After this years COVID season do you thin there will be any changes in events?

It seems to me that many of the wrestlers/coaches and parents enjoyed the early release on Saturdays.  

Most events were finished by 3:00 or 4:00PM this last season and everyone seemed to appreciate it. Will this change how many coaches will schedule for next year?  There were a lot of 5 and 6 team duals on Saturday along with tournaments with only 8-12 teams.  

I personally believe this is the way to go, but I would add one or two big tourneys in the mix.  For this to happen however more teams will have to host events, and teams will have to be willing to do a little bit of traveling out of their region.  However making a 2 hour trip to an event that will be finished in 4-7 hours is not bad.  Weigh in's can be a little later and still get home at a decent hour. 

I would also add that weekday duals have got to make a comeback.  Having a weekday dual only helps wrestling.  It allows teams to hold home evens to bolster excitement at their school for wrestling.  Teams that have no home events or only 1 a year get little notoriety from their student body.  It is always good for school spirit/support to have home events. 

2 hours ago, grappler-of-old said:

After this years COVID season do you thin there will be any changes in events?

It seems to me that many of the wrestlers/coaches and parents enjoyed the early release on Saturdays.  

Most events were finished by 3:00 or 4:00PM this last season and everyone seemed to appreciate it. Will this change how many coaches will schedule for next year?  There were a lot of 5 and 6 team duals on Saturday along with tournaments with only 8-12 teams.  

I personally believe this is the way to go, but I would add one or two big tourneys in the mix.  For this to happen however more teams will have to host events, and teams will have to be willing to do a little bit of traveling out of their region.  However making a 2 hour trip to an event that will be finished in 4-7 hours is not bad.  Weigh in's can be a little later and still get home at a decent hour. 

I would also add that weekday duals have got to make a comeback.  Having a weekday dual only helps wrestling.  It allows teams to hold home evens to bolster excitement at their school for wrestling.  Teams that have no home events or only 1 a year get little notoriety from their student body.  It is always good for school spirit/support to have home events. 

Absolutely. 12 hour days every weekend was one of the reasons I stopped coaching a couple years ago. After coaching again this season, it was a much appreciated change, and if it were to continue, I'd definitely think about sticking around. A whole winter of super long days is one of the biggest obstacles this sport faces in keeping wrestlers and parents in the sport. 

I get that big tourneys are huge fundraisers. But I've felt for years, especially coming from a state where what you describe is exactly what the season looks like, that our schedule is the biggest thing affecting the growth of the sport here in KY.

Weekday duals were the best thing to come from COVID in my opinion.  That's how it was way back when I was wrestling, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it too.  

I did like the weekday quads. It was something we hadn't done before and do plan on doing more of them next season.

6 team duals on 3 mats is the way to go. 5 matches and out at a good time. However this would require way more referees. 

Around 120 teams in Kentucky.

- 6 team duals across the state on a Saturday would need 20 locations. Would need at least 60 referees. 80 to rotate. Then of course you have to have enough referees to cover girls, JV, and middle school events also.

I do not like week night duals. Getting home after 10 pm on a school night stinks and makes for a super long day for everyone. It is also rougher for some to make weight twice a week.

Friday night duals are nice. Got all week to get weight down then a pound on Saturday.

7 hours ago, thomam said:

6 team duals on 3 mats is the way to go. 5 matches and out at a good time. However this would require way more referees. 

Around 120 teams in Kentucky.

- 6 team duals across the state on a Saturday would need 20 locations. Would need at least 60 referees. 80 to rotate. Then of course you have to have enough referees to cover girls, JV, and middle school events also.

I do not like week night duals. Getting home after 10 pm on a school night stinks and makes for a super long day for everyone. It is also rougher for some to make weight twice a week.

Friday night duals are nice. Got all week to get weight down then a pound on Saturday.

 

 

 

Weekday duals should only be one dual with 2 full squads or a tri with smaller teams. Should be done in about 2 hours.  Quick night get the home team some school support and home by 8:00.  Can be tough on some making weight but it's the way of the sport.  I use to love wrestling weekday duals and I was always cutting hard 10-20 lbs. every year back in the stone age. (but we only had 12 wt. classes back then)

I am partial to single duals during the week and having the gym lights off except with a single light over the mat.  We typically wrestle a JV dual first followed by exhibition matches then varsity.  That works great if both teams have a pretty full line-up for both varsity and JV.   Triangulars and Quads are better for number of matches per weigh-in but indeed make for a long night during the week unless all of the teams are nearby like in a metro area.  

I really like the 8 man/team scramble format on the weekends whether it is done by duals or individual format.  Wrestlers get their five matches and usually find competitive matches along the way.  Seeding is minimal in the individual match format since you are just trying to split the groups fairly even.  Six team duals are good too for getting matches.  Both formats are so much better than having a wrestler get beat out early in a traditional tournament and not having an opportunity to compete and develop.