AAAA Upper State Tournament Delayed

[JYMF]

Host Rock Hill has changed weigh in time for the upper state tournament from 4;30 to 6:00, because of a girls playoff basketball game. RH tried to play the game on Thursday but the other team objected. RH tried to play the game at 2:00 PM on Friday, but other team objected. Both teams willing to play on Saturday, but HSL says no, can't move games forward, only back. However, it has been done in football many times and for reasons such as heavy rains, snow, etc....

So, it was decided (school based decision) that the entire upper state tournament ( over 200 kids, at least 50 coaches, officials, and hundreds of parents and fans will be moved to a later time. Here are only a few of the problems:
Teams and kids will not be home until after midnight, and then back up again at 6:00 AM for weigh in at 8:00.
RH has another full gym in which they played games for 22 years before the new gym opened.
There is a new middle school down the street that could easily accommodate the game
Another school in the district could host the game (Northwestern or South Pointe). Been done many times.
The traveling basketball team will now miss at least half a day of school to be there on time.
Wrestling teams now leaving at a later time will hit heavy, rush hour traffic.
US Tourn. is also a playoff event for wrestling, and in fact THE UPPER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP that decides if kids will have a shot at a state title. (Much earlier round for BB teams)
Perhaps most importantly, it is another slap to the face of our sport. As mentioned many times...until our sport "expects to be respected" we will continue to be dismissed. I'm honestly shocked that this is happening at a school like RH that has such a strong history in wrestling and has done so many good things for so many kids there.

I understand the girls want to win and should have their moment, and I fully support that. However; where does practicality and common sense play a role here?

Attached is a video clip ( Rock Hill Herald) of their last playoff game. Looks like a packed house! Perhaps the Winthrop Colliseum would have been a better facility to accommodate the crowd.
http://www.heraldonline.com/sports/high-school/article60755846.html

Just not happy with the fact that our sport and kids are so easily pushed aside. As a parent of one of the kids involved, I'm even more displeased.

 

[rhino_wrestling_club_sc]

Not good at all. Wasn't the Upper State Tournament scheduled way before this basketball game? Changing the plans for hundreds of people to accommodate dozens doesn't make sense.

 

[JYMF]

Not good at all. Wasn't the Upper State Tournament scheduled way before this basketball game? Changing the plans for hundreds of people to accommodate dozens doesn't make sense.

Upper state tournament has been scheduled for almost a year. BB game developed Tuesday.

 

[scwrestlingdad]

At some point in time ...someone is going to have to make a stand. I am not going to say other sports would not would not be rescheduled. That is all hypothetical. What is fact, is ...once again, wrestling is being pushed aside. Shame to all who chose to allow this.

These children will be required to wake up, attend school for a brief time, board a bus or other type vehicle for up to 2+ hours, weigh in late, wrestle late, possibly until midnight and then travel back to a hotel, shower, eat and somehow get enough rest after a possible 18+ hour day with only 5 hours of "rest" ...to then go and compete for an opportunity to advance.
Yea....that is best for our kids......nope....just ridiculous.

 

[rhino_wrestling_club_sc]

Upper state tournament has been scheduled for almost a year. BB game developed Tuesday.

Knew that- kind of a rhetorical question. It's just sad that the SCHSL, AD's, Principals, and pretty much everyone else treats wrestling as if it doesn't matter. Not good or healthy for the kids to compete under the scenario stated above by scwrestlingdad. It's time for the wrestling community to step up- get someone who cares about the sport in a position where they can help it and not allow something like this to happen again.

 

[JYMF]

As stated, the HSL's only role in this was saying that the game could not be played on Saturday, although games are delayed and postponed for various reasons all the time.
Boils down to a local/school decision as to which event remains on schedule....wrestling or basketball. In this case, the way I see it....18 state titles in wrestling, vs. a "chance" to compete in basketball. Sad that so may others are so negatively effected by the decision of a few, where numbers are significantly less.

 

[Eagleguy]

Why cant we weigh in at another site? It would seem that would be possible at any location . I must be missing something. heck I've used the cafeteria before. Just my two cents worth.

 

[8pinsanddone]

I hate talking about money in HS sports... but think about the money being lost... on a basketball team you might have 11 kids on your roster... x2 is 22 kids whos family and friends will come and watch them play a 1 hour game... in our case you have 17 weight classes with I believe 16 kids in each, that's 272 kids whos friends and family are going to come watch them over a 1.5 day period! The difference in the amount of funds here should be outrageous. Not to mention, and "piggy backing" off of other comments, there are state champions in this gym; possibly more than 8 at this wrestling tournament. Whereas you maybe could make the finals at the basketball game. This is ridiculous, and there needs to be a change in how our sport is viewed in the eyes of the other sports.

 

[JYMF]

Why cant we weigh in at another site? It would seem that would be possible at any location . I must be missing something. heck I've used the cafeteria before. Just my two cents worth.

weigh in is not the issue. Playing a basketball game that won't finish before 5:30, and possibly later if OT or other circumstances occur, an then setting up four mats, tables, clocks, etc... and actually starting wrestling is the problem. It is not a quick and easy process.

