nikstlitslepmur;1083754 wrote:Here is what it comes down to....you either want more matches or you don't. I agree that the time between the 4th and 5th round was excessive. Not sure why there was need for that much time. Beyond that the 45 minute rule applies so a 3rd mat wouldn't really help that much if at all. If you want more matches then you have to accept the extra time that it will take. If you like the old format then you get less matches and home much quicker. The one feature of the old format that I missed was the true finals round. Even in the old format you could get the 2nd best wrestler placing 3rd because of the seeding criteria. The best wrestler takes first in either format...the issue is who takes 2nd, 3rd or 4th. Seeding often determines who takes 2nd or 3rd. The seeding rules are cut and dry in either instance. This year my son got one additonal match (a very good match) that wouldn't of taken place in last year's format. So...try to learn from this year and make it better where possible. The best team won in this format and likely in the old format. Maybe 2-6 would have been a little different but is that really important in the grand scheme of things?
I talk a very big game and ended up going to "finals". Sorry... I'm a sucker for wrestling. My take was this based on what I saw and from what I heard from many different people. (Not just Way/NW people) There were three major complaints that were common. Length of the tournament, confusion with the format/setup, and atmosphere.
3 Mats should have been used. They wrestled an extra 75 matches (I believe that is what it came out to... or it was 50) 3 mats could have been utilized. Pac-7's ran 3 mats the entire tournament and ran into zero time issues. done in around 5 1/2... 6 hours hours. OCC jr high is ran on 3 also. These are all 8 team bracket tourneys. 3 Mats would help this problem. maybe cut an hour and a half off the total. The only time you might have an issue pop up is the "short" round they had where half the tournament had a bye. Anyone running into the 45 min rule gets thrown to the back of the stack. It isn't like wrestling in weight order is an issue in this format.
Score keeping was easier but when it came to the "finals".... I know Waynedale had Staggs going for 1st on the 3rd place mat. (might have been wrestling 4th place?? I didn't pay that much attention to be honest) Brad Wardell wrestling a kid in the "finals" to finish 2nd while 1st was wrestling someone else and if 1st loss (I believe this was Grier) Wardell would have won 1st I was told... Not sure how that worked out that way if it was true. From the sounds of it most of it worked its self out but there were times where no one was exactly sure what was what.
The last concern was the one I feared the most in previous posts.... I was only around for one round but this is what I heard. ............................................................ ......................................... ....................................... That could have been due to the fact Waynedale had it locked it up (Was told that most people didn't know that even though the coaches knew) It could have been the confusion. The only time it got "heated" was when the crowd Boo'd an official for issuing a penalty in the Nelson/Moore match. The worst part was that this silence was typical of the entire day. Could have been the year or whatever but I was pretty bummed out at the end of the night.
I feel that this format needs to go. I suggest that if the league wants more matches they go to a dual tournament format (State duals format would work well.... Kids get 3 matches if ran in this format. If Rittman fields a team in the next two years like I believe is planned they can turn it into a pool dual tournament. I still feel that the best scenario is the bracket format with classes of 4 wrestlers or less ran as a round robin.
Are the extra matches really worth it. No. They are not. It may be beneficial to the middle level kids getting an extra match against another mid level kid but no benefit to the lower or top level kids. Now is not the time to be worrying about getting an extra match or two in. That's what the beginning/middle of the season is for. Kids wrestle 40+ matches by this time of year anyway. Heck just 8-10 years ago you had to make it to districts or even state to wrestle 40 matches.
That's my opinion. It was an honest attempt to create a positive change but it fell short.
