Responding here because the author of this article and I are blocked on Facebook.

I broke up the article and then responded. It's quite a lengthy article. My comments are highlighted in blue.

I'm not here to try to win over anyone who buys the bull crap of "national standing" for NC wrestling. I believe we are a good scholastic style wrestling state (I say anywhere from top 7-15 every year depending on the ability of the senior class).

This article was an exercise of what this guy believes is wrong with NC wrestling while attempting to pat himself on the back. Some of what you're about to read has been long overdue.

I didn't bother correcting the grammatical and spelling errors in the article.

Here we go:

Article Comment:

North Carolina wrestling has too much talent to keep acting like it has no path forward. The problem has never been the athletes — it has been the culture, the ego, and the lack of real unity from top to bottom.

Powerhouse wrestling states like Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Iowa, Oklahoma, and New Jersey have built environments where development matters more than crnt coedit, where clubs push each other instead of protecting turf, and where the mission is bigger than any one coach’s name. North Carolina, by contrast, still too often operates like a collection of separate islands. Too many people want the credit for building the sport, but not enough are willing to actually build it together.

My Response:

Who's acting like NC Wrestling has no path forward? You're the only person suggesting that.

The culture of NC wrestling is just fine.

The powerhouse wrestling states mentioned have 1 huge advantage over NC. They have widespread middle school wrestling with enough adults who are willing and able to coach in the middle schools who can also pass a background check.

The idea that there is complete unity in those states among the clubs is a simple distortion of the facts. Many of the schools and clubs in those states despise each other. That is just how it is everywhere in wrestling. It's a competition thing. Not that you'd understand that.

Every state is a "collection of islands" when it comes to competition regardless of sport.

Article Comment:

That is why so many of the state’s best young wrestlers keep looking elsewhere.

When one of North Carolina’s top youth talents recently announced that he will wrestle at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, it sent a message louder than any press release could. But people should also recognize that IMG is becoming a better wrestling program because it is drawing athletes not only from North Carolina, but from other states as well. That speaks to the belief athletes and families have in the direction of the program. The real question is not whether IMG is a good option — it clearly is — but why so many wrestlers in North Carolina feel the need to leave in the first place. At some point, North Carolina wrestling has to ask itself whether the issue is simply opportunity, or whether it is also the lack of belief, trust, and confidence that would make athletes want to stay home and build here.

IMG only started its wrestling program this spring, yet even a brand-new program in another state is already drawing elite North Carolina talent because wrestlers and families can see the level of staff, structure, and long-term vision behind it. That should force honest reflection. If the best wrestlers believe they have to leave North Carolina to find elite training, elite partners, and elite development, then the state has a serious culture problem. This is not about one kid. This is about a pattern. It is about a state that keeps losing its best prospects because the wrestling environment here is still too fragmented, too political, and too focused on who gets credit instead of what helps the athlete most. When a wrestler leaves, people rush to act surprised. They should not be surprised. The warning signs have been there for years.

My Response:

Who are these "so many" kids you are referring to? Joe Sealey went out of state (more on him and you later). Who else? Jack Harty went out of state. Ian Fritz and his family moved out of state. That's three by my count. Who else could you possibly be thinking? Jaxx Forrest? He was gone before he got into high school. Same thing for Chase Davis (the kid headed to IMG). Shamus Regan? He never lived in NC.

So again, where and who are these "so many" you're referring to? If they never wrestled in high school in NC then they aren't an NC wrestler. If they chose to leave that's between them and their parents and their decision has ZERO bearing or reflection on NC.

Truth is, you're making this crap up to sound and seem knowledgeable and important. The overwhelming majority of the top guys in NC stay right here.

Article Comment:

Too many clubs in North Carolina are competing with each other instead of building with each other. Too many coaches are guarding their own lane instead of opening doors. Too many people are more invested in being respected inside their little circle than in helping a wrestler reach the highest level possible. That mindset is weak. It is small. And it is exactly why North Carolina has not broken through the way it should have.

My Response:

It is not the job, duty, responsibility, or requirement for any school or club coach to "build together" with other coaches and, in fact, I suggest that doing as you suggest wouldn't move the needle one bit as it pertains to our "national standing" (whatever the hell that means anymore).

The idea that NC's national competitive standing is measured on the national competition results of the individual participants who chose to participate at nationals is bogus. Bogus too is the idea that some of our top wrestlers decide to go to schools out of state being a reflection of a poor wrestling culture.

