he won a state championship this year too) is entered. Caylor the 6A champion is entered. There were a number of other state qualifiers and placers entered in 215. It should be a good bracket at Kids State.

although chief isnt goddard going 5a next year bcs there will be a new school out there

The new school won't be ready for a couple of years