The square boundary line has not been tested in live competition, but selected team were asked to utilize the new mat configuration during wrestle-offs, and send their results to the association's scoring committee. The results were positive beyond the committee's expectations.
"We saw heavyweight wrestle-offs that were typically 2-1 scores now coming in at 10-9," said Josh McMahon who chairs the committee. "We look at data and we make decisions. In this case the numbers made sense to us and we are now making square boundary lines mandatory across all levels of the sport."
However, not all coaches and administrators are supportive of this change. Some coaches are concerned with having to modify their coaching style to account for a mat with more scoring area. Nokomis High School head wrestling coach Colin Petit is one of them.
"I teach my wrestlers to work the edge of the mat in order to limit scoring," said Petit. "Now when one of my wrestlers backs up, they need to know if they are backing up into the corner or not. This is going to make it very hard for us to know where the boundary line is while we are defending shots."
Administrators are also concerned with the new configuration but for a different reason: cost. Teams will be expected to replace or resurface all of their competition wrestling mats prior to the 2015-2016 season to meet the new regulations. Questions have also been raised on whether mat companies will be able to meet the demand for new mats.
Committee chair McMahon is not concerned. "Although the new configuration will be required at all levels, we know that workarounds will need to be in place for the first or second year while teams work to procure new or resurfaced mats. We fully expect that teams will use duct tape or hockey tape to create the new boundary lines on their existing mats as a temporary solution."
Despite the critics, board president Harala remains confident in the decision. "Wrestlers that hug the boundary line are being put on notice. If you back up now, you are backing up into a corner!"
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