Scheduling Trend?

[Mizzou Fan]

Is it just my imagination, or are teams building their schedules to include fewer and fewer tournaments?  If so, why?

[CHROMEBIRD]

TDM? In the preseason

[jdalu75]

33 minutes ago, Mizzou Fan said:

Is it just my imagination, or are teams building their schedules to include fewer and fewer tournaments?  If so, why?

Some teams seem to be trying to limit their wrestlers' bout totals.  I've heard coaches complain about the number of unrostered wrestlers entering open tournaments; if their guys wrestle, they want the bouts to count towards conference seeding and NCAA qualification.  IMO, anyway.

[Show_Me]

On 1/24/2024 at 8:09 PM, jdalu75 said:

I've heard coaches complain about the number of unrostered wrestlers entering open tournaments; if their guys wrestle, they want the bouts to count towards conference seeding and NCAA qualification.

Agree that this is likely a big part of Teams participating in fewer Tornaments.

Maybe more Tournaments need to be structured like CKLV where only rostered wrestlers compete and only ONE wrestler per weight class per team are allowed.

[peanut]

D1 wrestling is hard on the body and wrestling fewer matches helps.

That said, it would be better for fans to have interesting in-season tournaments. 

Anyway, I favor what’s best for the wrestlers. 

[Gus]

On 1/24/2024 at 7:32 PM, Mizzou Fan said:

Is it just my imagination, or are teams building their schedules to include fewer and fewer tournaments?  If so, why?

I am find with it if that means less ducking in duals. 

[Southend]

12 minutes ago, Gus said:

I am find with it if that means less ducking in duals. 

How is this ducking to be less, enforced?

[Idaho]

I don't have data in front of me, but I would guess that more significant injuries pile up in a tournament.  I know there has been more of a focus on rest since it's such a long season.... perhaps more rest and less tourneys go hand in hand. I also think teams may be moving away from  the idea that more matches makes you better prepared - Penn State seems to focus on practice and less matches.

[wrestle87]

This has definitely happened.  Many of the best guys usually show up with ~15-20 matches on the books for the season at NCAA's, meaning they enter their conference tournament with 10-15.  

I think this development is part of a transition that college wrestling is undergoing, both in terms of the goals of the program and the capabilities of the athletes. 

Factor #1: To be a good college guy, you need to have international aspirations.  The level of wrestling that the average 20 year old is bringing to the mat has gone up tremendously in the past 10 years.  Folkstyle is not the only metric that programs are evaluated on, and even previously folkstyle-heavy programs are making their way towards international styles.  I think college coaches are scheduling match-load on an annual basis, factoring in peaking for international tournaments and international styles, bc there are definitely kids who excel more at those styles than folkstyle. If that's the case, why beat up their bodies for limited return on a folkstyle mat when they can bring you a world medal in another style?  Perfect examples of this are Braxton Amos, Taylor Lamont, and Ryan Mango, to name a few.  If these guys hadn't been put through it for folkstyle, they would have been much fresher for international competition.

Factor #2: There are no good midseason tournaments anybody cares about anymore.  Midlands isn't even a shell of it former self, it's faint shadow.  And the scuffle, which killed midlands is also headed the same way.  I lay this mostly at the feet of the season being too long, and coaches seeing minimal benefit to beating their kids up around the holidays and still 2-3 months out from NCAA's.

Nobody ever looks back and says "Yeah that person was great, they won midlands, or they won the scuffle"

College wrestling is a one-tournament sport.  Nobody cares what happened during the regular season, and this, selectively, makes the regular season less meaningful year over year.