Wisconsin Wrestling Challenge Series 2015

[imnofish]

I have enjoyed reading various opinions on adding a lower weight class for JV.  "Old School" opinions crack me up.  I feel like I'm reading a wrestling version of "Footloose". 

Shouldn't the objective be to take whatever action is good for kids and good for the sport?  That's awesome if someone's son battled through as an undersized 106 pound Freshman.  What does that have to do with making the best decision for the most amount of kids involved right now? 

I also have a freshman wrestling varsity at 106.  My son also weighs about 100 pounds.  He's doing fine.   I don't know what my son's situation has to do with creating more opportunities for undersized, less experienced kids to love wrestling and competing.

My son wrestled one 80-something pound boy at a tournament, and my son said the boy actually whimpered like a puppy when my son had him in the air.  My son ended it quickly, and told us later that he wished that boy did not have to be on varsity.  My son said the boy looked miserable all day. 

So, that's where I'm coming from. If there was a place for that boy my son wrestled to compete, maybe have a little success (not be demoralized) and learn to love wrestling, I'm all for it.

+1,000   

[boz21]

Don't get me wrong I think this is an awesome for kids not able to compete in varsity tournaments.  Giving JV wrestlers a tournament that they can showcase there skills and show how much hard work they put in for the year.  But with that being said its doesn't seem fair that someone like Sauk Prairie who has 300 kids because some schools they have attending are coming to the varsity tournament.  With all the extra kids they are getting they are taking away the kids that were suppose to wrestle in another regional.  And I believe each hosting regional gets paid an amount for each kid or a  max cost with teams with 10 or more wrestlers.  This goes towards referee fees since each host regional has to find there own refs and pay them $100 each.  Look at Mineral Point there losing 2 schools to Sauk Prairie and the money they would get for those 26 wrestlers would help pay for the 4 refs needed that day.  I think when I looked last there was 12 schools that switched to come to Sauk Prairie instead of there own regional and Stoughton regional being the biggest loser with 6 schools moving over.  If they regional sites are willing to host and have there clubs volunteer there time to run them then I would think someone would have to enforce the rules to staying in your own regional.  Just my thought, but still looking forward to some great wrestling and wishing all the kids the best and have fun.   

[TomM]

boz21,
Glad you feel this is a good event and that you are looking forward to it.
To clear a few things up for you;
First, the Regions will be reimbursed for costs that entry fees do not cover for each Region (ie: referees etc.)
Second, regarding 'enforcing the rules'... I will re-post what has already been posted in this very thread previously on January 5, on this topic for you
< http://wiwrestling.info/index.php?topic=45593.msg564993#msg564993 >
Every school with a facility large enough to hold the event (space for a minimum of six mats) in Region #5 that we were aware of, was contacted and asked/offered to be the host of the Region #5 event.  We made over 20 calls and contacts.  No school had their facility available or had other commitments and could not or did not wish to hold the event.  Sauk Prairie was already holding their Varsity/JV event (for years) and by chance found out we were looking for a site and came forward to volunteer to help solve the problem, offering to share their space and time and effort.  We feel fortunate to get a host within the Region at such a late date who was prepared to help out.  Contracts were already in place for their Varsity/JV event and those need to be honored. This is not an event run by the WIAA.  Not all of the schools that have a varsity at Sauk Prairie will be entering a JV team.  Some will.  I do not have the exact number.
I hope this helps in understanding the situation and I am sure you can appreciate that as with the beginning of any event there will be some hurdles.  We hope it will be a great event for everyone involved and even more wrestlers in the future.
Next year teams will attend their assigned Region if they desire to enter the Region event.  As with any great endeavor there is a first step and it is not always perfect.
Tom

[HMsDad]

Did I miss it the listed start time? I can not seem to find it.

[imnofish]

I think the discussion about how to make this great opportunity even better is encouraging, because it shows that people see the value in it and are excited about it.  Obviously, the things we've talked about are not doable today; nor should they be, given time constraints and the lack of actual results from the current implementation plans.  Any value (beyond immediate entertainment and promotion) will be revealed if/when experience reveals direct correlations between them and actual tournament results.  I am so excited to see this step taken for wrestling and its participants!  I look forward to this becoming a Wisconsin tradition that will just get better and better.     Have a great day and enjoy participating in this latest chapter in Wisconsin's wrestling history!   

