It's the thread you know you needed: 12 weights

[littleguy301]

Two toughest teams in the state THE ENTIRE STATE  Coleman and Wrightstown....then look at Fennimore and Stratford.... yes allot of yap yap on D1 when in fact some excellent very strong teams at the the other two levels....good programs will continue to be good because they have culture community and coaching..

I think you toss a couple more teams into discussions that are not D1.

[ramjet]

Two toughest teams in the state THE ENTIRE STATE  Coleman and Wrightstown....then look at Fennimore and Stratford.... yes allot of yap yap on D1 when in fact some excellent very strong teams at the the other two levels....good programs will continue to be good because they have culture community and coaching..

I think you toss a couple more teams into discussions that are not D1.

Absolutely LC  comes to mind several others.

[factfinder]

In 1980 we had 500 students in our school had 40 wrestlers in a smaller wrestling room than they have now with 12 weight classes. 2020 we have 220 students 22 wrestlers bigger wrestling room and 14 weight classes. I do not know how old you guys are but I'm sure you did not see the 1980's and if you did you know what I'm talking about. Why not go to 13. Take care of a lot of situations with 13. Littleguy said went to a match out of 14 only 2 matches wrestled. If you move to 12 it won't solve anything. If it doesn't work all we will hear is we should of stayed at 14. If we move to 13 I think it will be a smoother transition. I don't care what you say wrestling is going down hill. After wrestling season is over the kids don't want to even talk about wrestling. The sport of wrestling is going all in or stay home. It is putting lots of pressure on the kids more so than when we wrestled.  Numbers are dropping no matter how you look at it. If we can't put 14 Varsity boys on the mat what does that say about our Varsity Reserve boys. How many school can put together a full second team. The answer is not a co-op cuz you put 2 D3 teams together and then you are a D2 team. Can't compete in D3 how can you compete in D2.

Wrestling numbers are down in WI you are correct but nationally numbers are up and they have been slowly going up since we went to 14 weight classes. In the 2019 season wrestling was the 3rd fastest growing sport for boys.

There are more teams with wrestling, and that is great, but teams have actually gotten smaller over time.

Obviously as small towns continue to struggle with population declines and big schools offer more and more extra curricular activities you will see declines, No argument from me on that.
But if you have been around the sport for a long time (as I know you have) the quality of wrestling has gotten much better especially since 2013 when the sport buckled down after almost losing the sport in the Olympics. So even though some numbers maybe down the quality is up so I would argue its easier to fill a true qualified line up more so then back in the 80s or 90s.
One thing we can all agree on is weather we are at 14 weights or 12 weights the top programs will continue to dominate and struggling programs will struggle because quality coaching will always win over big numbers or same numbers. Other then reducing opportunities for some kids I don't truly see anything changing, but at this point I hope I am wrong and after this point I won't sit and complain, I will support the change.

[Ghetto]

In 1980 we had 500 students in our school had 40 wrestlers in a smaller wrestling room than they have now with 12 weight classes. 2020 we have 220 students 22 wrestlers bigger wrestling room and 14 weight classes. I do not know how old you guys are but I'm sure you did not see the 1980's and if you did you know what I'm talking about. Why not go to 13. Take care of a lot of situations with 13. Littleguy said went to a match out of 14 only 2 matches wrestled. If you move to 12 it won't solve anything. If it doesn't work all we will hear is we should of stayed at 14. If we move to 13 I think it will be a smoother transition. I don't care what you say wrestling is going down hill. After wrestling season is over the kids don't want to even talk about wrestling. The sport of wrestling is going all in or stay home. It is putting lots of pressure on the kids more so than when we wrestled.  Numbers are dropping no matter how you look at it. If we can't put 14 Varsity boys on the mat what does that say about our Varsity Reserve boys. How many school can put together a full second team. The answer is not a co-op cuz you put 2 D3 teams together and then you are a D2 team. Can't compete in D3 how can you compete in D2.

Wrestling numbers are down in WI you are correct but nationally numbers are up and they have been slowly going up since we went to 14 weight classes. In the 2019 season wrestling was the 3rd fastest growing sport for boys.

There are more teams with wrestling, and that is great, but teams have actually gotten smaller over time.

Obviously as small towns continue to struggle with population declines and big schools offer more and more extra curricular activities you will see declines, No argument from me on that.
But if you have been around the sport for a long time (as I know you have) the quality of wrestling has gotten much better especially since 2013 when the sport buckled down after almost losing the sport in the Olympics. So even though some numbers maybe down the quality is up so I would argue its easier to fill a true qualified line up more so then back in the 80s or 90s.
One thing we can all agree on is weather we are at 14 weights or 12 weights the top programs will continue to dominate and struggling programs will struggle because quality coaching will always win over big numbers or same numbers. Other then reducing opportunities for some kids I don't truly see anything changing, but at this point I hope I am wrong and after this point I won't sit and complain, I will support the change.

