Well, now that the dust has settled a bit, let's further examine where the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex is heading moving forward. The third installment proved to be the most unorganized and troubling yet, as event directors try to keep a tournament alive that most coaches I polled clearly do not want.
And judging by the numerous complaints by fans registered online and made to me directly on Saturday, they've had enough. Who can blame them? Six mats, some partially obstructed, no announcing of results, and wall charts that were rarely updated. This is what they paid $10 to see? More like not see.
It's high time that athletic directors and coaches sit down, put aside their differences, and figure out a way to do this tournament the right way. The way it should be done. The way it deserves to be done. For the sake of the sport, it must be done.
Some coaches don't get all of the opposition to what is without question one of the season's top tournaments.
"I personally love the tournament," Hopatcong coach Eric Fajerman said. "Don't really understand all the negativity. It gets guys used to wrestling in a tournament before districts, exposes inexperienced wrestlers to a high-level tournament, and gives wrestlers the opportunity to obtain region and state seeding criteria."
First off, a new venue in the Hunterdon-Warren area must be found, possibly Centenary College. Hunterdon Central has been the site for two of the three HWS tourneys, and each time it was poorly run with no regard for the fans' enjoyment. It simply was a race to the finish both years. Semifinals on three or four mats, championships on two mats. Yuck!
There was a chance to do the decent thing on Saturday. At 4:30, there was plenty of time to do the finals right on one mat. Why the rush? Instead we had a hurried intro of the wrestlers and a free-for-all on two mats.
This tournament was impossible to cover from a media standpoint. I left there without a completed set of brackets. Partially my own fault I guess for not making sure a set would be there at the end like every other one of the thousands of events I've been to. Shame on me.
It's funny. When Hopatcong hosted last year, the tournament was two days and the finals were on one mat. It was actually a pleasure to cover and I thought it was done right. So why can't this be the norm?
Enough about what's wrong. It's solution time. I've made several suggestions to the ADs and coaches. The ADs are willing to listen, while coaches argue against just about all ideas. Memo to some coaches, if your goal is to get out of the gym in the quickest time possible, do your program a favor and step down.
Here's a sampling of some complaints from coaches and my responses:
"This tournament hurts our weaker kids. What good does it do them to wrestle the top two seeds?
Open Mike: Take the top nine kids and put them in one bracket. The bottom nine can also be paired together and let them go at it. That way they also get quality mat time.
"Then you're telling kids, sorry you're not good enough."
Open Mike: OK. First you're saying it's too tough on them. So, a kid who is say, 3-7, doesn't already know he needs to get better? Either you want them to wrestle or you don't. And coaches bristle with the suggestion of just bringing the top kids.
"This is the time of year we should be preparing for sectionals."
Open Mike: I thought that was the purpose of dual meets. This is a great tournament to get kids tough competition and build for individual success down the road. Just how does improving as an individual hurt your team?
"We see each other too much. Dual meets, tournaments, sectionals, districts."
Open Mike: I hear this, especially from a Hunterdon-Warren perspective. I see this happening a lot on the college level, too. Yet no one there complains. If it's good competition then it's good for the sport.
You get the point. No matter what you come up with there's always an argument against because some don't want this event. Travel has also been an issue with some, although I've never heard it from the Sussex County contingent. High Point was the first school at Central on Saturday. Most of the Sussex coaches who took the time to give me feedback seem to favor this event.
The biggest issue right now, to me, is making this a consistent format. You can't keep switching back-and-forth from one day to two. My opinion, this needs to be a two-day event. Even Voorhees junior Jadaen Bernstein said so after winning his second HWS title on Saturday. Bernstein will have a chance to become the first to win three titles next year. Let's hope we can all watch and enjoy that bout should it go down.
Lenape Valley coach Doug Vetter, who admittedly does not like this tournament, agrees on the format change from one to two days. However, he dislikes several other aspects.
"I also don't like mandatory attendance," Vetter said. "Once upon a time I used to bring my team to the Escape the Rock Tournament [at Council Rock South High School] in Pennsylvania. It was a great experience for my guys to see different competition in a unique venue. That opportunity was taken away due to scheduling conflicts and the trade off is less than desirable."
Personally, I like the idea of splitting the bracket. It will showcase the best wrestlers and give the others a chance to compete on a level field. Some have lobbied for a dual meet format, like the Shore Conference, but I don't see that as an improvement. Coaches are already complaining about facing each other too much, so how does this help? What big dual meet will we see that we don't get already on the regular-season schedule?
"I would be very opposed to doing this tournament in a dual meet format," Fajerman said.
This is the toughest county tournament in the state, bar none. In the three years, there have been only three pins, three major decisions and one technical fall in 42 championship finals.
This year, we saw six freshmen and three sophomores compete in the title round. One of those wrestlers, Lenape Valley's Peter Lipari, became the first freshman to win a title by capturing the 106-pound crown against Warren Hills' Max Nauta in the tourney's first all-freshman final.
The future is certainly bright.
Everything should be done to make sure the HWS Tournament is run as a premier event. If changes aren't made soon, no one will want to attend. And that's sad for a sport that needs all the exposure and support it can get.
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