I was at the Bobcat Classic this weekend, and i was really suprised to see and hear a few things, and thought i'd relay them on to the forums to hear what everyone else has to say:

1.) Is KC Turner really that good? I mean they win this tournament over defending champions and #2 ranked Glenwood Iowa, and over #1 ranked Abilene and Aquinas. Could this team be 4 real?

2.) With the weak showing this weekend at the Bobcat, is Aquinas the real deal on a bad weekend, at a tough tournament, or were we right all along in saying they're over-rated?

3.) How did Glenwood only get 2 kids to be seeded in this tournament? They're defending champs, and certainly have the records to back them up. Was it the lack of common opponents?

4.) What happened to the 189 pounder from Turner and Goodland? Someone told me that they scratched, but why? Were they avoiding the bracket? I think it made the highly hyped 189 pound weight class weaker w/o those 2 ranked wrestlers.

5.) Do you think Taplin deserved the OW? I think the 171 or 152 pound winners could've made a case. For that matter the 189 pound winner could've too. I mean Erisman came out on top of a weight class with 5 or 6 undefeated wrestlers, and 1 with only 1 loss. And Wiscombe went through 2 VERY tuff kids on his way to becoming the 1st 3 time winner ever, and Cisper went through 2 State champions, and a tough kid from Glenwood to his 189 pound title. That being said did Taplin get the OW because of who he is or how he wrestled?

What do you guys think about these questions: Everyone's entitled to their opinion to most of these, but other than that let me know!

Are you jealous? I seems to me you are implying that Ross didn't deserve OW. Regardless of what you might think since you weren't there, the people giving the award must have thought so. If you look at it on paper Ross had two falls a major decision and a 8-0 win in the finals. Whereas Erisman had a Bye, two falls, a tech fall and only a 3 point victory in the finals over a very good wrestler in Nick, however I'm sure if you actually watch Ross wrestle you can see the amount of dominance he usually has over his opponent and that translates to Outstanding. Perhaps if Mr. Erisman could have bumped up a weight class and met Ross in the finals you might have had a definitive answer. Personally I think it discredits wrestlers to question the awards that they receive. But more to the point I think winning matches especially State championship matches are far more important to Ross than an OW award from this tournament, so my question to you is, why are you so worried about it? Its over and done with now, any speculation after the fact can't have any purpose other than to try to discredit an obviously deserving wrestler.

I don't think Aquinas had a weak showing. It is that tough of a tournament. If you wrestle it again next week I think the outcome would be different in many areas of the tournament and maybe Aquinas would win it or maybe SFT or Abilene. You have to be at the top of your abilities to win a tournament like this and Turner was this weekend. As far as the placement of Glenwood and the seeding of their wrestlers, Glenwood placed second team wise. The seeding is a reflection the competition.

Nigel, he wasn't jealous. I don't even know how you could make what he said out to be anything nearing jealousy. He just had a couple of questions. I agree with Taplin being the outstanding wrestler, but not everyone has to. He just wants to talk wrestling on a wrestling forum. Big deal.

I'm glad that Ross got OW but I think that it really should have gone to Josh Peterson...He wrestled awesome this weekend and beat two undefeated wrestlers...He beat Dexter Deeds from Goodland whos ranked 1st.

the 189 lbs wrestler from KC Turner got hurt at the Salina South tournament last weekend and that could be why he didn't wrestle.

What a super Tournament! Thank you for all your hard work in bringing a tourney of this quality to our area. There were so many great wrestlers and matches in the finals. I love it when wrestlers show there personalities on the mat while using good sportmanship. The B/L finals were loaded with great personalities. The Baker boys with their controlled scrapyness and Taplin's total dominance was amazing. Well deserving OW. I sure do wish that Wiscombe boy would wrestle the whole match like he did with 4 seconds left and needed an escape, maybe he would have won OW.

1) Is KC Turner really that good? Was this some mystery seeing as how they dominated the state tournament a year ago? You said you were at the tournamnet? Are you sure you were there? Duh. Could this team be for real, you ask? In all actually, this team is "unreal" in how good they are. Congrats to Turner.

2) I don't know who the "we" is that's been saying that Aquinas is overrated. I can't seem to find that information on the web anywhere. It must just be you. They finished in sixth and ahead of any other 6A team that was there. STA is the "real deal" on any weekend and the "Hat" will have their hands full if they want to repeat.

3) As for seeds, Glenwood's coach did not argue for a single one, because yes, obviously, there are no common opponents, and because he knows that his kids just came to wrestle and not look at brackets. Wrestlers were seeded based on previous state and Bobcat placings, but ultimately just went on winning percentanges because of all the outstanding records. Glenwoods wrestlers were seeded, because most weight classes were seeded out to 16 and in some cases 20 places.

