Geography, Pre-bracketing are issues with state team duals

   It's nothing new that the way teams are chosen for the state team tournaments doesn't sit well with many people in the Pennsylvania wrestling community.
   And as another set of PIAA team tournaments are on tap beginning tonight with several play-in matches leading to the main event in Hershey from Thursday-Saturday, those same arguments will certainly be heard again.
   To me, there are two glaring issues — bigger districts getting more entries, and the tournament's brackets being predetermined for a two-year cycle even before that first season of the new cycle begins.
   We'll start with geography. Currently, both the fields in Class AA and Class AAA have 20 teams that receive berths based on district tournament finishes. In AA, Districts 3, 4, 7, and 10 each get three teams. In AAA, Districts 1 and 3 get four teams.
   And I never have understood the prebracketing. At least in the individual postseason, the PIAA made a change several years ago now to have a certain number of different brackets and then reveal them after the regional tournaments were completed, rather than have them available for all to see well beforehand.
   But this needs to happen on the team level too.
   Nothing will please everyone. That said, here's what I would propose.

   — Go back to 16 teams apiece: Get rid of the play-in matches. The state duals used to be two days, then it went to three and if you include the play-ins, that's four. I'm all for watching as much wrestling as I can, but I think it can be scaled back, and my other points emphasize this.
   — Only district champions get automatic berths in Hershey: No matter the size or history of a district in wrestling, let's make this a starting point for filling the field. In both classes, there are 11 district champions crowned around the state. (District 8 does not in Class AA, District 5 does not in Class AAA).
   Win your district title, and you get the reward of a trip to the state tournament. But you have to win your district, that's the only absolute way to be included. The obvious question — Ryan, you know that's only 11 teams, an odd-man bracket, right?
  Yes, so here's the other part.
   — Make the other five spots for at-large selections: You have your 11 automatic bids, then take the next five best squads that didn't get in via the district tournaments.
   In determining those choices, use a combination of rankings, a coaches committee, other knowledgeable wrestling people on the committee, etc. to get it as right as possible.
   I'm sure some would say five seems like too many. I feel like it's a better solution than just taking away a couple of the spots that get in now (via prebracketing) and make them wild cards.
   — Drop the prebrackets: In my opinion, this is just silly and doesn't need to be released ahead of time. Currently, everyone knows where they will be and who they'll see early, and possibly further along in the tournament.
   This year's Class AA bracket, for example. In the top quarter of the bottom half of the bracket, you'll have the third, fourth, and fifth-ranked teams in the state according to PA Power Wrestling. Burrell is ranked fifth, and should the Bucs defeat the Newport/Danville winner, will get either third-ranked Saucon Valley or fourth-ranked Muncy in the quarterfinals. So #3 vs. #4 in a first-round match, survive that and likely get #5 in the quarters. That's a rediculous draw.

   My solution here: Seed the teams 1-16 and play it out from there. Let's get the best matchups we can further along in the tournament, not in the first round. 

 Unrest in D11
   Much of the distaste this time around with the state duals format is in Class AAA, where District 11 has perhaps four of the top five or six teams in the state and only gets two berths. On Saturday, it was a hotly contested tournament that saw Bethlehem Catholic beat Liberty in the final. D11 has a true second-place format, so Northampton got the other bid by getting past Liberty in that match.
   PA Power updated their state rankings earlier today. In Class AAA, Bethlehem Catholic, Northampton, Liberty, and Nazareth are all in the top five. But only those first two will be in Hershey, because District 11 gets only two slots based on the geographical numbers. And I've heard from people in the know down there that D11 would probably only have one team make it but has fought for at least a second bid in the current format of the event.
   Under my proposal, only Bethlehem Catholic would be a guarantee because the Golden Hawks won their district title. Just going off the rankings though, all three of the others would almost assuredly get at-large bids.
   Certainly, every year is different and may not look like five teams around the state deserve an at-large. But if say you only had two spots, which one of those other three gets left out in this case? Liberty handed Bethlehem Catholic its only loss, then beat Nazareth on Saturday for the second time in three matches this season. Nazareth owns that earlier win over Liberty at the Virginia Duals and also defeated Erie Prep (ranked 6th) there. Northampton lost to Becahi in the semifinals, but rebounded by beating both Nazareth and Liberty for the second spot, doing it without one of its best wrestlers in Devon Britton. Everyone has a case.
   Again, nothing will please everyone. I think most of us can agree that there needs to be some sort of changes. Whether it happens is anybody's guess.