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Weight Allowance Rule Interpretation by Bobby Cox


littlevito

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Here it is so that a million new threads don't have to be started every couple hours. It is plain and simple.

 

To:                  IHSAA Sectional Wrestling Officials

 

From:              Bobby Cox, Assistant Commissioner

 

RE:                  Interpretation of Rule 4-5-5 in Regard to IHSAA Wrestling Sectionals

 

 

 

Good morning.  With the challenging weather we are experiencing currently, many schools have contacted our office with regard to Rule 4-5-5 of the NFHS wrestling rules book.  This rule speaks to the granting of a one-pound additional allowance for consecutive days of wrestling.  Additionally, the rule was amended this year to include a provision regarding competitions and/or practices which are cancelled by local schools due to reasons beyond the control of the participating schools.  I have reprinted Rule 4-5-5 of the wrestling rules book for your reference below:

 

Art. 5 ? When there are consecutive days of team competition, there shall be a 1-pound additional allowance granted each day for all wrestlers up to a maximum of two pounds.  In order to be granted this 1-pound additional allowance, a minimum of 48 hours advanced notice is required for the opponent(s).  The acceptable person(s) to receive that notice shall be the head coach, principal or athletic director.  Competitions that are postponed for one calendar day or more, for reasons beyond the control of the participating school(s), or practices that cannot be held in these situations due to school policy shall be treated the same as competitions when there are consecutive days of competition in terms of the 1-pound allowance, with the exception of the required 48-hour notice.

 

The IHSAA wrestling sectional is primarily an individual tournament yet this tournament determines a team champion that will advance into the team wrestling regional the following Wednesday.  Having said that, the IHSAA interpretation of Rule 4-5-5 shall be administered as follows:

 

1. If any school in your sectional is not in session on Friday or any school cannot conduct practice by school corporation mandate on Friday, all wrestlers shall be granted a 1-pound additional allowance on Saturday as allowed by rule.

 

2. If any single school in your sectional misses BOTH Thursday and Friday under the same circumstances as described above, all wrestlers shall be granted 2 additional pounds on Saturday as allowed by rule.

 

3. The maximum additional allowance provided under Rule 4-5-5 is two pounds given the proper circumstances as described above.

 

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Quick interpretation question here:

 

So, if you miss school Thursday and Friday, you get 2 lbs on Saturday at sectional regardless?

 

or

 

do you have to also be unable to practice to get the 2 lb allowance.

 

The way it reads to me is that if you miss school or have school, but are unable to practice afterwards because of weather that you would get the allowance.

 

Can someone clarify please?

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. If any school in your sectional is not in session on Friday or any school cannot conduct practice by school corporation mandate on Friday, all wrestlers shall be granted a 1-pound additional allowance on Saturday as allowed by rule.

 

 

 

. If any school in your sectional is not in session on Friday and any school cannot conduct practice by school corporation mandate on Friday, all wrestlers shall be granted a 1-pound additional allowance on Saturday as allowed by rule.

 

 

Then in my opinion the wording sucks. It should say, "and" which would indicate, including, rather than "or" which indicated either!

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Its all dependent on whether or not you can have practice.

 

If there is school, but all afternoon activities are canceled... then you get the extra pound

If there is no school and no practice... then you get the extra pound

 

If there is no school, but you are allowed to practice... then you do NOT get the extra pound

If there is school and there is practice...then you do NOT get the extra pound

 

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Question:

Columbia City was told they do not get the one pound for tomorrow. They did not have school and wrestle in the Carroll sectional. The Carroll AD said they are not giving the one pound.  Can anyone verify if there will be an allowance?

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Question:

Columbia City was told they do not get the one pound for tomorrow. They did not have school and wrestle in the Carroll sectional. The Carroll AD said they are not giving the one pound.  Can anyone verify if there will be an allowance?

 

Did they practice??? If they practiced then there is no allowance.

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I find it interesting that either the rules are so confusing thta people cannot understand them, or people cannot understand the rules eventhough they are simple. 

 

The way the rule is written a Sectional should get the extra pound if any school in the Sectional is not in session the day before the event, or two pounds if school is not in session for two days.  There is a small word in the rule, "or", that gives alot of lattitude for the Host School Principal to give the extra weight allowance.  When I called Shenandoah today the AD told me that the Principal had read the rules that Bobby Cox sent out earlier this week and had determined that the 2 extra pounds would be in effect because several schools had not been in session for multiple days.  It seemed that to him whether they practiced, or not, was not the issue.  We did have several schools that were not in school and not allowed to practice so it was really a moot point,  but I do think he was well within the rules to give the weight because school was not in session. 

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The rule in the rulebook states differently than how Bobby Cox is interpreting it though. 

 

The rule only states about practices being missed, not necessarily school being missed.

Competitions that are postponed for one calendar day or more, for reasons beyond the control of the participating school(s), or practices that cannot be held in these situations due to school policy shall be treated the same as competitions when there are consecutive days of competition in terms of the 1-pound allowance, with the exception of the required 48-hour notice.

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The interpretation, and the interpreter, are the key no matter what the actual rule says.  The IHSAA's interpretation is all we really need to be concerned about.  There are numerous rules in wrestling where we deal with an interpretation that seems different than what the actual rule states. 

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