 

[Eagleguy]

Actually weigh in is the issue. Your not the kid who has to wait until the game is over until you can eat. Go with the weigh in at correct time and let the kids eat and digest before the tournament starts. Then roll the mats out at the buzzer. I admit that the SCHSL needs to show leadership here. Postpone the basketball game till Saturday night is the easiest and most logical fix.

 

[JYMF]

Actually weigh in is the issue. Your not the kid who has to wait until the game is over until you can eat. Go with the weigh in at correct time and let the kids eat and digest before the tournament starts. Then roll the mats out at the buzzer. I admit that the SCHSL needs to show leadership here. Postpone the basketball game till Saturday night is the easiest and most logical fix.

I will no longer engage in conversation with you. Our in depth knowledge and understanding of the sport as a whole are obviously worlds apart.

 

[Eagleguy]

I'msorry to hear that. But you admitting that is most important in your journey to catch up. Recognizing your weakness is the first step. I will pray that your education on such matters will be as painless as possible . Please let me know when you feel that you have caught up. Yours in spirit.

 

[8pinsanddone]

oh wow... ok so lets take time to discuss not only the problem with this tournament but what is going on and what could be changed in our sport as a whole... I love this sport, but different times call for changes at some point
1. there is just no money to be made, and this is a national problem... USA wrestling doesn't have half the budget that the UAB football team has... and that's sad. Why do kids want to participate in a sport when they cant get paid in the end
2. Our sport is based on weight, and always has been. Yet it belongs to the season where the two biggest eating holidays are in our national calendar year. Yet when they wrestle internationally it belongs to the summer; our seasons are not consistent at different levels of competition as other sports are.
3. State wise we do not market ourselves well, and this is no one persons problem. you ever hear of team SC at Fargo? not really. Talon Seitz made to the finals at Journeymen, Alford is nationally ranked, Joey Dance talked specifically about AJ Leitten at a camp on flo... the 2010 Fort D team is possibly the most dominant team to come out of this state, unless you count that 80's RH team that won by 100 pts, yet none of these were ever talked about nationally
4. For a state not known for wrestling we have a 4 (soon to be 5) class system to determine 4 state champions... and im not trying to be disrespectful but there is no reason we have 4 state champs in one weight class. take for instance three years ago. Clay Walker the 3A state champ would have beaten whoever at that weight, but 2 other people claimed to be a state champ at that weight... California has the right idea here... 1 class, 1 state champ... makes our state more marketable to colleges for the athletes, because isn't that all of our goals in the end... send our kids to college

 

[ParTerre57]

To be an optimist, not all is bleak and gray in our sport. I don't think it's hard to see that the attention paid to the sport has greatly increased over the past decade. There is greater access for fans than there was at any point in history. FloWrestling, for all their issues and general unprofessionalism, have done a ton for the promotion (and advancement from a technical aspect) of the sport. You can see match anytime, of anyone, from anywhere in the country.

A ton has been done to improve the sport from a fan prospective in the last few years. International wrestling is more entertaining than it has ever been. I think we will eventually see a shift from folkstyle to an adopting of international rules, or at the very least the main tenants of freestyle (pushouts, elimination of mat wrestling) and popularity will increase even more.

From a state perspective, I am not involved enough to know the inner workings of the SCHSL governing body. That said, it is clear to me that change comes from when pockets are impacted the most.

 

[SunTzu189]

Actually weigh in is the issue. Your not the kid who has to wait until the game is over until you can eat. Go with the weigh in at correct time and let the kids eat and digest before the tournament starts. Then roll the mats out at the buzzer. I admit that the SCHSL needs to show leadership here. Postpone the basketball game till Saturday night is the easiest and most logical fix.

If it takes longer than 2 hours to get tournament ready after weigh-ins then everyone technically has to weigh in again. Weighing in at normal time and then hoping basketball finishes on time so you can hopefully get the gym ready for the tournament before that time period ends is not a wise choice.

 

[Gordo64c]

Eagle Guy,

What JYMF is saying is that it doesn't matter what time weigh ins are. Start time is what the problem is. We always weigh in 1 hour prior to start time. The late start time causes us to weigh in later. Our kids are used to weighing in 1 hour before they wrestle. We do this every time we step on the mat.

 

[Eagleguy]

Understood, my Question was to speed up the process by getting the weigh in done. Thank you for your explanation .

 

[2sem]

Per National Federation rules, weigh-ins must happen a maximum of 2 hours before the first session. Can't weigh-in 'early' on site or at another site.
6:00 weigh-in is standard for any dual meet during the week. This is nothing new, dangerous or unhealthy for the wrestlers.
Again, to stress JYMF's point......it's about the start time. The tournament should not have been postponed when there is a suitable gym down the hallway in the same building.