I know this has been discussed in detail here and I hate to open a can of worms, but I feel it is appropriate. Its only a matter of time before the topic comes up again.
First off, congratulations to all the kids who just finished up a tough season. Every kid who stepped onto the mat and wrestled their butt off the past couple of months should be proud of what they just accomplished, regardless of their record or status.
I was lucky enough to have been in attendance for the consolations and the finals this past year and they were simply amazing. Although I am a few years removed from the sport and don’t know any names of the kids and am now a ‘casual fan’, it was an awesome experience. Indiana wrestling has a gift that might be the greatest finals presentation in the country. While I could be picky and offer up some ideas to make the presentation a little bit more spectator friendly, it is fantastic overall and appears to blow other states finals presentation out of the water. The aura of the entire thing: the lights down, the spotlight, introductions, replays on the jumbotrons, the crowd of almost 11 thousand people completely focused on ONE MATCH.
All of this would be ruined with class wrestling, if we were crowning two or three champions simultaneously. It would be almost impossible, too time consuming, and simply boring- if we introduced the finalists two or three times in the way that we do. We couldn’t turn down the lights, have an awards presentation, or a single spot light like we do and the crowds attention would be split between multiple matches. For example here are other states finals:
Take a look at Matt Mcdonough win his 3rd HS state title in Iowa at 3A. 2 other matches going on. YAWN
Illinois 1A state champs win titles while half the crowd is focused on other matches, not paying attention. Kid at 2:25 wins a title, while it sounds like the entire crowd is focused on the other mat yelling “TWOOO!”
Lets watch Mr. Jaggers win his 4th state title in Ohio and the announcers even say how they feel sorry for the other kid who won a title on the other mat because nobody pays attention to him at 5:40
Announcer “Poor guy on mat #2 nobody who just won a title, nobody even knows he exists”
You get the point. Bottom line is we have something special, that is our finals in our state. An opportunity for kids to wrestle in the event of a lifetime. For the record, I don’t care how many NCAA all Americans Indiana high school wrestling produces. I don’t care how many NCAA titles we take home, nor do I care if we are a “first tier wrestling state”. I don’t care about some random guys subjective rankings on flowrestling if we are in the “top 10” state in the country. So for those of you who argue and contend class wrestling will make us more competitive with the other more prestigious wrestling states, which may or may not be true. Why do we care so much where we are in relation to other states? Why do we even care how many NCAA Americans/champions we produce?
Our focus should not be on future athletic accomplishments of our wrestlers, but it should be about providing them with an opportunity RIGHT NOW to wrestle in an event of a lifetime. Giving them an opportunity to do something they may never have the chance to do again. Most of these kids are not going to wrestle D1 and are not going to be NCAA all Americans, nor should we expect them to be. Majority of them are going to be done wrestling after high school, and that is 100% fine. So lets not even think about the idea of taking this away from them because you want Indiana to have more NCAA all Americans.
If its not broken don’t fix it and if it is awesome, don’t even think about it. Personally, I believe the idea of classing wrestling in our state is absurd. It will ruin the finals experience that we have. While it may or may not make us a “top tier state, producing more NCAA all Americans” I say who cares. Of course I do hope Indiana does well at the next level -it’s ultimately a moot point. It is tantamount to me rooting for Notre Dame football players to perform well in the NFL or IU basketball players in the NBA. Currently, the system works, its awesome, and does more then enough to present kids opportunities to earn scholarships at the next level and it gives them an opportunity to do something great in a one of a kind finals presentation.
If I remember correctly, the attendance for the finals was 10,800ish. Which was more than UFC 170 drew at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas-which contained a title fight. So these kids who earned the right to compete under lights in front of almost 11k fans undivided attention can truly say they competed in an event of a lifetime. Why would we even consider changing it?
Steven Salinas