Originally Posted by nlion91

I get that they want to raise the importance of duals but don't take away from the importance of the tournament in the process. Two champions; an NCAA Dual Meet champion and an NCAA Tournament champion. Why not?

I don't think that there is any other collegiate sport that has two categories of National Champion, and I see no need to become the first in order to justify the existence of the National Duals. There are many tournaments prior to the NCAA's which crown a team champion. To me, the National Duals is just one more.

My uninformed sense of the situation is that the national tournament has been a massive financial success, both for the NCAA and for ESPN. They are trying to replicate that by putting emphasis on the duals, with the knowledge that despite all the moaning and groaning of some fans, making the national title the team title isn't going to put much of a dent in attendance for the NCAA tourney.

Generally speaking I am in favor of this change, as I think putting more emphasis on the team competition is going to add even more excitement to the season. However I do also feel that its a shame they couldn't find some way to keep the individual tournament relevant to the overall team title.

Lost as always the voice of reason.

I like following the team race at the individual national championships, I understand that lots of people here like following the team race at the individual national championships. What I think is missing from this discussion is that, usually, is only interesting/exciting for people who follow the tournament closely for 3 days. I imagine that most people who tune in for the finals are only watching the finals and the team race is usually over by then. So taking the team championships from the individual tournament isn't going to make a difference to most of the people watching the tournament.

Having ESPN involved with a dual meet tournament means more wrestling coverage on TV. More wrestling coverage on TV means more casual fans watching wrestling. The more fans watch the sport the better off the sport is.

I also think that duals are more fan friendly than tournaments (especially for casual fans). If you're a fan of a team every match involves a guy on your team. If you're bringing your kids or the kids you coach who have short attention spans an hour and a half long dual is going to be much more fun for them than an all day tournament. A dual tournament also adds meaning to a lot more regular season duals, I think casual fans/students are more likely to go to a dual to see their team try to qualify for the national tournament than would be otherwise. A multi-weekend dual tournament also gives buzz a chance to build about 'Cinderella' teams.

Okay, so do we want:

1. the National Champion team to be determined by the NCAA individual tournament format, or
2. the National Champion team to be determined by the Duals format, or
3. two different National Championship definitions with possibly two different National Champion teams?

Option 1 retains the importance of the NCAA Tournament and caps off the season with its premier event.
Option 2 severely diminishes the significance of the NCAA Tournament, but gives college wrestling more exposure, more money, and probably a wider audience.
Option 3, in my opinion, confuses the issue and is not viable.

My vote is for option 1, but I'm an old guy who values tradition and resists change.

I also like the change and I think that it will be positive for our sport. As has been said it is easy for a casual fan to watch a dual meet and know who to cheer for or get excited about. It was difficult to explain to my wife in the past why I'm cheering for somebody from a school I don't cheer for to beat someone else just so that Oregon State will finish ahead of them in the team race. Also most fans don't want to sit through ONE full day of tournament wrestling let alone two or three. The posters here are obviously an exception, we're all big wrestling fans or else we wouldn't argue about things online, the vast majority though would rather a dual meet.

I do wish that the NCAA would have had two different titles, a tournament title and a dual meet title, but I think that this step is a good move, and anytime that ESPN wants to showcase another event for us I'm happy about it.