I would agree that wrestling is much better than it was before. The best kids are much better than our best were overall. I'd say that our academies are to be thanked for that. Not only do they make kids better, but in many ways, they make coaching better. There are also tons of places to watch the highest level technique. We get the opportunity to learn from the greats like never before.

The best teams are the best teams. They have special programs and I am appreciative of the hard work and dedication that goes into their being successful for decades. Some teams will never be good, for many reasons. There are many ways (I think) reducing weights is a positive, but mainly its for those middle teams to be competitive with other middle teams. If that happens, and teams grow stronger from it, then everyone will be happy.

[littleguy301]

Two toughest teams in the state THE ENTIRE STATE  Coleman and Wrightstown....then look at Fennimore and Stratford.... yes allot of yap yap on D1 when in fact some excellent very strong teams at the the other two levels....good programs will continue to be good because they have culture community and coaching..

I think you toss a couple more teams into discussions that are not D1.

Absolutely LC  comes to mind several others.

Over time, Ellsworth, st criox falls, cadet, boycville, mineral point just off the top of my head.

Mmget and PDC this year. Going to be fun with alot of those mentioned teams have a nice returning line up coming back for next year.

[littleguy301]

Here is a question for fact finder.

I was told the numbers in girls wrestling are separate in the stats as the boys. Sure you get girls limped in due to body fat tests but with some states I believe girls are counted seperate.

[Ghetto]

Here is a question for fact finder.

I was told the numbers in girls wrestling are separate in the stats as the boys. Sure you get girls limped in due to body fat tests but with some states I believe girls are counted seperate.

Wisconsin did not separate girls from boys in their 18-19 participation numbers.

States that showed girls statistics:

[littleguy301]

Ok. Just a tad confuseed. Only guessing but what are the first and second columns numbers. Just want to be exact and not guessing.

So some states combined and some states do not. So with out girls wrestling is not growing then?

[littleguy301]

I will support going to 13 weight classes because it makes sense for dual reasons. Now if it goes to 12, well same problem as 14 and now it becomes taking away spots.

Note to people, I am a d2 guy and support the D2 and D3 schools big time.

I am one that would like college go to 11 eleven weight classes and the Olympics back to 10 classes or 8 at least. Ok make it 9 for team events

[Ghetto]

Ok. Just a tad confuseed. Only guessing but what are the first and second columns numbers. Just want to be exact and not guessing.

So some states combined and some states do not. So with out girls wrestling is not growing then?

Sorry. I chopped that graphic off a bit.

The first column is teams. Second column is participants.

[Ghetto]

I will support going to 13 weight classes because it makes sense for dual reasons. Now if it goes to 12, well same problem as 14 and now it becomes taking away spots.

Note to people, I am a d2 guy and support the D2 and D3 schools big time.

I am one that would like college go to 11 eleven weight classes and the Olympics back to 10 classes or 8 at least. Ok make it 9 for team events

I get why 13 is attractive for a simple answer to dual victories. I'll take 13 as a small victory if that is where we go.

How many duals ended in a tie this year? In the 25 years I've coached wrestling, I can remember ending in a tie twice. I'm gonna look on trackwrestling for this year.

I hope you and the family are doing well LG.

[littleguy301]

I will support going to 13 weight classes because it makes sense for dual reasons. Now if it goes to 12, well same problem as 14 and now it becomes taking away spots.

Note to people, I am a d2 guy and support the D2 and D3 schools big time.

I am one that would like college go to 11 eleven weight classes and the Olympics back to 10 classes or 8 at least. Ok make it 9 for team events

I get why 13 is attractive for a simple answer to dual victories. I'll take 13 as a small victory if that is where we go.

How many duals ended in a tie this year? In the 25 years I've coached wrestling, I can remember ending in a tie twice. I'm gonna look on trackwrestling for this year.

I hope you and the family are doing well LG.

My school has had a hand full of ties over the years. Had 2 in one year and both went to the 7 tie breaker.

[littleguy301]

I will support going to 13 weight classes because it makes sense for dual reasons. Now if it goes to 12, well same problem as 14 and now it becomes taking away spots.

Note to people, I am a d2 guy and support the D2 and D3 schools big time.

I am one that would like college go to 11 eleven weight classes and the Olympics back to 10 classes or 8 at least. Ok make it 9 for team events

I get why 13 is attractive for a simple answer to dual victories. I'll take 13 as a small victory if that is where we go.

How many duals ended in a tie this year? In the 25 years I've coached wrestling, I can remember ending in a tie twice. I'm gonna look on trackwrestling for this year.

I hope you and the family are doing well LG.

My school has had a hand full of ties over the years. Had 2 in one year and both went to the 7 tie breaker.

We are doing well. Hope your doing well also

[Ghetto]

I looked at all the duals in Wisconsin for the past season. 500 duals or so. There were six ties that I saw. There may have been more, but that's a long list of duals. My eyes are tired.

[factfinder]

I have a feeling with the data that has been collected I would not be surprised to see the NHFS come out with no changes today.