It would be interesting to see what % of coaches that complain about the new system are the same coaches that sent JV kids to the old team tournament events. (Which is what I believe ultimately killed the IHSAA team state)
As a coach for a team that has been invited to this years team state tournament, I think the current system is great. (I could be bias) Is the current system 100% fool proof? No, but neither was the old system. Short of every team wrestling every other team, there isn't a practical way to ensure that everyone has an equal/fair shot to be in the "top 8." This is true of the old or new system, someone will always feel slighted. What this new system does do is PREDICT POTENTIAL. Are the top 8 teams invited going to be the absolute best 8 in the state in their respective classes year in and year out? Probably not. But I'd be willing to bet they invite the best 2 or 4 teams every year. Aren't we ultimately trying to decide who the CHAMPION is, not the 6th place finisher?
Its frustrating to read all of the posts telling us how terrible this new system is without any alternative ideas from the complainers. I think most people agree that a team state tournament is important... So how do we make it better? How do we, as a wrestling community, show the IHSAA that it is important and WE want to make it work? Certainly not by trying to degrade the current system or sending JV teams into the old tournament. Why would the IHSAA take us seriously?
As for rankings:
I cant begin to imagine how difficult it would be to compare all 350+ schools and rank them accordingly. For example, how could you begin to compare Twin Lakes to Jasper? I'd be willing to bet TL and Jasper go through the entire season and never have a common opponent. It seems like it would be incredibly difficult to get an accurate comparison of teams state wide. Additionally, how many teams have wrestled an event thus far with their entire varsity line-ups in their correct weights? 2 or 3 kids out or at different weights could change a teams strength (or weakness) significantly. Rankings become more clear as the sample size increases but there will always be questions. Do I think TL deserves to be ranked #4 in class AA? Probably not, but I think we will all(myself included) have a better idea of who belongs where in 2 weeks and a better idea yet 2 weeks after that.
I think what is being done with the current system and rankings is a great step in the right direction. Continuing to focus on how terrible the current team state or rankings are draws the focus away from how to improve Indiana wrestling. Lots of hard work goes into the team tournament and rankings... and all of that work is to ensure that these kids have the best possible experience in wrestling. Lets not forget that that is really the goal here.
TL Wrestling
City Champs since 1963