Pretty simple really....

Senior season head to head competition. Example: State tournament, districts, or local tournamnt that senior season. Especially if they were both state champs in different classes. If not, then
come up with a point system based on High School placing during their career. This should shake out any 2 or 3 wrestlers that maybe had a similar season but never met their senior year. This wouldn't be hard to do since the past year would be fresh in the minds of most. The points would be 6 points for 1st, 5 points for 2nd etc. Add up the 4 years and there ya have it.

At least with a system in place you have some teeth for reasoning. Otherwise it will always look like a sham when a great wrestler gets left out.

"No rules then look like fools"

Better get something changed for next year.

Coach Jernigan

You say "Our goal was to have wrestlers from all of the districts and not have one class/district dominate the selections." REALLY see i thought the selection of an ALL-STAR team meant that you select the BEST wrestlers to represent your team. I did not realize you were selecting for all of the districts. Im glad to see you are an equal opportunity All-Star coaching staff. I hope at the dual they are still raising the hand of the kids that win. We don't want anyone's feelings to get hurt since we can't have one class/district dominate the dual.

The reason i bring up Zielinski is because i submitted Kurt to wrestle 149 not 157,165 or even 141. 149!!! It is at that weight that the coaches from the East All-Star team chose to go with your wrestler. BTW using Fred's (525) formula the score is Kurt 15, Oliver 13, Zielinski 4. The reason i don't mention Oliver is because he is right at the same level as Kurt both having walked in the parade of champions, if there was another kid who had as prestigious resume i would not be posting on this website. (Notice i have not said anything about Kyle Ruh who was not chosen over, Seth Stender and Matt Rice, two very qualified ALL-Stars, even though i wish Kyle was selected you could not go wrong with any of these three)

I have a good idea as to the reasons for not selecting Kurt, i wish you and the other coaches would own up and tell me. But please don't give me the excuse that this is UNLUCKY. Luck had nothing to do with it. And im sorry you are tired of me pinpointing it on Zielinski but i bet you will get over it right about the time you are coaching him Saturday.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Loosvelt,

Since Zielinski's name was brought into this discussion, I think it's appropriate to say a few words in his defense.

As I understand it, unlike many of the Nebraska superstars, Clark was a late starter in wrestling. After having had to face both R. Perkins from North and the former state champ from Kearney (both on Clark's side of the bracket) I would say that he finished his career like a champ.

Keep in mind that Clark had to beat last year's state champ to take 3rd this year. Not a bad accomplishment for a kid that did not start wrestling at the age of 3 as many of Nebraska's superstars did. The fact that he was a complete unknown and came out of nowhere to accomplish what he did his senior year underscores the fact that he is a great competitor and deserves everyone's respect.

I doubt that Clark asked to be part of this discussion.

Good luck Clark!

I think the point Loosvelt is trying to make is that an "All-Star" dual should be an "All-Star" Dual. The best guys should be invited regardless of location or ditrict. Maybe if they met head to head the Westside Kid might beat Ruh. Since that is not an option you have to go by credentials. Ruh has better credentials.

Blaschko,

You may be correct. I'm actually not taking sides on this debate. My only concern is that Clark's accomplishments are not diminished while this discussion goes on.

I was one of the all star coaches last year with Coach Jernigan, Hodges and Fuller. There are alot of very deserving wrestlers that are sent in by their coaches. But we also had to follow the regulations set by the board. All all-star events have regulations, or you could have a team dominated by one school, such as Madison, they had a great team and season. They are trying to show representation from different districts and classes. It was a tough decision the two years that I had coached. But, in the end, you are not going to make everyone happy. You can't please everyone and sometimes you just have to realize that. This is just my opinion.

Coach McDuffee

This doesn't completely tie into this thread, but I know that for an athlete to be considered for accademic all state, the coach must be a member of this association. I mentioned this to the Skutt coach because even though many Skutt wrestlers have 3.5-4.0 GPA's and state titles, they don't get recognized. I have a feeling that when these all star picks are awarded, the coaches in the association and especially the ones that are the most active get much more attention for their wrestlers.

Great Point McDuffee!

Did you look that West Point, Syracuse, Omaha Westside all have 2 wrestlers and Grand Island has 3. Adding Kurt would have totaled 2 Madison kids.

Kinda shoots that whole defense down doesn't it!

Huggins...We tried to get a few of the Skutt wrestlers in the past to wrestle for us...especially in the last few years. They are usually busy with other priorities. We as coaches can only pick from what is nominated. We were short in a few weights this year and had to go looking. We even had some kids that wanted to be on the team back out at the last minute.

Loosvelt...if we would have taken all of the good wrestlers from Class A-1 alone, we would have added Galloway, Heiderman, plus the 6 we have right now and probably more GI guys...that would not have been fair to the other districts and classes.

Wouldn't have been fair? This isn't a junior high D league... It's an "ALL-STAR" dual. I have no problem taking kids form different districts and classes. I actually support it. But when you look at credentials I think it was clear that Kurt deserved the spot. Loosevelt already shot down the "dominating represenation of one team" argument. He also was clear in not degrading Zielinski but instead saying his wrestler was more deserving. I agree with his analysis of the Kyle Ruh situation. Like he said, all three were deserving wrestlers so he was disappointed that Kyle didn't make it but obviously understood. I also don't want to retract from Zielinski's accomplishments. (however it's worth mentioning he didn't lose to Perkins on his side he lost to Rimpley from Kearney who is also a heck of a wrestler) However, the credentials should be the first criteria considered and equal representation used when there are several deserving wrestlers. (i.e. the Kyle Ruh situation) Looking at the credentials, I understand Loosevelt's frustration.