I agree that it's unfortunate that a lot of teams aren't fielding full lineups but I also think we have to remember a couple things.
1. Our kids are getting a lot of matches (which is a good thing) but that is also more opportunity to get beat up and injured. I know in our case it was some late injuries and I wasn't willing to throw a young, inexperienced kid to the wolves and watch his passion for wrestle disintegrate as he gets destroyed.
2. The time of the year that AIA has sectionals and state isn't very conducive to grades and progress and eligibility. Again, for us, if I have a kid ineligible at the semester, he's done for the rest of the year. If sectionals were simply a week or two later, like they are in many other states, our kids would be able to get eligible again and I know we're not the only district in that boat.
3. I think lastly we need to do a better job, especially in southern Arizona, of promoting both JV and freshman wrestling. It's rediculous that JV kids can't get medals at tournaments and I think we tend to get so focused on varsity that we forget there all these guys just waiting to be in the lineup and they eventually fade away so that when we do have an injury or ineligibility, there's no one to take their place. In SoAz we end doing this round robin crap for our JV that they don't ever get to lineup and wrestle a dual like the varsity. And forget about freshmen. They're simply JV. I wish we had a more clear distinction between freshmen and JV and gave them a more real wrestling experience in competition
Cougar,
The only thing I agree with on your post is it is to bad numbers are down.
The rest.... I have to disagree with.
#1. The more matches the better. Preferably against top notch competition. Or as you like to call them "wolves" (no connection to Chandler LOL)
your kids will never get better unless they take those bumps, bruises, injuries and get their butts kicked by the better wrestler. In this sport, I t's called experience
#2.
To imply that the AIA should cater to athletics over academics is just wrong.
In my 30years experience very rarely do you see a dedicated wrestler fall behind in the classroom.
Are we trying to promote student athletes or athletic students?
preparation is key to the sport and that begins in the classroom.
#3. The numbers are what they are. If there was an overwhelming number of students in each and every wrestling room I'm sure we would have JV and or freshman teams. From what I have seen this is a state wide, if not a national issue, not just to be blamed on southern Arizona.
if the kids who can't crack the lineup REALLY want a medal maybe they should roll in the freestyle season. They give medals away at a lot of those tournaments because there is less wrestlers then placing spots.
Maybe if some more of the schools north of Phoenix (northern az) started bringing their kids down to the freestyle tournaments instead of running their own hodgepodge weekend tournaments the state as a whole would increase their numbers, their own kids would get better national recognition, and the states competition level would go up.
They would also likely gain the experience they need to crack the varsity spot next year.
On the closing note,
It is my opinion that the AIA is ran by a bunch of jokes who have no interest in promoting our sport.
The one or two people sitting on their board that do respect our sport are so overpowered by numbers they don't have a leg to stand on.
Just like you cannot leave it up to a referee during any specific match, do not leave it up to these clowns to determine the fate of your wrestlers future. Educate yourself on NCAA requirements, and attend as many off-season tournaments as you can.
