A NCAA Blue-Ribbon Task Force has recommended moving the D1 Wrestling season back about a month, to start during semester break just before the start of the 2nd semester in January. There's been a lot of discussion about this change over the last few years, as many think that the season is too disjointed in it's current form. It's hard for the wrestlers to control their weight over the split season, and there's also been a lot of disagreement on how to integrate a Dual Meet Championship into the current format. There is momentum building for a single semester season and coaches who attended the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) last month voted unanimously to support the change.
The Task Force is going to present its findings to the NCAA soon, and the change could take place in a couple years, or it could take longer. I'm neutral on the change, but would support whatever the coaches and athletes prefer. The best part of it might be the start of a D1 Dual Meet Championship that gains the participation of all D1 teams (which is not happening now!).
What do you think??
Here's the article from Trackwrestling.com:
Could college wrestling be on the verge of monumental changes?
The task force assigned to examine the sport’s long-term health has unanimously approved schedule adjustments that, if passed by the NCAA, would squeeze the Division I season into one semester, culminating with a late-April dual championship tournament.
There’s been chatter before about wholesale changes that would push back practice and competition start dates and bump the NCAA Championships away from its traditional mid-March spot and away from the opening weekend of college basketball’s March Madness.
But this set of recommendations would leave the NCAA Championships in its current place on the calendar. And these talks appear to be picking up steam.
“There’s great momentum,” Ohio State coach Tom Ryan said. “There’s more momentum right now than I’ve seen in 25 years.”
Ryan is part of the Blue Ribbon Task Force responsible for devising a strategic plan for wrestling’s future. Members of the group — which includes Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, North Carolina State athletic director Debbie Yow and NCAA executive vice president of regulatory affairs Oliver Luck, the former athletic director at West Virginia — said switching to a one-semester sport for academic performance purposes and increasing the importance of dual meets are top priorities.
“If you just look at the facts with wrestling in general, we have a lot of first-generation college students and I think when you add in these kids coming to school and starting preseason right away, cutting weight and trying to get certified for the beginning of the year and then competing really close to those first final exams, it puts a lot of stress on the athletes in that first year,” said Northern Colorado coach Troy Nickerson, a Blue Ribbon Task Force member. “That’s one of the big reasons why we chose the second semester being a better fit for it.
“Then as a sport in general, we need to find a way to make the dual meet matter more. Dual meets are exciting. You’re always going to have your wrestling fans, but I think a dual meet is much more likely to capture that casual fan. … They can conceptualize that a little bit easier than sitting eight hours at a tournament all day long.”
Nickerson said coaches in attendance at last month’s National Wrestling Coaches Association convention unanimously approved the idea of moving to a one-semester season.
“There’s a little kickback in general as to the dual meet championship and how that’s going to work and how that’s going to be scored,” Nickerson said. “With wrestling, there’s some programs that could struggle a little bit more from it, but as of right now with the direction we’re headed, the Blue Ribbon Task Force really wants to see two championships from the NCAA. We’ve proven that the individual championship makes money, it’s very successful for the NCAA and why wouldn’t a dual meet championship be just as successful?”
It remains to be seen how, if at all, possible changes would affect other levels of college wrestling.
“For Division II and Division III, if keeping the season where it is now is best for them, they can do that,” Blue Ribbon Task Force facilitator Jim Fallis said. “And they should do that.”
According to Fallis, the proposed Division I model looks like this:
Nickerson is optimistic the task force recommendations will ultimately come to fruition.
“We have a lot of hoops to jump through,” he said. “It’s going to certainly take some time. I think we will ultimately end up there — absolutely — the question is when? Will it be two years from now? Five years from now? Ten years from now? I think ultimately we will get there eventually.”
(Photo: John Sachs)
The Task Force is going to present its findings to the NCAA soon, and the change could take place in a couple years, or it could take longer. I'm neutral on the change, but would support whatever the coaches and athletes prefer. The best part of it might be the start of a D1 Dual Meet Championship that gains the participation of all D1 teams (which is not happening now!).
What do you think??
Here's the article from Trackwrestling.com:
Could college wrestling be on the verge of monumental changes?
- Trackwrestling.com
- Andy Hamilton
- 09/28/2017
The task force assigned to examine the sport’s long-term health has unanimously approved schedule adjustments that, if passed by the NCAA, would squeeze the Division I season into one semester, culminating with a late-April dual championship tournament.
There’s been chatter before about wholesale changes that would push back practice and competition start dates and bump the NCAA Championships away from its traditional mid-March spot and away from the opening weekend of college basketball’s March Madness.
But this set of recommendations would leave the NCAA Championships in its current place on the calendar. And these talks appear to be picking up steam.
“There’s great momentum,” Ohio State coach Tom Ryan said. “There’s more momentum right now than I’ve seen in 25 years.”
Ryan is part of the Blue Ribbon Task Force responsible for devising a strategic plan for wrestling’s future. Members of the group — which includes Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, North Carolina State athletic director Debbie Yow and NCAA executive vice president of regulatory affairs Oliver Luck, the former athletic director at West Virginia — said switching to a one-semester sport for academic performance purposes and increasing the importance of dual meets are top priorities.
“If you just look at the facts with wrestling in general, we have a lot of first-generation college students and I think when you add in these kids coming to school and starting preseason right away, cutting weight and trying to get certified for the beginning of the year and then competing really close to those first final exams, it puts a lot of stress on the athletes in that first year,” said Northern Colorado coach Troy Nickerson, a Blue Ribbon Task Force member. “That’s one of the big reasons why we chose the second semester being a better fit for it.
“Then as a sport in general, we need to find a way to make the dual meet matter more. Dual meets are exciting. You’re always going to have your wrestling fans, but I think a dual meet is much more likely to capture that casual fan. … They can conceptualize that a little bit easier than sitting eight hours at a tournament all day long.”
Nickerson said coaches in attendance at last month’s National Wrestling Coaches Association convention unanimously approved the idea of moving to a one-semester season.
“There’s a little kickback in general as to the dual meet championship and how that’s going to work and how that’s going to be scored,” Nickerson said. “With wrestling, there’s some programs that could struggle a little bit more from it, but as of right now with the direction we’re headed, the Blue Ribbon Task Force really wants to see two championships from the NCAA. We’ve proven that the individual championship makes money, it’s very successful for the NCAA and why wouldn’t a dual meet championship be just as successful?”
It remains to be seen how, if at all, possible changes would affect other levels of college wrestling.
“For Division II and Division III, if keeping the season where it is now is best for them, they can do that,” Blue Ribbon Task Force facilitator Jim Fallis said. “And they should do that.”
According to Fallis, the proposed Division I model looks like this:
- Official practices would begin on or around Nov. 10.
- Competition would kick off during the semester break.
- The first half of the season would feature a mixture of duals and individual tournaments leading up to March’s conference tournaments and the NCAA Championships.
- The post-NCAA Championships portion of the season would only consist of duals.
- The season would culminate with a two-weekend, 16-team dual tournament held on college campuses.
- The bracket would be filled by conference dual champions and at-large selections.
- The top eight seeds would each host dual meets on the dual tournament’s first weekend.
- The top remaining seed after the first weekend would play host to an eight-team championship bracket the following weekend.
Nickerson is optimistic the task force recommendations will ultimately come to fruition.
“We have a lot of hoops to jump through,” he said. “It’s going to certainly take some time. I think we will ultimately end up there — absolutely — the question is when? Will it be two years from now? Five years from now? Ten years from now? I think ultimately we will get there eventually.”
(Photo: John Sachs)
