"What about an ultimate West Virginia State Champion?"
by Dr. Bill Welker
In truth, West Virginia has approximately 80 schools that participate in wrestling. So, we could easily have one "true or ultimate" state champion crowned. And it can be done the state championship weekend. Consider the following.
Personal Thoughts
Nothing would have to be changed at regionals. We would still have the same Class AAA and Class AA regional individual and team champions. At states, we could still have the same separate brackets, where there would be crowned a Class AAA and Class AA state champion, and state championship AAA and AA team champions.
The change at states would be to start earlier on Thursday (say noon) so on Friday night the Class AAA and Class AA State Champions would be crown.
However, the state team championships would not be determined because the usual 3rd through 6th place finishers would again be decided on Saturday afternoon. There is nothing etched in stone that state team champions have to be determined at the championship finals. Furthermore, this will bring everyone back on Saturday. And
keep in mind, there would be no extra consolation rounds, and no wrestler would compete in more than 5 matches a day.
I do not know the subtleties of putting this extra session format together. In other words, what should be wrestled in the various rounds? That's where we need the expertise the likes of Bill and Diana Archer. But I intuitively know it can be done.
Finally, there would be a sixth round or session where the Class AAA state champs wrestle the Class AA state champs to determine the "True or Ultimate State Champion" Saturday night. There could also be bonus points for the winners' squads that could even make the team championship races that much more interesting. Likewise, it would bring the majority of fans back to the "Ultimate State Champions Finals."
What do you think?
Technical Violations
(Part One)
There are seven technical violations in wrestling. Today we will discuss the first three technical violations. All but one technical violation (Incorrect Starting Position or False Starts) are penalized via the progressive penalty chart in the following manner:
" First Offense: One match point for the opponent
" Second Offense: One match point for the opponent
" Third Offense: Two Match points for the opponent
" Fourth Offense: Disqualification
Let's now take a look at the first three technical violations: Leaving the Mat Proper, Intentionally Going Out-of-bounds, and Grasping of Clothing.
Leaving the Mat Proper
No wrestler may walk off the mat to spit in the waste can, for water, for legal medication, etc. without first receiving permission from the official.
Intentionally Going Out-of-bounds
Neither wrestler may intentionally go out-of-bounds when the match is in progress to avoid wrestling his opponent for any reason. There is one exception;
If an opponent has scored near-fall points, the bottom man may scoot out-of-bounds on purpose.
Grasping of Clothing
A contestant may grab nothing but his opponent while wrestling. Should a wrestler grasp his adversary's uniform in an attempt to prevent him from scoring, any points his opponent obtains will be awarded plus the appropriate penalty point(s). Note, if the referee feels that the bottom man can not score due to the top man grabbing his uniform, the referee may stop the match and award the appropriate penalty point(s).
Be reminded, should a wrestler accidently get his fingers or hand caught in his opponent's singlet, no penalty will be indicated and the referee may have to take an official's time out rectify the situation.
Mini-Mat Quiz
Q: Wrestler puts Wrestler B on his back in a high bridge for three seconds. Wrestler B then uses his feet to push both wrestlers out-of-bounds. Is this a technical violation?
A: No. This is not a technical violation because Wrestler A would have earned two points for the near-fall situation.
Mat Message
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson