NHSCA and USA TODAY High School Sports announce partnership for HS Wrestling Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

Having helped the National High School Coaches Association with its radio show and media relations since 2010, I've very pleased to announce a HUGE partnership today.

I've engineered a partnership between USA TODAY High School Sports and the NHSCA to produce a Super 25 High School Wrestling Poll for the 2015-16 season.

We jointly released our preseason poll on Wednesday and beginning December 15th, we'll put-out weekly ratings on every Tuesday through the end of the season.

Below you can read the USA TODAY announcement on the partnership....

USA TODAY High School Sports and the National High School Coaches Association are teaming up to produce and promote Super 25 team rankings for scholastic wrestling.

To kick off this partnership, USA TODAY and the NHSCA are releasing the Super 25 Preseason Rankings for the 2015-16 season. The first regular season rankings will be released in mid-December. The content is available at usatodayhss.com.

"We are excited to partner with USA TODAY High School Sports to produce a national high school wrestling poll," said Bobby Ferraro, executive director of the National High School Coaches Association.  "To do the Top 25 in conjunction with the nation's leading producer of high school sports content will mean a lot for the sport of high school wrestling.  Our National Top 25 is a perfect complement to our individual national championships that we've been conducting for over a quarter of a century."

Said Josh Barnett, director of content for USA TODAY High School Sports: “We are excited to be working with the National High School Coaches Association. With nearly 11,000 schools nationwide with wrestling teams and more than 250,000 athletes participating, we feel like the addition of wrestling is an important step in expanding our overall Super 25 content. We are eager to provide more content for the dedicated wrestlers and coaches and passionate fans of high school wrestling.”

With the addition of wrestling, the Super 25 expands to 11 sports (six boys and five girls), a growth from four sports in the 2013-14 academic year. USA TODAY High School Sports has added boys and girls soccer and field hockey this fall.

 
About USA TODAY High School Sports
USA TODAY High School Sports is the leading destination for high school sports news and information, providing nationwide coverage and aligning locally with USA TODAY Sports and Gannett properties in various markets across the country. USATHSS is home to the Super 25 national rankings and the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Teams for boys and girls sports, both serving for more than 30 years as the leading platforms for determining the best teams, and the best athletes, in scholastic sports. USATODAY HSS also is the official media partner for the Gatorade Athlete and Player of the Year programs.

Southern California team tapped #1 in MaxPreps Preseason Top 25 Softball Poll

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

Pacifica from Garden Grove, California is the preseason #1 softball team in America, according to MaxPreps.com.

Pacifica finished 27-6 last season, losing in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals.  As MaxPreps reports, Pacifica lost a lot talent, but have plenty of Division 1 college talent returning.

Maybe the biggest surprise is that defending national champ Northern from Maryland opens #10.

Northern is riding a 79-game win streak after winning its sixth straight Class 3A state title in 2013.  While the team lost a lot of talent from last year, but senior pitcher Jess Cummings does return.  Last year Cummings only allowed one unearned run last year.  Her line - 22-0, 0.00 ERA with 298 strikeouts in 135 innings.

Last year I spoke with Northern head coach Robert Earl Radford last April, click here to listen to that interview on the NHSCA Sports Hour.

Here's the MaxPreps Top 10….

1. Pacifica (California)
2. Alexander Central (North Carolina)
3. Amador Valley (California)
4. Greenwood (Kentucky)
5. Deer Park (Texas)
6. Archbishop Mitty (California)
7. Hoover (Ohio)
8. Red Mountain (Arizona)
9. Mountain Ridge (Arizona)
10. Northern (Maryland)

Blair Academy remains #1 high school wrestling team in the national in latest Win Magazine rankings

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

Blair Academy from Blairstown, New Jersey had quite a month of January with impressive dual meet victories over nationally-ranked Graham (St. Paris, Ohio), Perry (Massillon, Ohio) and Wyoming Seminary (Kingston, Pennsylvania).  The narrow 27-24 win over Sem came in the gold medal match at the NHSCA Final Four Wrestling Festival in York, Pennsylvania on January 11th.  

Those three victories solidified the Bucs at the top of the latest Win Magazine national high school wrestling rankings.  Blair's win moved former #2 Graham down three spots, while Perry moves up one spot to #9.  On the other hand, Wyoming Seminary's narrow loss moves them up three to #6.

Three are four new teams in the latest rankings: Broken Arrow (Oklahoma) at #12, Kaukauna (Wisconsin) at #15, Bettendorf (Iowa) at #16 and Bethlehem Catholic (Pennsylvania) at #23.

Win Magazine Top 25
…rankings through January 26, 2014

1. Blair Academy (New Jersey)
2. Apple Valley (Minnesota)
3. Oak Park-River Forest (Illinois)
4. Clovis (California)
5. Graham (Ohio)
6. Wyoming Seminary (Pennsylvania)
7. Bergen Catholic (New Jersey)
8. Archer (Georgia)
9. Perry (Ohio)
10. Franklin Regional (Pennsylvania)
11. Brandon (Florida)
12. Broken Arrow (Oklahoma)
13. Stillwater (Oklahoma)
14. Montini Catholic (Illinois)
15. Kaukauna (Wisconsin)
16. Bettendorf (Iowa)
17. Marist (Illinois)
18. Lowell (Michigan)
19. Edmond North (Oklahoma)
20. Buchanan (California)
21. St. Peter's Prep (New Jersey)
22. Bound Brook (New Jersey)
23. Bethlehem Catholic (Pennsylvania)
24. Poway (California)
25. St. Edward (Ohio)

Baseball America's Preseason Top 25 High School Baseball Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
NHSCA Sports Hour Host
Follow @NHSCAradioshow

Baseball America has released it's preseason Top 25 high school baseball rankings. 

