Defeated wrestlers won’t get 2nd shot in state tournament
IHSAA board of directors say adding wrestlebacks would make event too long.
By Pat McKee
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Calumet High School wrestling coach Jim Wadkins said he felt like he was kicked in the gut Monday.
Wadkins, a proponent of adding wrestlebacks to the individual regional and semistate rounds of the state tournament, was “beyond disappointed “after learning the Indiana High School Athletic Association governing group had voted 12-5 against the proposal. Wrestlebacks are consolation matches that allow defeated wrestlers a chance to move up in a tournament’s standings.
That was the most contentious issue when the IHSAA’s board of directors and executive committee met.
“It’s sad that the individuals in that position didn’t listen, “said Wadkins, who coordinated a presentation on behalf of the state’s coaches to the 17-member elected group last month. “I’m just sick to my stomach.”
One of those board members is Calumet athletic director Dennis Bunda, who voted for the proposal. His school hosts a regional and he said the proposal was workable. He expressed surprise the vote wasn’t closer.
Others, however, expressed concern that adding the matches — 56 at the regional and 70 at the semistate, according to IHSAA assistant commissioner Bobby Cox — would significantly lengthen the events.
“A number of schools have home basketball games on the day of the regional, “said Cox, the administrator who oversees wrestling. “Adding time (to wrestling) could force a decision on whether some schools will host. It could put a hardship on the entire tournament.”
Northwest principal Roy Simpson said he opposed the concept of giving athletes who have lost another chance.
“Upsets happen, “Simpson said. “Why should a ranked wrestler who is upset have a chance to wrestle back into the tournament?”
Some talk centered on wrestlebacks being more viable if the final individual results determined the team score. But for that to happen, then the team tournament as it now exists would be discontinued — a notion that infuriated Wadkins, who expressed unhappiness with Cox and commissioner Blake Ress.
“They want us to give back something we fought for years for, “Wadkins said. “(Wrestlebacks) aren’t something that are good for any one school. For all the athletes, they just are the right thing to do.”
The board defeated proposals that would have mandated a second moratorium week in the summer; added restrictions to out-of-season sport workouts; added a Saturday practice day before the first Monday in basketball and/or all winter and spring sports; and added a 19th position to the board and mandated the representative be from a private school.
Steve Witty, executive director of the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, was pleased that the moratorium and out-of-season workout proposals were defeated by 14-3 and 13-4 votes. But he was chagrinned over losing the extra day of practice, which was defeated 16-1.
“I still don’t understand why people are against that Saturday practice, “Witty said. “If you don’t want it, don’t use it. But some sports don’t need to make cuts. In our case, if you cut on Tuesday, it’s tough to explain sometimes after just two practices. But if we had the Saturday, we could have four practices to evaluate before cutting.”
Ress said there was more discussion than the 16-1 vote against adding a designed board seat for someone from a private school indicated. Carmel assistant principal Lee Lonzo cast the lone vote for the proposal.
“I feel we may be discussing some very serious issues that involve private schools, “Lonzo said. “As we deal with these, it would be good to have a board member with that perspective.”
Call Star reporter Pat McKee at (317) 444-6182.
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