For more than 40 years Brian Brakeman forecasted the Ohio High School Wrestling State Tournament. The much-anticipated report created endless goals and discussions across the State of Ohio. Here is his inaugural report from 1972. Brakeman Report- 1972
Here are a few words from Mr. Brakeman after his final report…
After more than 40 years and well over 3,000 pages, it seems time to draw the curtain on the Brakeman Report. It has been a labor of (mostly) love, but its objective from the start–identifying and forecasting the participants in the state meet–has been rendered unnecessary by the explosion of data and data analysts on the Internet. It is a decision, I make with some misgivings since I have always enjoyed the process which lead up to the report. Still, it will now be the first January since 1971 that I will be able to really enjoy without the specter of hard-to-make deadlines.
It has been a privilege to work with the various constituencies within the wrestling community which I hope to maintain in the future. I would like to thank all the folks who have given me so much help over the years, particularly the three principal typists–the late Arnetta Moore, the superstar for over two decades, Kim (Fiftyfingers) Manning, and my own first cousin, the long suffering Nancy Dimitris. And, in addition, I truly have appreciated all my readers and the many comments (both positive and negative) that they have so often provided.