Defending national champ Parkview High School in Georgia gets the nod as the top team heading into the 2013 season.

1	Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.	31-6 (1)
2	Campolindo HS, Moraga, Calif.	23-4 (6)
3	Cathedral Catholic HS, San Diego	30-5 (NR)
4	Spruce Creek HS, Port Orange, Fla.	28-4 (8)
5	Dulles HS, Sugar Land, Texas	27-8 (NR)
6	American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.	27-4 (4)
7	Carroll HS, Southlake, Texas	25-13 (NR)
8	Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.	24-6 (17)
9	Grayson HS, Loganville, Ga.	27-9 (NR)
10	The Woodlands (Texas) HS	24-8 (NR)
11	Venice (Fla.) HS	24-8 (25)
12	Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego	23-10 (NR)
13	Jenks (Okla.) HS	24-18 (NR)
14	Loganville (Ga.) HS	31-9 (23)
15	Barbe HS, Lake Charles, La.	35-6 (14)
16	Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.	24-5 (26)
17	Cypress (Texas) Woods HS	21-9 (NR)
18	Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.	24-3 (27)
19	Gainesville (Ga.) HS	32-2 (49)
20	Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS	23-5 (16)
21	Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz.	23-9 (NR)
22	Tullahoma (Tenn.) HS	27-13 (NR)
23	Jesuit HS, Tampa	28-2 (11)
24	North Florida Christian HS, Tallahassee, Fla.	17-10 (NR)
25	Coronado HS, Henderson, Nev.	29-10 (NR)

Baseball America's New #1 High School Team to be Featured on March 20th NHSCA Sports Hour

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

St. Francis High School (Mount View, CA) baseball coach Mike Oakland will join us on Sunday's NHSCA Sports Hour at 6 PM EST.

The Lancers are the new #1 team in Baseball America's latest Top 25 poll.  The northern California school began the season ranked third in the nation in BA's pre-season poll.

St. Francis is off to a 9-0 start and features seven players who have signed to play Division I baseball next year.

Back on February 27th,we spoke with Lee Yeager, head coach of Carroll High School (Corpus Christi, TX), who's team was ranked #1 in BA's pre-season poll.  The Tigers have lost four games to top teams, and fall to #4 in the latest rankings.

Here's the latest Baseball America rankings through March 12th...

1. St. Francis (CA) 8-0, LW: #3
2. Farragut (TN) 0-0, LW: #2
3. Jesuit (FL) 7-2, LW: #4
4. Carroll (TX) 10-4, LW: #1
5. Edison (CA) 5-0, LW: #23
6. Archbishop McCarthy (FL) 9-2, LW: #7
7. Klein-Collins (TX) 12-4, LW: #5
8. Bishop Gorman (NV) 0-0, LW: #10
9. Owasso (FL) 4-1, LW: #9
10. JSerra Catholic (CA) 5-0, LW: NR
11. Gulliver Pre (FL)  9-2, LW: #15
12. Broken Arrow (OK) 5-0, LW: #17
13. Rockwall-Heath (TX) 12-2, LW: #18
14. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 0-0, LW: #14
15. Spanish Fork (UT) 2-0, LW: #30
16. Archbishop Mitty (CA) 3-1, LW: #16
17. Mission Viejo (CA) 2-3, LW: #6
18. Ardrey Kell (NC) 6-0, LW: #36
19. West Boca (FL) 6-1, LW: #20
20. Hamilton (AZ) 8-2, LW: #12
21. Mountain Pointe (AZ) 4-2, LW: #6
22. Clovis West (CA) 7-0, LW: NR
23. Catholic (LA) 9-1, LW #22
24. Clements (TX) 11-0, LW: NR
25. Pinnacle (AZ) 9-0, LW: NR

Click here to listen to the show on March 23rd.

Baseball America Pre-Season Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

Excited to talk with Lee Yeager of Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas on tomorrow's NHSCA Sports Hour.

Last year Carroll won its first-ever Texas baseball championship.  The 5A champs are off to a bit of a slow start after going 1-3 over the last three days in the Woodlands Tournament.  However, with eight  starters returning from last season, the Tigers may have a shot at becoming the first Texas team since 2002 (Elkins HS) to win back-to-back state titles.

In order to get his team focused and not paying attention to being ranked #1 by Baseball America in its pre-season poll, Yeager has made the team put away all memorabilia from last year's championship run.

Here's a look at Baseball America's pre-season poll...

Baseball America
Pre-Season Poll

1. Carroll (TX) 38-7
2. Farragut (TN) 42-6
3. St. Francis (CA) 26-6
4. Jesuit (FL) 29-4
5. Klein-Collins (TX) 29-15
6. Mountain Point (AZ) 22-12
7. Archbishop McCarty (FL) 27-5
8. Mission Viejo (CA) 18-10
9. Owasso (OK) 32-7
10. Bishop Gorman (NV) 36-4
11. Chaminade College Prep (CA) 25-7
12. Hamilton (AZ) 28-5
13. Parkview (GA) 25-5
14. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 18-3
15. Gulliver Prep (FL) 26-6
16. Archbishop Mitty (CA) 31-3
17. Broken Arrow (OK) 32-8
18. Rockwall-Heath (TX) 39-3
19. Bishop Amat (CA) 27-4
20. West Boca (FL) 26-6
21. Columbus (GA) 32-5
22. Catholic (LA) 33-7
23. Edison (CA) 18-9
24. Sumrall (MS) 36-1
25. Petal (MS) 30-4