High School Wrestling needs the ultimate reversal

   It's certainly no secret that high school wrestling in Pennsylvania has been in a decline over the past several years.
   Are there still great individuals and teams that rival anywhere in the country?
   Yes and Yes.
   But from a big picture perspective, some things need to be addressed.
   A lack of numbers seems to keep rising and attendance at the big events keeps falling.
   So what needs done?
   If you've spoken to me or read my past blog posts, you know that I haven't been in favor of many of the changes the PIAA has made in recent years. Let's examine those first.
Attendance
   It wasn't all that long ago that the individual state tournament weekend drew an overall crowd of over 60,000 people to Hershey. That number has been in a steady decline of late. I wasn't at this year's state tournament last week, but the crowds were thin from what I saw and it was reportedly just around 41,000 total for the Class AA and AAA sessions. That's a dramatic dip.
   I think two changes that I have been critical of haven't helped this situation — running the finals with the other medal bouts, and 20-man brackets.
   I haven't come across many people that like the four-mat scenario for the last session in each class. Pennsylvania used to showcase those 28 championship bouts, on one mat for everyone to see. Why fix something that isn't broken? (at least to me)
   In 2016, Brian Courtney made history in beating three returning state champions to win his first title at 126 pounds in Class AA. While most in the Giant Center had their eyes on his 3-2 win over Max Murin for the championship, it still had to share the floor with bouts for third, fifth, and seventh places. That, or a fourth title from Gavin Teasdale last year shouldn't have to share the focus.
   Four years ago, the state brackets were expanded by four wrestlers each, going from 16 to 20. Again, I was outspokenly critical of this move. Here's a link to my posting from March 28, 2014: http://springintosports.blogspot.com/2014/03/no-sense-in-20-man-bracket.html
   Looking back, this hasn't worked. PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi now is quoted as saying the change was "awful."
   Sure, are there occasions where a sixth-placer from the Southeast or Southwest Region, or fourth-placers from the Northeast or Northwest become state medalists? Yes, but that's far more the exception than the rule, which was my argument five years ago.
   This year, the PIAA signed a four-year deal with FloWrestling to stream both the state team duals and the individual tournament. In the past, finals in both events had been broadcast on television by the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN).
   Many have been critical of that deal. Personally, I think it was a lot of good and a little bad at the same time. FloWrestling does a great job of promoting the sport and streaming wrestling competitions from around the world at all levels. So to have every session on Flo I don't believe was a bad thing last weekend. But I would have liked to see PCN still show the finals to the casual wrestling fans, people who don't want to shell out extra money for a subscription, or those that can't make the trip to the Giant Center but still have a rooting interest. Reportedly, the two media outlets did have some discussion about a joint broadcast, but talks broke down.
   Just because it's new doesn't mean it's better. Let's revert to one-mat finals and 16-man brackets.
   And while we're at it, seed the entire tournament, 1-16 at each weight.
   Seeding the regional champions has helped, along with making the brackets a secret until after the regional tournaments are completed. But let's go further. (Seed the team tournament too, but that's another story)
   There are too many situations where semifinals look like finals. I'm not naive enough to say it will be perfect, but you can't convince me that a total seeding of every weight class will hurt anyone.
Numbers
   From a team perspective, wrestling has taken a downward turn when we look at overall rosters. I can't tell you the amount of matches I typed in for a newspaper report that had four or many more forfeits. Gone are the days where practice rooms were filled with full varsity teams, junior varsity teams, and still some others who were vying for spots.
   Years ago, the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) changed the weight structure, which now is 14, up from 13 and features more upperweight classes than before. When I was in school, the final four weights were 160, 171, 189, and 275 (285) with more condensed in the middle. Currently up top from that point, we have 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, and 285.
   With forfeits more of the talk than actual wrestling these days, the total of 14 needs to be reduced. Lombardi says he'd like to see it at 12, as he doesn't think 13 would solve the issue.
   College has 10 and seems to be just fine. Is that the number? I'm not sure, but 12 or 13 seems like a move in the right direction.
Final Word
   Wrestling is still a great sport, and it always will be. But it can improve again in Pennsylvania, and my hope is that the powers that be can hit that standing switch to get the reversal it needs.