The real reason these guys are leaving NC is because the school they chose to enroll in is a school that offers a year round training regiment without the interference of the state high school athletic association or other local school system imposed policies that prevent year round training.

Article Comment:

I know what real development looks like because I have lived it. I helped strongly in the development of Joe Sealey, one of the most rare and gifted young wrestlers North Carolina has ever seen. But let’s be clear: Joe did not become elite because of one room, one coach, or one club. He became better because he was exposed to more. My role was never to teach him basic technique, because he already had that. My job was to sharpen him by making sure he trained in places that challenged him. That meant taking him to different wrestling clubs around North Carolina, and it also meant taking him to clubs in powerhouse wrestling states so he could train with athletes who forced him to rise.

My Response:

Here is something you've needed to be informed of for a few years now: YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF JOE SEALEY. NOTHING MEANS NOTHING. By your own admission you were a chauffeur. Nothing more. END OF DISCUSSION WHEN IT COMES TO JOE SEALEY. That kid was nationally known long before you started begging his dad to be his chauffeur.

Article Comment:

And that is exactly where the culture problem shows itself. Too many coaches wanted to show Joe technique just so they could say they were the one who showed it to him later when he used it in a match. That kind of “I showed him that” attitude is selfish, and it is one of the biggest things holding North Carolina back. Coaching should never be about credit. It should be about growth. But in too many cases, it becomes about ego, ownership, and who gets to claim the moment after the fact.

That is what development should not look like. Not comfort. Not protection. Not ownership. Not credit-seeking. Development.

My Reponse:

In one paragraph you say you "helped strongly in the development of Joe Sealey" (which you didn't) then come back and make the absurd suggestion that "too many coaches wanted to show Joe technique and then take credit for it." How are you any different from those coaches? Better yet, how about the suggestion you made earlier saying coaches should "work together" and are too busy "guarding their own lane". How are you any different?

You're criticizing the coaches who in their own way were trying to help Joe. What's really selfish is your self professed acknowledgement regarding the success of Joe Sealey that in truth you had NOTHING to do with while at the same time criticize the other coaches Joe's father thought enough of to allow you to drive his son to their club to train.

Your exact words: "not ownership. Not credit seeking" but earlier in the article "I helped strongly in the development of Joe Sealey".

YOU are the ONLY person who believes that.

Article Comment:

But in North Carolina, too many people treat collaboration like a threat. If a coach helps a kid too much, people get territorial. If a club contributes to a wrestler’s growth, somebody starts worrying about reputation. If someone tries to connect the dots and create a better path, the people who benefit from division start acting uncomfortable. That is ego at work, and ego has done enormous damage to this state’s wrestling progress.

My Response:

There are plenty of collaborations in NC. Just not the kind you want to see. And seriously, why would any school or club coach pay attention to anything you suggest? You take credit for the success of a wrestler you had NOTHING to do with, but let's say for the sake of the moment that you did actually help Joe. What have you done since? What did you ever do before? You don't know the first thing about building and sustaining a program, teaching someone how to wrestle from scratch to advanced by putting them on the state podium much less the national podium. Your advice is neither sought nor needed.

Article Comment:

There is a difference between having coaches and having a culture. North Carolina has coaches. What it lacks is a culture of shared purpose. The best wrestling states understand that the goal is not to own every athlete. The goal is to elevate every athlete. Here, too many people are content to stay local, to stay safe, and to stay in control. They are satisfied if a wrestler places at state. They are satisfied if a team wins a conference title. Those are fine accomplishments, but they are not enough if the state wants to matter nationally.

NC United matters because it has tried to help develop and elevate North Carolina talent, but there are still real questions about transparency. Athletes and families deserve to know how wrestlers are evaluated and selected for participation, and what criteria are used to determine who gets to join or represent the organization. When that process is unclear, it creates unease about fully buying into the movement, even if the intentions are good. NC United appears to have genuine purpose, but greater transparency would go a long way toward strengthening trust and making the organization even more valuable to the state. Because national relevance is the standard now. Not someday. Now.

My Response:

Again, this is totally bogus from the premise. It is not the position of coaches on any level to have "shared purpose" with other coaches in helping build their programs and wrestlers. Sure, they can train to compete and beat each other..that's all the "shared purpose" you need in any level of competition. Coaches can't concentrate on their own wrestlers by working to help elevate the wrestlers in another club. It just doesn't operate that way. Nor should it. If coaches want to do that then fine, but expecting them to for the sake of what you want..any real coach concerned about his/her wrestlers will pass. Their job is to concentrate on their wrestlers not mine or anyone else's.

