I like it. It will up the intensity of Nat'l Duals for sure and will create some of the biggest and most exciting dual matches of all-time. Important match-ups between teams for conference titles are intense as it is, now with teams competing for the nat'l team title it will be off the charts. It gives quality guys on quality teams more matches against each other. I see the argument made that small school or middle of the road teams stand no chance in this and are thus in danger of becoming more irrelevant (to the school AD's), resulting in the new format causing more teams to be dropped by their schools, but I don't fully understand or agree with the logic, as they aren't really relevant now anyway and in some schools they currently couldn't be LESS relevant. I guess I see this as something for these smaller schools to shoot for, to make the "Sweet 16".

People say the sport is dying and that more exposure is needed so this is a shake-up for the better in my opinion (although time will tell if it is for the worse) as it will introduce more people to competitive, tough matches that mean something, and competitive, close dual matches are very exciting and can be extremely dramatic, which is what people respond to. I personally think that the sport doesn't need more exposure anyway. We all know that the general population already knows what wrestling is, and the vast majority of them either are repulsed by it (they think it is gay, or gross, or even laughable) or just don't care about it ("the best athletes are in football/basketball", etc). Every non-wrestler that I have made an attempt to introduce to the sport just won't get into it and they never will, so I'm tired of the "wrestling doesn't have enough exposure" argument in response to the question of why it isn't mainstream. This change is good for wrestling fans and wrestlers.

Originally Posted by Herkey#1

I go to nationals for the team race. On the side I want Iowa to win all ten weight classes. But without the team race ending in a national title I just can't see it being the same for me. A national title is the whole reason I watch wrestling. It's the only thing that matters if you're a Hawkeye fan. Now they want me to get behind an idea that will possibly ruin the best event in our sport.

I would be in favor of the NCAA crowning a dual champ and a tournament champ, but I don't think that's going to happen. I would also be in favor awarding teams at duals with points to add to the team points at nationals so that we could still have the team race at the tournament and also ensure that all the teams go to duals.

Nobody ever says, "Hey who won NWCA's in 1997?" But everyone knows that the Hawks set a scoring record at NCAA's in 97.

Good points here but nobody asks "who won NWCA's in 1997?" because a comparable level of importance was not placed upon it.

Brings up the question in my mind, that for the most part (but clearly not always) won't the team that wins the national dual title also be favored to (and usually) win the tournament title? So I suppose the new format would bring either elements of certainty or doubt to the team titles.

Originally Posted by Spider

I agree with Herkey. At every level, we can distinguish between a good dual meet team (balance up and down the line) and a tournament team (a few outstanding individuals and some wrestleback points). Sometimes a team is both, sometimes not. Which is more worthy of being called National Champion has long been debated. The excitement of the NCAA's is generated by oustanding individual performances including some upsets, and the team race, sometimes a nail biter and sometimes a runaway (both appreciated by fans). Elevating the NWCA dual champ to "The National Champion Team" would dilute the importance and excitement of college wrestling's premiere event of the year. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It ain't broke. (Oh, but it's all about money - nevermind)

I agree that the driving force is $$, but since the sport is "on a decline" as it is, wouldn't you say that it is broke? In other words, the one really awesome event that we currently have isn't preventing programs from being cut, etc. I'm not sure that adding a dual meet champion will fix any of this but at least in my mind (and perhaps naively), I see it as adding another awesome event, not diluting the only one awesome event we currently have. The big tournament is still going to be just as tough to win (individually) and I think it will still be THE premier event of the year.