[boz21]

boz21,
Glad you feel this is a good event and that you are looking forward to it.
To clear a few things up for you;
First, the Regions will be reimbursed for costs that entry fees do not cover for each Region (ie: referees etc.)
Second, regarding 'enforcing the rules'... I will re-post what has already been posted in this very thread previously on January 5, on this topic for you
< http://wiwrestling.info/index.php?topic=45593.msg564993#msg564993 >
Every school with a facility large enough to hold the event (space for a minimum of six mats) in Region #5 that we were aware of, was contacted and asked/offered to be the host of the Region #5 event.  We made over 20 calls and contacts.  No school had their facility available or had other commitments and could not or did not wish to hold the event.  Sauk Prairie was already holding their Varsity/JV event (for years) and by chance found out we were looking for a site and came forward to volunteer to help solve the problem, offering to share their space and time and effort.  We feel fortunate to get a host within the Region at such a late date who was prepared to help out.  Contracts were already in place for their Varsity/JV event and those need to be honored. This is not an event run by the WIAA.  Not all of the schools that have a varsity at Sauk Prairie will be entering a JV team.  Some will.  I do not have the exact number.
I hope this helps in understanding the situation and I am sure you can appreciate that as with the beginning of any event there will be some hurdles.  We hope it will be a great event for everyone involved and even more wrestlers in the future.
Next year teams will attend their assigned Region if they desire to enter the Region event.  As with any great endeavor there is a first step and it is not always perfect.
Tom

I appreciate you taking the time Tom to enlighten me regarding the reasoning for Sauk Prairie hosting a regional.  Kudos to them for stepping up to the plate.  I agree with this being the first year of this event that things come up and we can learn from everything and move to make it better each and every year this continues.  Thanks to everyone who put this together and to those who volunteered there time to make these tournaments run smoothly.  Should be some great wrestling in two weeks in Wausau. 

[ecnorth]

Thank you for all teams that attended and competed today.  I think our regional went well.  There was some real nice excitement for finals and placement matches. 

[Mack]

This was a great event.  Thank you to all who conceived the idea, and worked to make it happen. It's so good for kids and for the sport of wrestling.  It's exciting. Things went very smoothly at Sauk Prairie.  The JV tournament ended by 4pm, thanks to a lot of awesome volunteers and good planning.  

[Stripes]

The tourney at ECN went very well as well. They showcased the finals matches on two mats closest to the bleachers. Our kids thought this was cool. The experience from this tourney will go a long way in preparing the jv kids for varsity. It resembled a varsity tourney with weight classes, double elimination brackets (rather than round robins). I think using weight classes, rather than pairing up kids of closest weight is an important experience. We had some kids lose weight and go up in weight to avoid teammates and fill weight classes. Not all kids did this because some aren't ready or committed enough to understand that aspect.

One addition I would add is a team score component. It could be done similar to Marty loy, by scoring your top ten wrestlers, or have a coach declare 1 wrestler per weight class as your scoring team. Yes, I know, this favors big teams/big schools, but that's kind of the way it works. I like this because now bonus points mean more and so does filling weight classes. Again, all important aspects of preparing a kid for varsity.

[Ghetto]

Track wrestling already has a feature where you can score the best 10, 14, etc regardless of weight class. Not sure what team scores mean in this case though.

[ocwrestler]

My athletes thought the Whitnall region was really well run. The kids said they felt like there was something more to wrestle for than a medal. They loved it. Great job to all involved in creating this series.

[P DUB]

Just an additional thought about possibly adding a few lower weight brackets...having sons who have wrestled light...there is no glory, "feel good", mat time, or any thing when you wrestle at 106 and beat someone 5, 10, 15, 20lbs lighter...I see it as a loose loose situation for both wrestlers. At the JV level, when wrestlers could possibly be new to the sport...give them an opportunity to wrestle...not pin or be pinned.

[1Iota]

Just an additional thought about possibly adding a few lower weight brackets...having sons who have wrestled light...there is no glory, "feel good", mat time, or any thing when you wrestle at 106 and beat someone 5, 10, 15, 20lbs lighter...I see it as a loose loose situation for both wrestlers. At the JV level, when wrestlers could possibly be new to the sport...give them an opportunity to wrestle...not pin or be pinned.

Sorry, P DUB we're teaching these undersized kids that life isn't fair.  This is a much better lesson than putting both wrestlers in a competive situation in which they can learn the joys of the sport.

[imnofish]

Just an additional thought about possibly adding a few lower weight brackets...having sons who have wrestled light...there is no glory, "feel good", mat time, or any thing when you wrestle at 106 and beat someone 5, 10, 15, 20lbs lighter...I see it as a loose loose situation for both wrestlers. At the JV level, when wrestlers could possibly be new to the sport...give them an opportunity to wrestle...not pin or be pinned.

Sorry, P DUB we're teaching these undersized kids that life isn't fair.  This is a much better lesson than putting both wrestlers in a competive situation in which they can learn the joys of the sport.

Of course it is.  In fact, it is so important that Nancy Kerrigan has recommended to the International Olympic Committee that random kneecapping will be done to competitors at the next Olympics.    

Seriously though, I'm guessing that the undersized wrestler issue will at least be a topic of discussion when this is planned in the future.  The intent is obviously to improve opportunities for young wrestlers, so I'm sure the issue will be carefully and respectfully dealt with.   

[kneeslide]

I would like to Thank all of the teams that participated at the Sauk Prairie regional.  We knew going in we would have large numbers so we made the necessary adjustments to accommodate everyone and felt we did a great job.  We are blessed to live in a community that is committed to putting on great events.  If you were in attendance and have any suggestions we would love to hear them. 
Would also like to Thank our volunteers as they did an awesome job.

Good Luck to all wrestlers and coaches the rest of the year.