Cleaning out the notebook from the last couple of days…
Changes coming to HS wrestling this week?: The PIAA wrestling steering committee at its meeting in late April made a proposal to remove a weight class for the 2020-21 season. That proposal would become official on Wednesday if it gets enough votes at the PIAA Board of Control meeting.
The change would keep the weight classes at 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152 and 160 intact and then consolidate the upper divisions. Instead of five — 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285 — there would be four at 172, 189, 215 and 285.
You’ll notice a big gap in some weights, with 17 pounds separating the 172 and 189 classes and 26 in between 189 and 215, which could pose quite the challenge to wrestlers trying to make weight.
The committee’s rationale for proposing the changes were so that it would now be easier to break ties in dual meets with an odd number of weights and that for facing out-of-state competition, whether it be in Pennsylvania under this proposal or out of the state under the current National Federation of State High School Association (170, 182, 195, 220, 285), only three weight classes would have to adjust weight descent plans.
Locally, it should help set up more contested matches. The Allegheny Mountain Wrestling League has seen an exorbitant amount of forfeits in recent years, with some schools only sending five or six wrestlers to the mat for a dual meet.
The downfall, however, is that losing a class takes away opportunities at schools that have good numbers and plenty of kids such as the Port Allegany/Smethport co-op or other successful AMWL schools like Kane or Johnsonburg.
For comparison, just over the border in New York, the Empire State has 15 weight classes: 99 pounds, 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285.
Speaking of wrestling: In an effort to get more participation in the sport, The Pennsylvania Girls High School Wrestling Task Force will be hosting a virtual chat with prospective female wrestlers on Tuesday night.
The webinar, set for 7 p.m. on Zoom, will be moderated by Tela Bacher, a 2004 women’s wrestling olympian, as well as Brooke Zumas, an assistant wrestling coach at Parkland High School. Tamyra Mensah-Stock, the 2019 USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year will be a guest as will Sara McMann, a 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist in women’s wrestling. McMann — who is also a UFC title contender — will lead a 20-minute workout and a handful of current Pennsylvania female wrestlers will be on-hand to provide testimonials.
The task force noted in its press release that girls wrestling has been the fastest growing sport in the country over the past five years. In PA, all 12 districts have girls wrestling within their area schools, but Pennsylvania does not yet have an official state tournament and has not sanctioned girls wrestling as a sport. There are a few female wrestlers in District 9, including Oswayo Valley’s Ashleigh Sparling.
The chat is open to students and their families by either watching live on the group’s Facebook page (Pennsylvania Women’s Wrestling) or by registering for the webinar at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lSAiqGCsSiO8KU8yH6E_dg
Will the PIAA have to get creative to restart HS sports?: We are such a long way off and there are still so many different variables at play that it feels even foolish speculating on what will happen to fall sports in August.
But my colleague, Joel Whetzel, posed a question a few weeks ago that I originally scoffed at: What if the PIAA switches some of the fall and spring sports? As in, football and soccer are played in the spring of 2021 and baseball and softball in the fall. The motivation there being that it’s less likely contact sports with so much physical interaction will be allowed so soon and sports where social distance is much more possible (i.e baseball) may be allowed.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a school district in the Pittsburgh area already proposed the idea to District 7 (WPIAL).
And the more I think about it, the more it could work. Yes, it would be radical, but a few months ago we never thought of one-way traffic at our grocery stores or temperature checks before you enter a building. Things, and circumstances, necessitate change.
The idea may also help districts in bigger cities like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, where restrictions will likely still be stricter than in our area come the fall.
Of course, the logistics to that will be tricky and even if it ultimately makes sense, it may be too much work with too little time to work with.
But just like every other business or organization is doing in nearly all facets of society right now, thinking outside of the box is going to be required in any attempt to return to some form of normalcy. The PIAA better be prepared to do the same.
(Anthony Sambrotto, The Bradford Era sports editor, can be reached at asambrotto@bradfordera.com).
