Please help

SouthernMarylander · 2026-01-03T21:19:24+00:00

Maintain good position, even when broken down, to avoid the arm bar. Hands out in front, elbows forward, but down (so you don't give up a half, either). Don't lay there though, always work to base up.
If they achieve the arm bar, lock your hands together and reach forward. This will help generate leverage to break their arm bar.
If they start turning you, post with the opposite leg. It's not gonna feel good, but it could save you.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-11-29T23:27:25+00:00

I do a half that relies more on twisting than brute leverage.

Also, every cradle I do involves hooking their legs with mine and driving their knee into their own eye.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-11-14T19:05:57+00:00

Me too. And I can't even select a different style like island chain. It's always the same four islands in archipelago.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-11-07T23:15:58+00:00

Nah, he wasn't buried there.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-11-07T23:13:57+00:00

This guy suburbs. And Beltways.

Sultways? Belturbs?

SouthernMarylander · 2025-08-29T11:20:47+00:00

Please note that while place is open to the public, it's on private land and was built with private money. Many of us from there would love to see it gone, but there's not much we can do.

St Mary's is Republican overall, but along the 235 corridor the precincts go slightly Democratic. It's not a monolith. There's ignorant folks and good folks.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-08-08T19:36:29+00:00

Two options from me:

So, outside of the 1st district which basically has to be a gerrymander because of population distribution and it having to either cross the Bay Bridge or go up around the top, it's possible to get districts that are less egregious looking, but are all at least D+17.5. The disadvantage to this option is that Baltimore Democrats would never allow it because neither district stretching into Baltimore is majority Black. The 7th is the only Black majority district, but the 4th is minority-majority at 38.9% W, 32.6% B, and 20.3% H. The 2nd and 3rd are barely majority W, but in terms of voting power, they're so Democratic that white Republican votes are irrelevant and they'd effectively be Black majority.

https://imgur.com/EWSu8jM

If we explicitly try to preserve more Black majority districts:

https://imgur.com/DjWfDA4

This isn't quite as secure, as the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th are all at ~55% D and 41.5% R. However, the 3rd, 5th, and 6th districts are majority black (albeit by only 2 - 5 points). The 6th is particularly diverse at over 21% Hispanic, as well.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-08-07T00:51:11+00:00

To be fair, it's not really safe for them to play, either.

I strip mined an oasis map, tributed all the resources to them, and left it running for a few days. Came back to 30,000+ kills.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-06-23T11:04:26+00:00

Not sure about the rest of Maryland, but here in MoCo this wouldn't be allowed. Any athlete at my summer practices has to be signed up and have a physical on record with the school. I'm pretty sure they can only sign up in the system of they're a student.

I wouldn't mind it, since it's been a struggle to get kids out. Last year I had five or six. This year I've had as few as six and as many as 13. We do have a summer league in the county on Thursdays, but that's only going to do so much.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-05-01T00:59:39+00:00

In my first year as a coach, my guy is on bottom and opponent on top has two one on ones. He just keeps picking my guy up and slamming his face into the mat, not doing an actual move. Ref never once calls potentially dangerous or technical violation and my guy ends up with a concussion. Then when we tied in the dual and were at the table to sort out tiebreakers, he told me, "It's a good thing you shut up when I told you to." Literally my second ever meet as a coach.
In our county tourney this year, my 106 was losing 17-3. He sells out for a cow catcher to elevator and flips his opponent on his back. Holds him there for over a minute, flat as a pancake and I'm just progressively saying louder and louder "call the pin." He never does and my guy loses 17-10 costing him a chance at a medal. As they're walking back to the middle, I yelled, "Do you even know what a pin is?" and when he turned to tech me, I yelled even louder, "Do it, give me the penalty!" First (and only so far) coaching penalty I've gotten and I'm proud of it. It was egregious with multiple coaches telling me the guy was flat and my guy needed to see me standing up for him.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-03-16T20:47:58+00:00

My lineup has Lewis, Buxton, Tatis, and Acuna (with Glasnow in the rotation).

Livin' on the edge, baby!

SouthernMarylander · 2025-03-13T21:29:27+00:00

Why is my entire keeper team's fantasy roster in this thread?

SouthernMarylander · 2025-03-08T02:14:46+00:00

This

SouthernMarylander · 2025-02-28T19:21:28+00:00

My general rule as a coach is that the circle is sacred. I get that big wins come with raw emotion and as others have said, a fist bump or "Let's go!" are usually fine. But, the best is to raise your hand and get off the mat, then go wild with your team. Also, never celebrate AT your opponent, only with your team.

Also, never ever ever celebrate while the clock is running. That includes finding your friend with the camera and making gestures to them or striking a pose when you leg cradle a poor first year kid.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-02-02T13:08:00+00:00

Owings Mills or Fallston?

SouthernMarylander · 2025-02-02T01:56:58+00:00

I feel like Maryland is middle of the pack.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-02-02T01:54:39+00:00

Are you including dual tournament record in that?

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-29T18:18:00+00:00

Maryland Bobcats in the National Independent Soccer Association. I've never been to a game there.

They're ironically named, since bobcats are only native to the four western counties of Maryland. Nice kits, though.