4) Apparently, the 189 from Turner is injured as is Goodland's, also unfortunately, Jimmy Stewart from Paola is out for what appears to be the entire season. So, no, they were not avoiding the bracket. You should sign your name when you attempt to insult the integrity of these people. On the contrary, they were all devastated that they could not attend. With three state champions still in the bracket and multiple state medalists and qualifiers, 189 was still a great weight class.

5) Do you think Taplin deserved the OW? Yes. He showed his Iowa counterpart what the top 160 lber in the state of Kansas is all about. Granted, a case could be made for every wrestler that won his respective weight (Bahe with the first period pin, either of the Baker brothers, Peterson over Deeds, Connelly winning as a 5 seed, Shroeder winning with a bad wheel all weekend, I mean this could go on and on, they are all so good), but Taplin truely dominated his finals opponent and had him "broke" by the middle of the second period. You usually don't see that in a finals match in a tournamnet of this callabur. This is no slight to Artist, who is excellent, but Taplin is that good. Congrats to Ross on his well-deserved OW.

*** Side note: Goodland was minus about 3 of their regulars or they might have won this tournament! Whew! Good tournament, great stuff! I hope we battled hard enough to get to keep coming back!!

The seeding of this difficult tournament was outstanding. Of the finalists, ten (10) of fourteen (14) number one (1) seeds and eleven (11) of fourteen (14) number two (2) seeds advanced to the finals.

In eight (8) of fourteen (14) weight classifications the number one (1) seed advanced to wrestle the number two (2) seed.

Didn't Glenwood have a duel tourney on Thursday as well?

Was the bracket right when it gave the score of 16-7 in the quarters of the 160 bracket? Ross Taplin is a outstanding wrestler, but that kid was listed as a sophomore. Is that correct? What was that match like?

Congrats to Ross and all the wrestlers sounds like a great turn out and some great wrestlers tasting defeat for the first time of the season. But that is what makes up the best match ups.

Any big tournaments coming up before State like this week with Newton and Bobcat?

Beloit this weekend is usually a rather large tourney. not as big as Basehor or Newton, but it's around 20 teams. Also there's a pretty big one at one of the Blue Valley schools this weekend.

Ross scored his points in the final by an inside trip and countering Artist. I don't think he shot the whole match. I wouldn't call that domination. He's a really good wrestler, but I think there were more deserving wrestlers.

Everyone is intitled to their opinion, but the voting is left up to the coaches, officials, and tournament directors. The majority of the directors, coaches, and officials voted for Ross and that should be the end to any questions regarding the OW. Most of these guys were involved in wrestling before any of the competitors at the Bobcat Classic were even born, so I think they know just a little bit about the sport.
Congratulations to Ross.

Great comments Coach Neil!! We are getting the same type of comments on Danny winning OW at the Newton Invitational.

We've seen Ross over the years and he is a great wrestler and I'm sure was very deserving of the award.

People just don't realize it's not the final match that determines who wins OW. There are a lot of other factors that go into the decision. The coaches and officials spoke - leave the decision and these wrestlers alone!!

Leanna Grater

Its just gets to me that people get on here and spew that kind of crap out of their mouths. "There were more deserving wrestlers" First of all if you don't have the decentcy to put your real name on your posts then you have no business making comments in these threads. Second of all since the majority of people who were involved in the decision of that award seemed to think Ross deserved it that renders your comment null and void by proxy. The same goes for Danny, Leanna and the rest of the Grater family knows Danny deserved his award and so does the majority of the rest of the real fans of wrestling who don't just limit their decsions to guys from their own conference, competition class, etc. I urge all of you throwing fits about this issue to just drop it and realize no matter how much complaining you do its not going to change the fact, and the more complaining you do the more you are trying to take away from these athletes who certainly don't deserve that.

1) Turner is really good. Probably the best in the state.
2) I wouldn't call it a weak showing with STA. Well coached and scrappy kids.
3) See coach Dewitts remarks!
4) Obviously when Jimmy Stewart and a Turner kid is out a bracket would be easier. I was impressed with the way Tyler G. battled even though he has been injured.
5) Heck ya! Taplin whipped one of Iowa's best!! And thank you for mentioning Justin with such elite company. I know he doesn't feel slited by not getting O.W. Erisman could have easily gotten it also.

I simply stated my opinion. What keeps someone from not thinking there was a more deserving wrestler? I said in my post Taplin was an awesome wrestler, but after watching the whole weekend of wrestling I saw a few other wrestlers who had tougher brackets and a more dominating performance. I don't care if someone puts there "real name" on here, but I do care when I valid opinion is brought up and its called "crap spewing out of my mouth". Everyone on this board cannot deny politics in ANY high school sport. I thought Taplin deserved OW last year, but not this year. Its not a big deal, but a few of you are looking for a fight.

Toadsmack, I don't think your out of line at all. In fact next year, I think they should let the fans decide. After all, you guys make the sport what it is. Or maybe you could start a poll and see who the fans vote for.