Classes Still Create Hoosier Hysteria
July 27, 2017
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
This is the fourth part in a series on MHSAA tournament classification, past and present, that will be published over the next two weeks. This series originally ran in this spring's edition of MHSAA benchmarks.
Twenty years ago, Bloomington North High School won the Indiana High School Athletic Association boys basketball championship, defeating Delta 75-54 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
The date, March 22, 1997, is at the same time revered and disdained by traditionalists in the state who saw it as the last schoolboy championship game the state would ever host.
That’s how devout the game of basketball, particularly interscholastic basketball, had become in the Hoosier state during the 87 years a state champion – one state champion, to be precise – was crowned.
Following that 1997 season, the IHSAA moved to a four-class system for its roundball tournaments, like so many of its state association counterparts had done years earlier.
It would be shocking to find more than a small percentage of current high school basketball players around the country unfamiliar with the iconic movie Hoosiers, even though the film is now more than 30 years old.
And, the storyline for that blockbuster unfolded more than 30 years prior to its release, when small-town, undermanned Milan High School defeated Muncie Central High School 32-30 in the 1954 IHSAA title game.
Perhaps it’s because of the David vs Goliath notion, or the fame of the movie that replaced Milan with the fictional Hickory and real-life star Bobby Plump with Hollywood hero Jimmy Chitwood, or the simple fact that Indiana had something other states didn’t.
Whatever the reason, plenty of opposition remains to this day to basketball classification in the state.
The fact is, the small rural schools were regularly being beaten handily by the much larger suburban and city schools as the tournament progressed each season.
Small schools also were closing at a rapid rate following the state’s School Reorganization Act in 1959, as students converged on larger, centralized county schools. From 1960 to 2000, the number of schools entering the tournament dropped from 694 to 381, and in 1997 a total of 382 schools and 4,584 athletes began competition at the Sectional level (the first level of the IHSAA Basketball Tournament).
It was at the entry level of the tournament where school administrators felt the pain of the new class system, but not necessarily for the same nostalgic reasons as the fans who either attended or boycotted the tournament.
At the Sectional round of the tournament, the IHSAA was culling just 2 percent of the revenue, with the participating schools splitting the balance. So, when Sectional attendance dropped by 14 percent in that first year of class basketball, many schools realized a financial loss. It was money they had grown to count on in prior years to help fund various aspects of the department.
Schools cumulatively received more than $900,000 from Sectional competition in 1998, but that total was down from more than $1 million in the last year of the single-class tournament.
Yet, the current format provides a great deal more opportunity and realistic chances at championship runs for schools of all enrollments.
To date, 60 additional teams have championship or runner-up trophies on display in school trophy cases around Indiana.
That was the mission in front of then-IHSAA commissioner Bob Gardner (now National Federation executive director) once the board made its decision: to give thousands more student-athletes the opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
As any statistician knows, figures can be manipulated to tell any side of a story. Declining attendance in year one of class basketball is such a number.
The truth is tournament attendance had been on a steady downward spiral since its peak of just over 1.5 million in 1962. By the last single-class event in 1997, the total attendance was half that.
The challenge then and today, as it is for all state associations, is to find that delicate balance for those holding onto tradition, those holding onto trophies, and the number of trophies to hand out.
Editor’s Note: Stories from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in 1998 and from a 2007 issue of Indianapolis Monthly provided facts in this article.
With Another Big Finish, Delton Kellogg's Ferris Can Match Dad's Finals Feat
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2022
DELTON — Nearing the end of a stellar four-year wrestling career, Caden Ferris has just one complaint: Not enough mat time.
That is not a knock on his coach, but a nod at his record.
The Delton Kellogg senior will take a 45-0 record into next weekend’s MHSAA Division 4 Individual Wrestling Finals at Ford Field.
Of those wins, 32 came by pins with just one match making it to the second period. The other 13 were by forfeit.
Although he talks of “more mat time,” he will definitely take the pins as he works toward repeating at 215 pounds.
If that happens, he will become just the second wrestler in school history with two Individual Finals titles.
The other one? His dad, Rollie Ferris, who won in 1992 and 1993.
In fact, wrestling is the Ferris family’s legacy at Delton Kellogg.
Ferris’ brother, Tyden, was a two-time Finals runner-up (2016, 2018), and his uncle, Billy Ferris, has one championship (2001).
“It’s always been in the family, and I’ve always been going to my brother’s practices and tournaments,” said Caden Ferris, who started wrestling in sixth grade.
“I sometimes wrestle my brother in the backyard, but not a lot. He’s four years ahead of me.”