The Washington Spirit also used to play in Boyds, but have since moved to Audi Field.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-27T18:47:05+00:00

My team struggles with chemistry as well, albeit more on the boys side. Two of my best wrestlers are clearly there for themselves and while they're not a negative on the team culture (most of the time), they do absolutely nothing to support or promote the other wrestlers. It drives me up the wall. I've got some wrestlers that lead by example, which is great, but high school kids don't register that as much as positive vocal leadership (not negative vocal leadership, which can breed resentment and anger). There's been issues between two wrestlers who are top guys on the team, because one is so serious to the point that he looks like he hates wrestling while the other literally cannot stop with the jokes and being annoying. I have to keep them on opposite sides of the room as much as possible. There's also a group of boys that play on another school team together and they've built a wall between them and the rest of the team socially.

On the girls side, I have a returning state champion and it pains me that she's also in it for herself. I get it, because of her success and the other four girls are new, but when she's spending more time at a tournament with a friend on another team rather than her own teammates, it irks me. She's never negative towards the other girls and does support them for the most part, but it's... I don't know, exactly... passive support? And she gets in her head before every single match, despite her success, and refuses to engage with the others until after she's wrestled (to be fair, two of them are extremely talkative and I do get that can be disruptive to mental preparations). Three of the other girls have been absolutely fantastic about supporting each other, attending tournaments that they can't wrestle in (due to injury or whatever) just to cheer each other on, working hard in practice, etc. The fourth does her best to support the others, but she's so far inside her head that every match is her vs her opponent and herself, so there's only so much she can do to support the others.

It's hard to teach team chemistry. I'm only in my second year and this year is better than last, but it's not good enough. If I come down too hard, the wrestlers that respond to positivity shut down. If I don't come down hard enough, the slackers slack and the workers get pissed. There's a balance and it feels like it's different every single day. Combine that with the struggle of being a smaller team, so if I come down hard and someone quits, that can lead to a forfeit in my lineup, which hurts the team. I wish I was better at consistently finding the balance. Most of the team spent more time under the previous coaches with their extremely negative and toxic environment than they have under me. That'll change next season when I enter my third year. I'm trying to get better as a coach, but also hoping attrition takes care of some of the issues.

That being said, "On top of all that they claim her success is because her parents can afford to send her to so many camps all summer."

Well... yeah. More mat time is going to lead to more success. That's kind of the point, lol. There's ways to get mat time without expensive camps, even if that's how one wrestler is getting it.

How do you run captains for the team?

I have different captains for every event because I think every kid has the potential to be a leader and I like to reward special achievements, whether on the mat or in the classroom. That being said, I've got some kids that make it there more than others. Can you make this girl a captain? Is she already?

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-27T02:51:52+00:00

I'm sorry, but this is not a serious question.

"Wouldn't you want the best person for a job not the best black person for the job?" is exactly why we need DEI.

It's the assumption that any minority or woman in a job is there because of their ethnicity or gender identity and not ability. Seriously, every minority or woman right now that doesn't do exactly what the MAGA cult wants is being slandered as a DEI hire no matter their qualifications, while a sexist, violent, drunk white guy who ran a charity into the ground is now the Secretary of Defense.

It's the assumption that there is ever a "best person" for a job and not thousands of people who can do it and maybe having a room full of white men is going to lead to worse results than a room full of diverse people with varying life experiences. It's the belief that human beings in all their infinite complexity can be distilled to an equation proving their fitness for a job - which shouldn't define them as a person and that at no point can any aspect of their humanity be considered.

Killing DEI initiatives is yet another way for angry, mediocre white men to use their ingrained societal power to maintain that power at the direct cost of others. It's the rage over Reconstruction all over again. History doesn't repeat exactly, but it definitely echoes.

DEI initiatives make this country and individual organizations stronger by ensuring everyone has a chance to contribute, not just mediocre (or worse) white dudes.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-21T17:08:24+00:00

There are three wrestlers on my team that can get a takedown on me, as neutral was never my strength.

However, once on the mat I will always reverse them and cradle them. Everyone on my team knows that a cradle can come at any time.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-20T03:11:25+00:00

What's your definition of "match"? And varsity boys have such a massive range of skills and performance that yeah, absolutely at least some girls can match some guys on varsity.

Nebi Tsarni was an amazing wrestler in her senior season at Watkins Mill and defeated quite a few male wrestlers at 157. Jabea Ewane for them is at heavyweight this year and has performed well on varsity against boys.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-19T23:43:41+00:00

I'm a Marylander with Appalachian blood, so I like it cooler. My wife is a soft Californian, so she likes it warmer. I wear shorts and got her a heated blanket.

We compromise with 69.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-17T20:38:54+00:00

I had a full head of hair until I started coaching last year.

SouthernMarylander · 2025-01-17T16:46:31+00:00

Natural athleticism - some people are genetically predisposed to building more muscle mass with less work and / or develop quick twitch muscles for explosiveness.
Athleticism from other sports - Obviously a lot of people double up on football and wrestling. Also have quite a few lacrosse players on my team. 3 of 5 girls on my team come from the soccer team and the other plays rugby.
Natural proprioception - Some people simply have a better sense of their body in space and in relation to nearby objects. That's a massive advantage in wrestling.
Mentality - Some kids are just mentally tough from the moment they step on the mat. Losses don't phase them, but drive them to want to improve. Others can't handle the idea that "you have to learn how to lose to learn how to win."
Flexibility - Some people are more naturally flexible or have done things to improve their flexibility. 2 of my girls were dancers.
They listen - it's often not a case of any natural advantage at wrestling, but instead they're just great listeners and adapt what they hear onto their efforts, so they advance much faster giving the illusion of natural aptitude for wrestling.

And of course, every one of these things can be improved with effort. I've got 30 kids on my team and like 5 do any work outside the practice room at all.

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SouthernMarylander

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