The NCAA Wrestling Committee recently approved a recommendation for the NCAA to consider changing the current championship format. Currently the team champion is decided based on the accumulation of points from individuals competing at the NCAA tournament in March. The new plan would crown a team champion after a series of dual meets in mid-February. The individual tournament would remain unchanged and be used to crown individual champions and All-Americans. Team scores would also accumulate, though they wouldn't mean anything within the NCAA.
The Dual Meet Championships would be held the third week of February with 16 teams competing for the NCAA title. Regular season dual meet conference champions would be automatic qualifiers with the rest chosen as at-large selections. The first round of the championships will happen in the home gymnasiums of the top eight seeds with the final eight competing in one event. That event will be televised by ESPN.
According to several coaches and administrators I spoke with, the NCAA Wrestling Committee has been working on the details of the format for more than a year. In a show of good faith they gave the proposal to the NWCA Coaching Committee at the NWCA Coaches Convention in early August and asked them to vote the proposal up or down. The proposal received unanimous approval. The NWCA then opened the floor of the NWCA Coaches Convention for discussion of the topic, and at the end they asked for a show of hands among coaches for approval or disapproval. Again, according to coaches I talked to, nobody made a fuss and all seemed to have raised their hands.
Though the process seemed like an informal vote, the NCAA was likely just playing nice with the NWCA and making sure there weren't any huge issues they were failing to see. That hurdle passed the NCAA Wrestling Committee then submitted the proposal to the NCAA Championships Committee who votes on whether the proposal should be granted or not. I spoke with coaches, and Mike Moyer, the president of the NWCA, who all said that the whims of the NCAA Championships Committee are unknowable and though they support the measure there is absolutely no way to determine whether or not the proposal would actually pass the committee.
Cael Sanderson with NCAA champion Ed Ruth at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The potential change to the schedule caused a social media throw down between the NWCA's Pat Tocci and Penn State head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson and the team's SID Pat Donghia. The main riff came from the lack of communication with all coaches before the proposal was forwarded, though it quickly devolved into a disagreement on which format best benefits the sport of collegiate wrestling. In summation, Penn State believed that the change might unnecessarily hurt smaller programs, while Tocci countered with several points, including that it might help smaller programs.
Wrestling is the only NCAA sport that uses the individual tournament to determine a season's team champion. Comparable individual sports golf and tennis both have dual formats, crowing their team champions and individual champions in separate formats. The NCAA typically doesn't like outliers and would much rather see a streamlined system of championships. For years the committee gave wrestling grief about the historical data used within the qualification system. The new system isn't beyond reproach, but many agree that fewer deserving wrestlers are left at home.
According to Moyer the move would not only cede control of the National Duals to the NCAA, but ESPN has already agreed to air all of wrestling's NCAA Championships, meaning another few weeks of exposure for the team title in addition to the runaway hit we already have in March. Coaches and Moyer argue that the increased exposure for teams and the revenue generated for the NCAA could mean larger protections for at-risk program at both the national and local level. Dual meets among teams in the top sixteen are much easier to market to students and local media when the outcome is an advancement to the next round of the NCAA tournament -- a phrase and progression all sports fans are accustomed with because of March Madness.
There has been speculation on both sides on what this will mean for the protection of the sport from the cuts taking place at Division I programs. Those opposed think that smaller schools who can place in the top fifteen nationally with only a few good performers, will be hurt because they can't boost the team's finishes. There are also questions about how the format will impact the Sears Cup points and if wrestlers would be punished when it came time for qualification. To some athletic directors those points matter. Finally, there is little change among the top sixteen annually, and one coach I spoke with said it's worrisome to think what teams like Princeton or VMI might if their administrators believe this sinks their place at a good showing.
Advocates point to the potential monetary gain that will accompany the additional event. Wrestling fans would spend more time watching and talking about wrestling, analyzing lineup changes and strategy, which would likely bolster interest in the sport. Also, because teams are easier to track than individuals secondary and tertiary media possibilities exist for the sport, providing a nice cultural backdrop to the event. Similarly advocates argue that Princeton cold sneak into the top sixteen and if so could earn valuable media attention.
Everything will be known on Sept. 11 when the cabinet gives the up or down vote. At that point the real discussion begin about strategies teams might take in answering to the dual team format. However, one thing remains unchanged and as true now as it was in Ancient Greece. The best men win wrestling matches. Dual meet or individual that much we know won't change.
For Reference:
NCAA Wrestling Committee: Jason Borelli (Head Wrestling Coach, Stanford University), Tom Minkel (Head Wrestling Coach, Michigan State Univ.), Gary Taylor (Head Wrestling Coach, Rider University) Dave Martin (Senior Athletic Director, Okla. State), Deborah Polca (Associate Athletic Director, Old Dominion), Andy Noel (Athletic Director, Cornell), Pat McCormick (National Coordinator of Officials - Hampton), Jim Thornton (Athletic Trainer Liaison, Clarion) and Ron Beaschler (NCAA Secretary for Rules).
NWCA Committee: John Smith (Head Wrestling Coach, Oklahoma State), Rob Koll (Head Wrestling Coach, Cornell), (Mark Cody Head Wrestling Coach, Oklahoma), Tom Ryan (Head Wrestling Coach, The Ohio State University), Jim Zalesky, (Head Wrestling Coach, Oregon State) and Steve Garland (Head Wrestling Coach, University of Virginia)
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