Among the top recommendations for the upcom ing season: new scheduling flexibility for dual meets ... and seeding all 33 wrestlers in each weight class at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Recommendation for scheduling flexibility
In justifying its recommendation, the Committee stated, "This change will reduce the number of trips required, allow teams to host more home dual matches, allow teams to travel to different regions of the country and compete against multiple teams in that area over a three-day period. It also will result in less missed class time, allow for flexibility with venue and broadcast windows, and assist with student-athlete well-being by allowing a day between competition."
For Division I mat programs and their wrestlers to gain this new flexibility, NCAA Bylaw 17.27.5.1.1 would need to be amended.
Seeds for every NCAA championships qualifier
For a number of years, only the top sixteen wrestlers in each 33-man bracket at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were seeded. The Wrestling Committee recommends that this current ranking system be expanded to ALL athletes within a bracket; in other words, continuing that same process to order the seeds from 17-33, with the stipulation that "seeds 29-33 may be assigned randomly to the brackets but will always be paired with the top four seeds and assigned to all pigtail matches."
The NCAA states the reason for proposing this change to the seeding process provides more balanced brackets, therefore reducing (if not eliminating) random matchups.
Matters of convenience ... and timing
The NCAA D1 Wrestling Committee has also recommended additional changes designed to make the national wrestling championships a better experience for fans ... and for the athletes.
Starting with the 2019 NCAAs, fans will be able to pick up tickets for all six sessions on the first day of the championships ... reducing the amount of time spent standing in line. In another move to make the fan experience better, doors to the host facility will now be open 90 minutes before the start of each session.
A proposed change for wrestlers: weigh-ins will be conducted two hours prior to the start of each day's competition.
If these changes are approved, they would be expected to be implemented before the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships, to take place March 21-23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena, a 19,500-seat arena in downtown Pittsburgh which opened in 2010 as Consol Energy Center, and serves as the home to the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins.
It is the first time the Nationals have been held in Steel City in more than six decades. The 1957 NCAAs were hosted by the University of Pittsburgh at Fitzgerald Field House, a 5,000-seat on-campus facility built in the early 1950s. The '57 NCAAs were historic for a number of reasons: first to feature an African-American NCAA champ (Iowa's Simon Roberts, 147-pound titlist) ... Oklahoma's Dan Hodge concluding his perfect 46-0 collegiate career with his third NCAA title at 177 pounds (and second Outstanding Wrestler award) ... and Pitt's Ed Peery won his third national title in his home gym, joining his older brother Hugh and his father (and college coach) Rex Peery as the only family with three NCAA championships each.
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