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| The 87th State Championships were contested just in time. |
We are not going to open our schools back up until we are convinced by scientists and medical professionals that doing so would be safe for students and staff – and their families.— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 21, 2020
I will not rush this. I cannot.
Needless to say that this shutdown has presented a challenge for coaches and athletes as they try to implement some sort of offseason regiment. Phillipsburg coach Dave Post, a mathematics teacher at the Warren County school, has been taking part in video conferencing sessions, including meetings with state officials in his role as secretary for the New Jersey Wrestling Coaches Association. Post hopes some of his program's traditional offseason dates, including the Lycoming Camp, will still take place. That team camp experience is even more important now given that wrestlers and coaches can not be together in person.
"Lycoming Camp and 1,000 Islands Duals are the two biggest events for us," said Post, who said his program's high school schedule for 2020-21, which includes a return trip to the season-opening Dvorak Tournament in Illinois, is nearly complete. The Stateliners will enter next season sitting on 990 wins.
Realignment update
It's that time again where realignment of districts and regions is upon us and many around the state are eager to see the configurations for the next two seasons. There were no official announcements following Monday's meeting, but it seems that coaches have been gathering information and authoring proposals behind the scenes.
One proposal factoring in power points (75 percent) and returning top 12 finishes in AC (25 percent) has leaked out, but don't expect anything definitive for at least a few months. The major hangups this time center around geography and Non-Public strength in the north. Scattering of those Non-Public powers throughout the state is a strong possibility. I have heard the second realignments for 2018-19 and 2019-20, which made even less sense than the first set the previous two seasons, strictly from a geographic standpoint, was not a big hit with several NJSIAA officials and even less so with South Jersey coaches.
Up north, the dominance of Bergen Catholic (Region 2), Delbarton (Region 3), St. Joseph-Montvale and Pope John (Region 1), along with Don Bosco Prep (Region 1), St. Peter's Prep and Seton Hall (Region 4), and where to house those top-ranked programs has been a major issue. In South Jersey, the travel is a bigger deal to some with fewer parochial powers outside of Camden Catholic and St. Augustine.
Interestingly, the medal count in Atlantic City in four of the previous seasons before the second realignment was more evenly distributed than the last two tournaments as these numbers show:
Region
|
2020
|
2019
|
2018
|
2017
|
Total
|
1
|
18
|
20
|
16
|
10
|
64
|
2
|
18
|
21
|
19
|
20
|
78
|
3
|
13
|
16
|
14
|
14
|
57
|
4
|
6
|
10
|
9
|
15
|
40
|
5
|
15
|
13
|
14
|
17
|
59
|
6
|
12
|
5
|
14
|
8
|
39
|
7
|
18
|
21
|
12
|
10
|
61
|
8
|
12
|
6
|
14
|
18
|
50
|
Region
|
2016
|
2015
|
2014
|
2013
|
Total
|
1
|
17
|
16
|
13
|
12
|
58
|
2
|
21
|
24
|
16
|
16
|
77
|
3
|
11
|
12
|
14
|
18
|
55
|
4
|
14
|
12
|
13
|
12
|
51
|
5
|
17
|
12
|
17
|
15
|
61
|
6
|
12
|
20
|
18
|
15
|
65
|
7
|
8
|
7
|
11
|
13
|
39
|
8
|
12
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
42
|
Also, the numbers are pretty close across the previous eight seasons in six regions, with the numbers basically flipping in Regions 6 and 7 during the realignments. Stay tuned for more on this issue.
New weights a done deal?
It seems as if all discussions regarding the reduction of weight classes is at hand. Reportedly, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) recently reviewed and voted to adopt one of several proposals with 13 weights, down one, from the 14 classes we've had since the 2011-12 season. Since New Jersey usually follows NFHS guidelines, it would seem a change is on the way for the Garden State. The NFHS is expected to make an announcement, along with a few other rules changes, in the coming week.
Current weight classes: 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285.
One proposed version: 107, 114, 121, 128, 134, 140, 146, 152, 160, 172, 189, 215 and 285.
If the one above is adopted, the only big news here is the elimination of the 182-pound class, which is a good thing as there were far too many upper weights. Three weights -- 152, 160 and 285 -- remain the same with minor tweaks to the other 10 classes. One fair argument to be made is that 107 (109 when the two-pound allowance kicks in) hurts the little guy in the sport, say one who weighs around 100. Perhaps 105 would be a better number? Going back to 13 weights also eliminates the need for criteria to break ties for dual meets. I'm sure (not really) we will all miss seeing a match decided on most first points scored.
Back points
Here are some discussions and changes for next season resulting from recent meetings of state officials and Region presidents.
Rutgers will be the new host for next season's Group championships after stints in Trenton and Toms River. It's just a matter of ironing out some details as the RAC was originally set to host just the state championship matches and not the semifinals. But since the arena can get six mats down that should no longer an issue. As we first reported back in March, there were discussions of possibly tweaking the sectional schedules to double up on Monday and have the finals on Wednesday, with the Group semifinals on Friday at the higher seeds.
Elimination of the Wednesday round for all eight regions, mostly from a travel standpoint, along with the addition two seasons ago of a girls tournament on that Sunday. This one has yet to be voted on, but from what I've been told it has a slim chance of passing. A Friday and Saturday schedule would eliminate the one benefit to winning a district title -- since criteria for region seeding places more of an emphasis on past advancement -- in getting a night off from competition as seconds and thirds compete in that traditional Wednesday round. Coaches will be sent surveys to vote on the potential elimination of Wednesday's round at regions and Group 5 for next season.
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| Greg Tufaro with the John Vogeding Media Award in March. |
The need for allowing teams to split their squad will apparently have to wait another year as it was inexplicably left of the agenda at a recent rules committee meeting. It would give schools the option to send their top wrestlers to events like the Beast of the East and the rest to another tournament. That's a win-win as plenty of public schools lose kids out of the youth program simply because they don't attend those big events. Most coaches don't want to risk losing inexperienced wrestlers for the sake of a placating few studs. That's not the way to build a program.
Last season's Patriot Duals at North Warren were a big success with North Hunterdon (Group 4 champion), High Point (Group 2 champion) and West Essex (Group 3 runner-up) all in attendance. North Warren coach Kellen Bradley said he is looking to add Group 5 champion Southern to the mix. Locally, Warren Hills has opted out of next season's event as the Blue Streaks ran into match limit issues in 2019-20. Coach Dave Sbriscia also said his team already wrestles Skyland Conference foe North Hunterdon in a dual meet, while Warren Hills and High Point have discussed potential dates for a match that would also involve a girls dual.
Newton coach Eric Bollette recently submitted a request to the NJSIAA for a one-year waiver regarding the one tournament per week rule. The Braves are slated to compete in the John Goles Invitational (Dec. 28) and their own Boresch Duals (Jan. 2), but since Christmas falls on a Friday in 2020, these events will be held in the same week. North Hunterdon also is among the roughly 30 schools facing this same prospect. Let's hope the state does the right thing here so both don't have to pull out of the John Goles.
Long overdue is the recognition of this year's John Vogeding Award recipient for excellence in media. Greg Tufaro, an all-around good guy and founding member of the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Top 20, was honored during Thursday's session in Atlantic City. Tufaro has earned the respect of many in the wrestling community for his hard work and dedication to the sport. You can check out his work at mycentraljersey.com.
