Taking the fun out of wrestling?
Yes, that's right, I'm back. I just discovered my forgotten password, allowing me to blog for the first time since, oh, the Ford administration. And since NCHSAA media relations guru Rick Strunk sent out the highlights of last week's spring board meeting too late for me to get this in my published high school notes, I wanted highlight one rule change by blog. You can read further Friday in this week's prep notes ...
High school wrestlers will no longer be allowed to exceed 55 matches prior to the conference tournament. And a team will henceforth be allowed to wrestle only one double-dual match (two team matches in one day) per season.
The issue, we're told, is that way too many wrestlers were finishing the season with 90-95 victories. Given that the top season records in the nation traditionally come in at about 75 wins, the high school association thought N.C. wrestlers were going overboard, or at least were being overworked.
I'll follow up on this from the coaches' point of view Friday, but at first glance, I have to say that most of those winning 90 times in a season are piling up 30- to 60-second wins, i.e. they're pinning people in the first period. So it's not a case of overburdened wrestlers in those cases. Begging the question: Was this rule change really necessary?
If there are any wrestlers out there, feel free to chime in on this issue.
Comments (3)
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Jeff,
Thanks for the job the News and Record does with high school sports. I look forward to your follow-up on Friday with the new wrestling rules. My take on this is our new board is trying to make sure the folks in Chapel Hill know exactly what the coaches want to happen. It will take some time, but I feel all parties are doing what is in the best interests of our athletes. Keep the wrestling articles coming. Wrestling is growing here as it is nationwide. It would be great to see more articles on the wrestlers that are currently wrestling in college from this area so parents and other kids see that colleges do offer opportunities after high school.
Posted on May 9, 2007 11:44 AM
We'll certainly try to get the good local wrestling stories out there. We appreciate hearing from Andy Chappell, who coaches one of the top programs in the state at wrestling.
I should correct one thing from my earlier post. The double-dual meet refers to tournaments where teams either wrestle up to 5 matches in one day or 10 in two days. (Can you tell I wasn't a wrestler?) The NCHSAA is cutting schools off at one such tournament per season, according to Morehead coach Greg Frey.
Posted on May 9, 2007 1:57 PM
I think that this rule is crazy because Colton Palmer won 91 matches most off them were pins so i'm wondering why then have "the guts" to make dual teams to go to one two day tournment this make no sense to me
Posted on May 11, 2007 9:51 PM