As for NC United, why do they owe anyone an explanation for how they operate? Those coaches have forgotten more wrestling than you've ever known (how's that for an NC coaching collaboration?). You don't have the right, the credentials, or the standing to question anything the coaches in that club decide to do as it pertains to who they want on their team.

I had a wrestler who competed with them last summer. They were as open and "transparent" with me as could be expected. They asked me if I was fine with my guy going with them and I said yes. After that I wished them luck and followed them on Flo. They're the coaches not me. They're the ones putting in the time and effort for their club. Not you. Not me. They don't owe transparency explanations to anyone. But for the sake of those like you who seem to need clarification allow me to introduce you to transparent reality. They, as in the NC United coaches, choose who they believe to be the best wrestlers by weight class in deciding who will comprise their team.

My guy was a two-time NHSCA High School National All-American (who also didn't go out of state and is now at NC State) and a two-time undefeated state champion. He started wrestling in the 9th grade. And yeah, unlike you, I can legitimately claim to have "helped strongly in the development" of Xavier Wilson.

Article Comment:

That is why missed opportunities sting so much. North Carolina had chances to bring in world-class leadership that could have changed the entire trajectory of the sport here, and those chances were passed over. Cannon School, Charlotte Latin, and Lincoln Charter Academy all passed on Cornell Robinson, the former head coach at Wyoming Seminary and Kingston in Pennsylvania. We are talking about a coach who has worked with world champions, Fargo champions, prep champions, and nationally proven athletes. A coach with that kind of résumé would not just have improved one program. He could have raised the standard for the entire state. And yet, those schools passed.

That says everything. Not that they could not see the value. Not that the opportunity was not real. It says they were not ready to commit to a bigger vision. They were comfortable being local. Comfortable being respectable. Comfortable being just good enough. But good enough never built a powerhouse.

That is the problem in one sentence.

My Response:

Those schools not hiring Cornell don't suggest or say anything about our state. If three schools passed on hiring him there is more to that story that you are leaving out, but him coming here wouldn't have changed very much at all in my opinion. But you're also operating with wrestling blindness. Those schools want to offer wrestling but their school administration isn't looking to build their school around wrestling like IMG is down in Florida. Furthermore, there are plenty of coaches in North Carolina who are helping more than their own program and to imply otherwise is simply lying.

Article Comment:

North Carolina wrestling will never become what it wants to be until people stop acting like success is a threat and start treating it like a responsibility. Until coaches stop protecting egos and start building athletes. Until clubs stop fighting over ownership and start fighting for progress. Until the state stops settling for participation and starts demanding domination.

Because that is what the great wrestling states do. They create environments where excellence is expected, not explained away. They create a culture where the best kids stay because they see a path. They create a system where outside training is not looked at as disloyalty, but as intelligence. They understand that elite wrestling is not built by closed doors and stubborn pride. It is built by hunger, humility, and collaboration.

North Carolina has too much talent to keep wasting opportunities. Too many wrestlers have already left. Too many more will leave if nothing changes. And too many coaches are still acting like the sport belongs to them instead of the athletes they claim to serve.

That is the hard truth. The state is not failing because the kids are not good enough. The state is failing because the culture around them is too often too small.

The wrestlers are here. The potential is here. The blueprint exists. What is missing is the courage to put ego aside and build something bigger than any one person, club, or program.

Until that happens, North Carolina wrestling will keep producing moments.

It will not produce a movement

My Response:

North Carolina wrestling is exactly what and where it needs to be. We have the same problems every other state has, but our absolute worst problem is know-it-all people who really know nothing telling us what they find wrong with our state wrestling culture.

Lost in your national level talk is the one thing you mentioned that makes some sense although you mentioned it as an insult. The state should NEVER stop settling for participation and demand dominance. The best are the best because they stand out among the crowd and without the others participating the best have nobody to wrestle. The true value of high school wrestling is to enhance the high school experience of the people who decide to participate in wrestling. If they catch on and elevate to a higher level that's great. But someone who never advances to a higher level shouldn't be diminished just because they participated rather than dominated.

North Carolina wrestling is not failing. Forget the idea that we are ever going to be as good as Pennsylvania, or Ohio, or California. That is a stupid mindset that actually diminishes the achievements of the high performing kids we have. It's also a demonstration of just how little those who criticize ever accomplished as a competitor themselves and just how much they have never been a real coach in their entire life.

NC wrestling doesn't need a movement. The only movement we need is for you to move.