Wrestling his dad has a different spin.
“He tried once. It didn’t work out in his favor,” he added laughing.
During his freshman year, Ferris posted a 36-19 record, and those losses fueled his desire to win even more.
His sophomore season he improved to 38-3, and last year, 33-2. Total, he’s 152-24 heading into his final weekend of high school competition.
Following a familiar path
Rollie Ferris began wrestling in third grade, but honed his skills early, growing up on a farm with five brothers.
“We’re just always competitive,” he said. “When I had the chance to start wrestling in third or fourth grade, it was just a natural for me.
“I always enjoyed competing, then you get your hand raised, and then you get medals. It was awesome.”
Rollie Ferris’ journey did not start out “awesome.”
“My very first time wrestling (as a third grader), I got thrown on my back in a headlock by a kid I didn’t know at the time,” he recalled. “I was crying.”
His skills improved immensely from that first pin to his two Finals titles in high school.
Although he attended Central Michigan University on a football scholarship, he wrestled for coach Tom Borrelli for two of those years.
Borrelli is still coaching at CMU, where Tyden is a senior on the football team.
Because of that connection, “I’ve always been up at CMU and wrestling with them and getting to know the coaches since I was real little,” Caden Ferris said.
So when Coach Borrelli called to offer his son a four-year wrestling scholarship, “I was in awe because I know that wrestling doesn’t always get all that,” Rollie Ferris said. “Caden was offered before he even got a state championship last year.”
Having Ferris on the Delton Kellogg team is a tremendous asset, coach Dan Phillips said.
“You can always count on six (points) from him when he goes on the mat.” he said. “He’s a great leader on our team and vocal on the bench.
“He’s a pretty good physical specimen. He’s tall, he’s strong, he’s lanky. He’s well-coordinated. He’s very athletic.”
As for so many pins, “He’s relentless. If you make a mistake on the mat, he’ll capitalize on it. Plus he’s strong.
“The kids aren’t trying to get pinned. They can’t help it. That’s his attitude when he gets out there. He’s going to take them down and pin them. There’s no question about that. That’s his attitude.”
Full family effort
With several young, inexperienced wrestlers on the team, Phillips said this is a rebuilding year.
While the Panthers did not qualify for Team Regionals, four other wrestlers competed individually including junior Joelle White (110) in the MHSAA’s first-ever girls tournament. Junior Gage Vincent (119) will join Ferris at Ford Field.
To prepare, Ferris has followed his dad’s advice.
“I do a lot of running, bike, weight training, a lot of mat time, drilling with anybody I can find to throw around,” he said.
“I’m wrestling seven days a week including Grand Rapids, with all sorts of coaches.”
His dad said that takes a lot of dedication.
“I’m extremely proud of him, not only for the wins but he wants to put the work in,” he said.
“We live in Delton, which is an hour to anything so you have to be willing to be in the car and go places to do things. He’s willing to do all that.”
Caden Ferris’ mother, Marie, has been witness to it all.
“I call her my kids’ free agent,” Rollie Ferris said. “She’s just out there pushing for them, talking to people and setting up stuff constantly.
“She’s been with me since I was 16, so she watched both me win state twice and Billy win.”
She has also been there to cheer on her sons and daughter, Faith, in their sports endeavors.
One thing their father has learned is “not to be mat side with them so much,” he said. “The coaches do a good job with them.
“I’ve learned with my three kids to let other people coach. I want to be their dad, although I still probably am a little bit more intense than I should be.”
Once his son graduates in the spring, there will be a lull in the Ferris family wrestling tradition at Delton Kellogg until Rollie’s nephew Mason gets to high school. A sixth grader, Mason is also a wrestler.
For Caden Ferris, before the pomp of graduation, there are a few hurdles to face to go with next week’s big opportunity.
Rollie Ferris knows, in spite of his son’s success, nothing is guaranteed.
“As a dad, I’m always nervous there’s somebody in the closet that we don’t know,” he said. “Just like I tell these kids all the time, to be somebody, you’ve got to beat somebody.
“If I’m somebody out there wanting to wrestle Caden, if I’m his dad, I’m telling him we’ve got to beat this kid. He’s gonna be sitting up there not hungry. He’s got to beat the guy in the mirror.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Delton Kellogg’s Caden Ferris, in maroon, works to control his opponent during last season’s Division 4 championship match at 215 pounds. (2) Caden Ferris and his father Rollie Ferris. (3) Panthers coach Dan Phillips. (4) Caden Ferris holds up his chart during last season’s medal ceremony. (Action shots by HighSchoolSportsScene.com; head shot by Pam Shebest.)