If taxpayers throughout the Big 30 are wondering where they can trim school budgets next year, they might want to consider saving dollars on area wrestling teams.
At least those that are struggling to field complete teams.
Throughout the month of January, the Times Herald published 56 wrestling dual meet summaries on 19 days.
In all, they produced 291 forfeits and 27 no-matches.
Officials, who get paid $75 per dual match, plus mileage, had to work a total of 26 hours and 48 seconds.
Consider, if every weight in every dual match was contested, and all of those matches went the full six minutes, the total time would equal 78 hours and 40 minutes.
The cost doesn’t include bussing athletes and coaches to and from match sites and, in some cases, meals.
In all, the bill for officials alone cost area schools $4,200.
In terms of man hours, they earned $161 per hour.
Granted, some teams are in better shape than others when it comes to fielding a full and competitive team.
But for those that are struggling in that area, there are a alternatives that could save taxpayers a few dollars.
Teams that can’t fill at least half of the 14 designated weight classes, should consider two major schedule changes.
First, they should schedule double-duals with three other schools who are also struggling to field complete teams.
That way, wrestlers would have a better chance of actually competing on that date.
And, if scheduling double duals or even tri-matches is out of the question, they should seriously consider entering their limited rosters in tournaments only.
In the same 56 dual matches reported to the Times Herald last month, not one of them featured wrestling in every weight class.
Even Smerthport’s long-awaited battle with District 9 power Ridgway produced two forfeits.
And last week, when Bolivar-Richburg defeated Franklinville in battle for Expressway Conference regular season bragging rights, the final match was a forfeit.
What makes all of these forfeits even more frustrating is the fact that teams are actually awarded six points for having done nothing.
A technical fall, a decision by 15 points or more, is only awarded five points.
Six points for doing nothing.
A wrestler walks out on the mat and the official raises his hand in victory.
Maybe I should contact Mike Foster, who coached the Olean High wrestling team during my high school years, I must have some eligibility left.
If I couldn’t break a record for most career wins at least I could be undefeated via forfeits.
(Jim Melaro is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
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