Here are a couple of thoughts while I have been watching this dialogue...
1. Chad, be careful with your wording, for the most part I agree with your point but based on this statement..." State Champion would be the one that has defeated all other competitors in the state." There has never been a state champion in any sport. I do not know of any sport where the state champion has defeated all of the other competitors in the state. This is impossible and infeasible.
2. Basketball does have it right....why??? It depends on your overall objective for wrestling. If your goal is to grow the sport, try to get it to where it is marketable enough so college programs can sustain themselves then we need to change dramatically. We need to focus on the dual concept rather than individual tournaments with a focus on individual accomplishments.
Here is my reasoning for this....
1. Dual scoring is much easier to follow, thus making it easier for the common, inexperienced person to become a fan. By the way....this is the target audience...not us ex-wrestlers that are going to be fans no matter what. Heck, look at all the crap we have endured with the changing of the rules in Olympic style wrestling over the years.
2. Duals are quicker and sell better for TV. I can tune in and watch my favorite team without having to sit there and track every individual. Try to determine how the team scoring works in an individual tournament, etc.
3. Heck, most of us do not know the intricacies of a zone defense in basketball, a triangle offense, etc. But I will guarantee most of us were in some kind of pool for March Madness...why? Because you want to get behind your team, support your school, pick a dark horse and support it, it is fun, etc. Notice the the theme....team aspect.
Bottomline: If we want to market this sport so we can generate enough TV and marketing revenue for college wrestling programs to sustain themselves then we need to focus on the team aspect of it.
If we aren't worried about that then we can continue to focus on individual accomplishments and we can continue to watch the D1 programs dwindle and get cut.
PS- Get ready for a new round of non-profit sports programs getting axed if the NCAA reverses course and starts spreading some of that wealth to the football and mens basketball players.
Shawn Budke
