States or State?

[MPhillips]

6 hours ago, PortaJohn said:

St. Edward's wrestling program is easily the most successful in the state of Ohio, and consistently one of the top programs in the nation.  Located in Lakewood, Ohio it is officially in the Eastern Time Zone.  States=Success 

Well played on, "St. Edward's." 

[D3 for LU]

You say: State-o

I say Stah-to.

You say post season-o

I say post sah-sen-o

State-o, Stah-to.

Post Season-o, Post Sah-sen-o... let's call the whole thing off!

(Boy, I'm REALLY streching this!  )

D3

[Quaker118]

I was fortunate enough to compete at states in 1970. Never heard anyone call it state. 

[MadMardigain]

Brownsburg in Indiana hair completely “Smashed” the single class state tournament with 7 state champions. In doing so their finals results basically would have won them a dual title championship vs the entire state too.  Gotta give them some national credit. 

[PencilNeck]

On 2/21/2025 at 12:19 PM, PSUDad97 said:

That's irrelevant to the debate.  Do you ever refer to other tournaments as Nationals, or Regionals or NCAAs or the Olympics?  Of course no one is referring to said wrestler as the "States" Champ, just like no one calls so and so the Nationals Champ, or Districts Champ, etc.

What about conference? Never heard it referred to as "conferences"

[D3 for LU]

... you GO to the Nationals (or States) to watch one BECOME a National (or State) Champ.

(Easy peasy, eh?  )

D3

 

[BarSeries]

18 hours ago, D3 for LU said:

... you GO to the Nationals (or States) to watch one BECOME a National (or State) Champ.

(Easy peasy, eh?  )

D3

 

This makes complete sense but I'll never change. Is state a midwest thing? I'm in Minnesota and it's always been called state here. 

[Pinnacle]

On 2/21/2025 at 4:53 PM, Pin Head said:

I started wrestling in 1969. Our goals were to make it to "states". Regardless of plural or possessive, good or bad grammar that was the way we spoke of it. Maybe it was the combined district/region/state tournaments or perhaps Western PA jargon. OK yinz jagoffs !

It was that way in Eastern Pa too.

[Crossfire]

 STATE.

When asking Chat GPT

When referring to wrestling and finals in high school what is it called? State or states?

 

In high school wrestling, the culminating competition is commonly referred to as the "state" tournament or "state finals." This terminology is standard across various states, including Indiana, where the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) organizes the "Boys Wrestling State Tournament" and the "State Finals." 

ihsaa.org

Similarly, other states use the term "state" to denote their championship events, such as the "State Open wrestling championships" in Connecticut. 

ctinsider.com

Therefore, "state" is the appropriate term when referring to high school wrestling finals.

When is it appropriate to say states?

"States" is sometimes used informally when referring to multiple state tournaments or when discussing the event in a general, collective sense. Here are a few scenarios where "States" might be appropriate:

1. Talking About Multiple State Tournaments – If you're discussing multiple state tournaments happening in different locations or divisions, you might say:

   • "How did your team do at states?" (referring to different weight classes or divisions competing at the state level).

2. Regional Dialect or Team Slang – Some teams and regions casually say "States" instead of "State" when referring to their own state championship.

   • "I qualified for States this year!"

3. Comparing Across States – If you’re talking about multiple state championships across different states.

   • "The level of competition at States varies from state to state."

However, if you're talking about a single high school wrestling championship event in your state, "State" is generally the correct term. Hope this helps.

Edited March 3 by Crossfire