Limiting the number of matches - any negative consequences?

[Pish]

29 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

SDSU beat Michigan.

What about caring for the sport?

PSU won.  We saw every starter other than Star who was sick.  If PSU needed Star to win that dual, I'd be upset he sat..they won (by a landslide) so what's the issue?

 

I'd be more upset if I'm a Michigan fan and I lost to SDSU..how many starters sat that match?  And on top of it..they lost!

[Red Blades]

7 hours ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Thus we are increasingly headed to a land where duals matter less and less and all that matters is one weekend in March.

Headed there?  I think we've arrived.

That said - a number of coaches (including Koll, Grey, and Smith among others) have been saying for a while that the season is just too long - and we would be better served by making wrestling essentially a second semester sport.  Cornell has essentially done this in practical terms, as has PSU.  First semester tournaments are seen essentially as a way to get the new wrestlers some experience, and maybe some warm-up matches for the veterans, and set the line-up.  Second semester gets more serious.  People don't seem to like it - but the program seems to work, especially at a place like Cornell where Fall Semester exams put an extra burden on the team.  Maybe if other teams followed suite, we would have  more quality matches rather than quantity.

In the meantime- I hate seeing Cornell losing to Lehigh in January (which, incidentally, was actually a great dual this year) but don't complain when they come out on top in March.

Edited January 25, 2024 by Red Blades

[AgaveMaria]

On Cael not being demonstrative on the sidelines. At least he and Cody no longer dress like funeral directors.

A number of coaches are stoic as their wrestlers compete. Remember Fred Davis, coach at BYU where Cael's father Steve wrestled on the bench during matches. Quiet, little emotion.

Not every coach is a yeller or screamer and (thank goodness) not many are John Smith "Get the hell off my lawn" mean old fart types.