Back to the original issue... ONLY TWO MATS???

Yes, back to the original issue.... I wonder how many regional sites have 2 mats vs. 3 mats? Do the 5A & 6A sites use 3 mats for their 1 day tournaments? Was having facilities able to fit 3 mats a consideration in determining regional sites at all?

I have never been to any bracketed tournament with 8 or more wrestlers where only two surfaces were used. Simple math will tell you how many matches and how much time it will take. I think you will be in the gym for a VERY long time for a this event.

I'm sure not complaining about the travel time. But my calculations of 16-man brackets shows there is a possibility of 112 matches in the first round, 56 in the quarterfinals, 56 in consolation first round, and 56 in consolation quarterfinals. This is 280 matches divided by 2 mats times an average of 5 minutes per match (assuming a few pins, byes, etc). I come up with 700 minutes of wrestling. The tournament starts at 1:00. This would be a mere 11.66667 hours of wrestling assuming there is not a 45-minute delay like there was in Holton a few years ago when a young stallion from Abilene broke his arm on mat 3. Then make weight, grab a bite at the aforementioned truck stop Subway, and back to the room to get some sleep.

In 2005, Colby started the championship semifinals at 11:00 on Saturday morning. The serious wrestlers aren't out until 2:00 in the morning very often during the season. Why expect them to be up that late the night before their biggest matches of the season?

Typically you figure 13-15 matches per hour. This takes into consideration the byes, pins, and shortened 1st period on the back side. Since there are only 15 teams in the Colby regional this will be 364 matches. That works out to 182 per mat. Since there will be opens by many schools we will go with 15 matches per hour. That works out to 12.13 hours. With no breaks you could wrestle just 6 hours on Friday and be done at 7pm and then 6 hours or a little more on Saturday and be on the road in the late afternoon even with an hour lunch break. It can be done but you won't be able to stop wrestling much and your officials will get a little worn out.

Just 15 teams? You mean to tell me that Lindsborg-Smoky Valley isn't allowed to bring 2 full teams?

Just bring the JV team Ron:)

My new math. Last year's Abilene regional was a lot of the same teams and had 48 byes in round 1. So this brings the first day total to 184 (even though all the other 16-team regionals are probably wrestling 1 more round on Friday and still getting done earlier). 92 matches per mat x 5 minutes = 460 minutes. That would be about 9:00 barring any major delays. Still late. But better than 2:00 a.m.

And Alex Ryan is always good for a few "touch" falls if he is on the whistle, so that could speed things along a little.

I believe our AD is planning on wrestling the semifinals on Friday evening like all other 4A Regionals. I believe wrestling will start at 1 on Friday afternoon.

. Not complaining, just trying to put a perspective, we get to travel 3.5 hours and Will was complaining about a relatively shorter trip, although his complaints were for a different reason understandably. Looking forward to being in Colby.

I personally don't think that it's an issue for Colby to have only two mats at their regional. That regional has only 15 teams, and to top that off, not every team has a full lineup, so it won't go as long as you think.

As for a few years ago, I remember Ellis hosting a 3A regional with two mats, and they usually have 20 or so teams in a regional in that classification. Started at 2 and didn't get out of there until after 10 or 10:30.

The 3-2-1A State Tournaments used to always be wrestled on 2 mats, and all of the regionals were on two mats. Had good breaks between sessions. Just enjoy getting to actually watch more matches, it doesnt take that long. But of course, this is probably the same set of people that think 3:00 is late to get out of a kids tourney!

USA wrestling did an extensive study and survey which concluded that the number one complaint about wrestling was too much time in the gym for a very limited amount of wrestling for the person of interest to the spectator. This is why they are encouraging split format tournaments.

Not going to argue about kids. We all understand the limited attention span and other problems inherent with the 12-14 hour tournaments we used to have.

But for high schoolers, I have always liked the early starts, breaks between sessions for proper meals, and time to relax and reconnect with old friends rather than the hurry up and get out mentality that seems prevalent. I never thought that 9:30 or 10:00 was too late to get out of the finals. Just my opinion

This is a primary reason KSHSAA should change the 32-32-64 classification scheme for 6A, 5A and 4A to 40-40-40 or 40-40-48. Goal should be one day, Saturday 10 school regionals at 4 locations in each class (if 40 40 48, 4A regionals would each be 12 school). Don't know how this will effect travel distance and times.

Don't know what to do with 321A. With 90 plus schools in 4 regionals it would be difficult to do one day regionals in 321A. Could maybe micro manage each regional by using projected bracket opens to balance the number of wrestlers rather than the same number of teams at each regional--just don't split a team to 2 regionals. Does this make sense as I tried to describe it???

Main two reasons KSHSAA should change the school classification scheme for wrestling: level the field for state tournament qualification and economy. Current 6A and 5A regionals are one day tournaments, comparatively, the two day 4A regional tournaments are grossly inefficient, costly in money, time and hard on the buttocks.

Reclassification to 40 40 40 or 40 40 48 can be wrestled in one day, Saturday, regional tournaments. Each tournament would be an 8 team bracket. If more than 8 wrestlers in a weight class, would require some bracket modifications: a pig tail round or a wrestle-in round. Might consider that pig tail and wrestle-in losers wound be one loss elimination rounds. With the historic number of first round opens in all classes in all weight brackets in all regional tournaments, don't think the pig tail/wrestle-in single elimination round would be a big deal. Note. Trackwrestling has a whole page of bracketology, how's that for a big word, that will provide a workable bracket and seeding process for a one day tournament with more than 8 (10-12) wrestlers in a weight class.

Added: could even consider a reclass to 42 42 42 (126 schools) or 42 42 44. But, if possible should keep the total number schools in a class evenly divisible by four (40/4 or 44/4 or 48/4). An odd number of school in a class exacerbates the bracketing problem and intent of having a one day, efficient tournament

I must admit, the 2 mats vs 3 didn't really affect the time & quality of the regional at Colby. Great job and a shout out to the Colby administration & staff!

The packed gym and close quarters really added to the atmosphere & intensity of the tournament. It was fairly normal drama for a regional tournament including some upsets, some freshmen standouts, skin inj./dflt on day one, some very good officiating, some poor calls, etc. 4 abnormal items were:
1. A pep band to start the tournament!
2. Hospitality! = A bake sale, free brackets handed out in the stands, space to set up tables for wrestlers lunch, & more.
3. Multiple retracted calls after a coaches questioned call - all by one official. (I counted at least 4 during the tournament)
4. At 182 some local boo-ing for an unfortunate injury where a wrestler passed out. The winning wrestler showed concern, was appropriately not penalized, and by body language obviously felt bad about the unfortunate situation.

Again, all in all a fantastic tournament. Thanks for making the 2 mats a success!