By Don Seeley
Sports Editor - The Mercury
Anyone with any insight into high school wrestling, Pennsylvania wrestling, that is, will agree the month-long postseason is both a physical and mental grind.
Earlier this week, the District 1 Steering Committee formally approved a number of changes that will essentially lessen that grind ... and, hopefully, inject some much needed enthusiasm into the four-week format for the Class AAA wrestlers and their coaches as well as the sport’s devoted fan following.
Dennis Kellon, chairman of the steering committee, announced league championships will replace the six sectionals, and both the district and regional tournaments will feature more streamlined schedules and brackets beginning next season.
"I think everyone is pleased at this point," Kellon said. "All the coaches were very receptive (to the changes)."
The committee, which includes two coaches from each of the seven leagues in District 1, was indeed very supportive of all the proposals. According to a number of sources at the meeting, there was just one dissenting vote on all of the changes, which were initially brought to the steering committee and discussed in detail back in mid-January to address concerns about declining attendances and rising costs at the six sectionals in recent years.
Although official dates for the 2012-2013 season have yet to be determined, league championships for the Central, Ches-Mont, Del Val, Pioneer Athletic Conference, and Suburban One American, Continental and National alignments will be held the same week as sectionals – or the week leading into districts.
"We’re looking forward to having the PAC-10 individual tournament being the qualifier for districts," said Spring-Ford head coach Tim Seislove, who along with Upper Perkiomen head coach Tom Hontz are the PAC-10’s representatives on the District 1 Steering Committee. "It should be very exciting for everyone. And being that the PAC-10 is traditionally one of the toughest leagues in the district, winning that tournament will be quite an achievement."
"I think the league championships will be pretty exciting because it will create new match-ups that may not have happened in the regular season due to coaches moving people around in order to win a match," added Hontz. "Also, our league has some pretty strong fan bases, so it could get real exciting having all those different groups in the same gym."
The three district tournaments, not an entirely new concept considering three were held from 2007 through 2009, have be tentatively renamed East, Central and West. Each will be a one-day tournament – not two as in previous years – and contested on three mats.
"One of our goals was to reduce some of the wear and tear on our wrestlers," Hontz explained. "Going to a one-day district (tournament) should help us accomplish that goal."
"Moving to one day (for districts) should take some of the grind out of the postseason and help keep the kids fresh," Seislove added.
The top five finishers in each weight class from the PAC-10 and top six from the Central League will meet in the East; the top seven from the Ches-Mont League and top four from the Suburban One American Conference will meet in the Central; and the top four from both the Suburban One Continental and National conferences as well as the top three from the Del Val League will meet in the West.
The realignment, of course, creates 11-man brackets, so there will be three pigtails, or preliminary bouts, with the losers being eliminated. The remainder of the tournament will be double-elimination.
The top three finishers in each weight class from each of the three district tournaments will advance to the Southeast Regional. The nine-man bracket will include one pigtail. Unlike districts, though, the loser of that preliminary bout will drop into the consolations and have the opportunity to wrestle back.
And, because of the statewide regional realignment approved just over a week ago by the PIAA – which included moving District 12 out of the Southeast and into the Northeast – the Southeast Regional’s top three wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes will qualify for the state championships in Hershey.
"Losing the one state qualifier (because of District 12’s move out of the Southeast Regional) should make those third-fourth (place) bouts real barn-burners ... much like the old days," Kellon said, noting there will no longer be any fifth-place consolation finals at regionals.
"Losing that fourth qualifier to states is a shame," Hontz added. "But it did help us in regards to streamlining our postseason tournaments. Now with regionals being only a nine-man bracket, hopefully we can hold it at a centrally located site that will help make it more fan-friendly and generate even more interest."
NOTES ... Kellon also noted the two-pound weight allowance, usually given on Jan. 15 of each season, has been tentatively approved to be moved up to Dec. 25 – a rather nice Christmas present for the competitors. The change, unanimously passed its first reading during the recent Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Steering Committee meeting, is expected to be approved by the PIAA before next season gets under way. ... Sites for all of next year’s postseason tournaments were discussed but none were officially approved. According to sources, Boyertown – the site of a number of postseason tournaments – will reportedly host the PAC-10 championships next February, and Spring-Ford is among the schools looking to host the District 1-AAA East Tournament the following weekend. ... District 1’s sectionals (Suburban and Lower Bucks) began in 1957; expanded to six in 1961; grew to eight in 1971; then returned to six in 1974 and remained at that number through the recently completely 2011-12 season. ... The two-district format – North and South – began in 1974 and continued through 2006, then resumed in 2010 following the three years of the three-district format. ... District 1, or the Southeast Regional, had three state qualifiers from 1974 through 2002, then four from 2003 through last season when District 12 was part of the field.
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