New format for the state tournament

fulsaasfan

Well-Known Member
NEW FORMATS FOR STATE TOURNAMENTS
April 27, 2011
The Board of Control of the Iowa High School Athletic Association adopted changes for the Traditional State Wrestling Tournament and the State Dual Team Tournament.

The changes place the tournaments back-to-back in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and comes with the support of the Wrestling Coaches Advisory Committee, discussions with the IHSAA Representative Council, Board of Control and administrative groups, all supporting a three-day traditional tournament, which will be contested in eight sessions. The change is effective in 2012 with the Dual Team State Meet on February 15 and the Traditional State Tournament, Feb. 15-18.

The Board of Control of the Athletic Association wants to thank the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids where the State Dual Team Wrestling Tournament was since 1994. They were excellent hosts for 17 years and their hospitality was second-to-none.

While the Cellular Center is not available for the 2012 dual team tournament due to renovations, that is not the primary reason for the change. Changing the individual state tournament to a 3-day format allows the state duals to be wrestled on eight mats in Wells Fargo Arena.

A three-day tournament was abandoned when Veterans’ Auditorium started its initial renovation in 2003 and the number of place winners was expanded from six to eight. Due to those factors, the crowds could no longer be adequately accommodated under the three-day state format. Helping facilitate a return to a three-day state tournament are the fact that the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, and the corresponding consolations, will be wrestled on Friday; session starting and ending times have been adjusted; and wrestling will take place on Saturday morning, which was previously the IWCOA coaches’ breakfast and business meeting. Under the new format, wrestlers losing in the quarterfinals will also have the opportunity for more recovery time before their next competition.

Attendance at the traditional State Wrestling Tournament has averaged over 73,000 in the past 12 years and has had 22 straight Saturday night sell-outs. The State Dual Team Tournament, which celebrated its 25th year this season, has averaged nearly 5,200 during the same period.

The new changes also address a concern that teams that qualify for the State Dual Team Tournament will not have wrestlers trying to hold their weight for an 18-day period. By having the qualifying teams in Des Moines on Wednesday, there will be no need for excess travel in returning home to work out wrestlers who did not qualify for the traditional tournament.

Following the Board of Control decision, the IHSAA immediately notified member schools administrators and coaches via a mass email.

Assistant Executive Director Alan Beste, who is the IHSAA administrator at both wrestling tournaments, commented on the changes by saying, “These changes are good for high school wrestling in Iowa. Since going to a four-day state tournament the length of the tournament and related loss of school time have been the major concerns of school administrators.â€￾

Mr. Beste added, “Wrestlers who did not qualify for the state individual tournament, but who needed to maintain their weight for state dual team has long been a concern of wrestling coaches. These changes address those concerns and allow state duals to be wrestled back to eighth place. Rick Wulkow, Executive Director of the Athletic Association, and the Board of Control, have been advocates for addressing the concerns expressed by administrators and coaches for a number of years and have now found a way to address those concerns.â€￾ The new changes also address a concern that teams that qualify for the State Dual Team Tournament will not have wrestlers trying to hold their weight for an 18-day period. By having the qualifying teams in Des Moines on Wednesday, there will be no need for excess travel in returning home to work out wrestlers who did not qualify for the traditional tournament.

Following the Board of Control decision, the IHSAA immediately notified member schools administrators and coaches via a mass email.

Assistant Executive Director Alan Beste, who is the IHSAA administrator at both wrestling tournaments, commented on the changes by saying, “These changes are good for high school wrestling in Iowa. Since going to a four-day state tournament the length of the tournament and related loss of school time have been the major concerns of school administrators.â€￾

Mr. Beste added, “Wrestlers who did not qualify for the state individual tournament, but who needed to maintain their weight for state dual team has long been a concern of wrestling coaches. These changes address those concerns and allow state duals to be wrestled back to eighth place. Rick Wulkow, Executive Director of the Athletic Association, and the Board of Control, have been advocates for addressing the concerns expressed by administrators and coaches for a number of years and have now found a way to address those concerns.â€￾
 
Wait what? they're wrestling the duals the wednesday immediately BEFORE the tournament!? That's asinine if true. No ranked wrestler will want to participate in this, this just seems ridiculous. Am I reading this correctly?
 
Wait what? they're wrestling the duals the wednesday immediately BEFORE the tournament!? That's asinine if true. No ranked wrestler will want to participate in this, this just seems ridiculous. Am I reading this correctly?

