what is the purpose of wrestleoffs if you don't let the winner wrestle varsity?
iu has a thing in a local high school gym where they hold wrestleoffs to the public . At 141 a freshman named Jeff Pelton beat the varsity kid Scott Kelly 5-3. At 157 ,Paul young pinned Brandon Becker . Yet neither of these two wrestled varsity .
I was at this function and came away fairly impressed with the Quality of wrestling .
yet in the first duals Kelly was @141 and Becker @157-now Pelton is not even on the roster . Once the Big 10 season started Young went up to 174 and wrestled varsity there -he went 0-4 but gave it hell .
Does anyone know if Pelton is transferring or not ?
When I wrestled and coached if you won the wrestle off you were the MAN at that weight .
Lehigh had some controversy over this a few years ago.
Some claimed that in addition to the public wrestle offs, there were "behind closed doors" wrestle offs. Sounds fishy to me?
Also,
As a coach, I love the wrestle off system. It takes subjectivity out of the equation. You don't have to hear about playing favorites like coaches of most other sports.
Once starters are established, a challenger must beat the starter 2 out of 3.
Someone could probably write an in-depth article -- or maybe even a book -- about the wrestle-off process: how it varies from program-to-program, how it has varied over the years, and all the favoritism and inequities and unfairness that arise from wrestle-offs... or not having wrestle-offs (picking a starter and sticking with him, no matter what).
Here's one old-school story to share from 60 years ago: Immediately after World War II, there were three wrestlers at Waterloo West HS (Gable's alma mater) who were Iowa state champs and heavily recruited. They wanted to stay close to home, so it appeared they'd go to Iowa State Teachers College (now UNI) in nearby Cedar Falls. However, one of their dads asked legendary head coach Dave McCuskey, "If our kids beat one of your seniors, do they start?" McCuskey reportedly said no; seniority takes presidence over winning the wrestle-off, even if it means a superstar-in-the-making rides the bench. The trio -- Lowell Lange, Leo Thomsen, and Dick Hauser -- decided to head south and wrestled at Cornell College, helping that program win the 1947 NCAA team title... and building successful college mat careers in Mt Vernon, Iowa.
Realize that, back then, ISTC was top-heavy with talent, with superstuds like Bill Koll, Gerry Leeman, Bob Siddens, Bill Nelson, etc... so it's easy to understand why head coach McCuskey might have had a "senior-ity" rule for wrestle-offs.
I agree with the philosophy that the guy who wins the wrestle off is the varsity wrestler, but I also believe that the coach reserves the right to send whomever he chooses out on the mat. Various situations could arise which would influence this decision: giving a hard-working, less talented senior a chance to wrestle, shifting the line-up to score more team points, penalizing the varsity guy for missing practices or some other infraction, just to name a few.
Ultimately it is the decision of the coach. Wrestle-offs help and it's a more objective system than most sports. But there are guys that are good in wrestle-offs, or even against a particular guy in the room, who don't perform as well in actual competition.
The issue comes up when a coach has a wrestling room stud and a meet day bust. I knew guys like this. They were different wrestlers in the wrestling room then they were on meet day. Weird.
__________________ "That is what Gable would have done to Owings the second time around. (Metcalf/Caldwell)"
The issue comes up when a coach has a wrestling room stud and a meet day bust. I knew guys like this. They were different wrestlers in the wrestling room then they were on meet day. Weird.
Yup, wrestling is 30% physical and 80% mental.....
Yup, wrestling is 30% physical and 80% mental.....
Plus 70% perspiration.
I think that wrestle-offs are one tool that coaches should use in deciding their line-up, but they are not and should not be the be all and end all. Was IU really hurt by having Becker in their lineup?
My college coach always said that the wrestle-offs helped determine who the starter was, but he also factored in your performance at the early season tournaments. If the guy that won the wrestle-off consistantly went 0-2 at tournaments while the other guy would place or win 3-4 matches the guy that lost the wrestle-off would most likely start.
Very rarely do you have these types of situations at the high school level. My team will probably have some instances of some good wrestlers wrestling off for spots next year and the head coach and I have already talked about putting the best wrestler on the mat, which might not necessarily be the one that wins the wrestle-off.
__________________
I will smash your face into a car windshield and then take your mother, Dorothy Mantooth, out to a nice seafood dinner and never call her again!
Tell me about it, this morning, I woke up and I shit a squirrel, but what I can't get is the damn thing is still alive. So now, I've got a shit covered squirrel running around my office and I don't know what to name it.
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