Other states wrestle them concurrently. This is the best move they could make. There may actually be some fan attendance at the dual tournament and the cost savings for schools who don't need to come down on Wednesday is a big deal with today's budgets.
 
This is the best decision the IHSAA has made in a long time pertaining to wrestling. Every coach and wrestler I have talked to about this absolutely loves this. This has been rumored to be happening for quite a while.
 
awesome i can't wait to actually be able to come to the duals i never understood why they were in cedar rapids.

for ranked wrestlers i think it will be good because they can get the jitters out of the system and first round matches won't be as difficult! Great decision
 
awesome i can't wait to actually be able to come to the duals i never understood why they were in cedar rapids.

for ranked wrestlers i think it will be good because they can get the jitters out of the system and first round matches won't be as difficult! Great decision

Actually I would have rather they kept them on the Saturday after but just moved them back to the UNI Dome were they started since they can't have them in Cedar Rapids next year.
 
Also another problem this could create (not saying it will happen and probably not very likely) but what if SEP or Roosevelt would qualify for the duals and Meeks or Clark get hurt and can't wrestle for a few weeks or just days, there goes their shot at being a 4 timer where as before it would be after they won their 4th title.

It just isn't these 2, but a kid could get hurt that qualified for the traditional meet and not be able to wrestle. That is the goal for every wrestler, to make state as an individual more so then qualifying for the state duals. All that hard work could be taken away from a kid because they want the state duals the day before.
 
Also another problem this could create (not saying it will happen and probably not very likely) but what if SEP or Roosevelt would qualify for the duals and Meeks or Clark get hurt and can't wrestle for a few weeks or just days, there goes their shot at being a 4 timer where as before it would be after they won their 4th title.

It just isn't these 2, but a kid could get hurt that qualified for the traditional meet and not be able to wrestle. That is the goal for every wrestler, to make state as an individual more so then qualifying for the state duals. All that hard work could be taken away from a kid because they want the state duals the day before.

Better wrap them in bubble wrap for the season just in case.
 
they could get hurt at sectionals, districts thats just the risk you run this isn't the nba all-star game
 
they could get hurt at sectionals, districts thats just the risk you run this isn't the nba all-star game

True, even though that is part of the qualifing process and the state duals aren't, I guess it would be like 1A and 2A having their dual team districts to qualify for state duals before the traditional tournament and running the risk of an injury after sectionals.
 
Mr. Beste added, “Wrestlers who did not qualify for the state individual tournament, but who needed to maintain their weight for state dual team has long been a concern of wrestling coaches."

Hard to argue this point.
 
Well for 1a and 2a have had to wrestle team regionals the tues before districts, so basically the same thing. I don't really have a prob. with this. With 8 teams are at the state duals and many are blow outs, a coach can insert JV wrestlers if needed.
 
I would agree it needs to be in DSM. Also I agree it needs to be closer to the actual tournament. But I see no need for this to be before the tournament it's self. Not for injury worries but from competition standpoint. I feel it is very exciting watching kids wrestle others they have not seen all year at the tournament. Then they get another shot "maybe" at duals. The tournament is far more important than the duals.
 
Mr. Beste added, “Wrestlers who did not qualify for the state individual tournament, but who needed to maintain their weight for state dual team has long been a concern of wrestling coaches."

Hard to argue this point.

It is a valid point, but I would also argue that if a kid does get beat at sectionals and has 3 weeks before the state duals and can't maintain his weight then he is cutting to much weight for a high school kid. It isn't that hard to maintain it if you don't take a full week off but only a few days instead.
 
It is a valid point, but I would also argue that if a kid does get beat at sectionals and has 3 weeks before the state duals and can't maintain his weight then he is cutting to much weight for a high school kid. It isn't that hard to maintain it if you don't take a full week off but only a few days instead.

There are limits to cutting I would presume?
 
All I'm saying is this...if I'm a contender for an individual title, I'm not wanting to potentially wrestle 3 full matches one day prior to the state tournament. That's ridiculous. Plus, those wrestlers would then get an additional weight allowance for each day of the tournament which seems unfair as well. State duals is great but it should not jeopardize the traditional tournament.
 
All I'm saying is this...if I'm a contender for an individual title, I'm not wanting to potentially wrestle 3 full matches one day prior to the state tournament. That's ridiculous. Plus, those wrestlers would then get an additional weight allowance for each day of the tournament which seems unfair as well. State duals is great but it should not jeopardize the traditional tournament.
Agree. It will also be interesting to see what the attendance for the State Duals is now that it is being held on a Wednesday versus Saturday.
 
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