Vince,
I like duel tournaments as well, and I think the ideas I have read here for prospective meets have great merit. I would suggest, however, that our meets have gotten somewhat long for maintaining the attention of the normal fan. Duel tournaments can be as lengthy as ordinary bracketed tournaments. Vince, I would also suggest that you and I are not normal fans.
In Kansas where we use a point system. Coaches use the system to get as many matches as possible for their wrestlers and multi duel tournaments give that opportunity, but those meets take time for fans to attend, time that some do not have or simply wish not to give. Yet some high school schedules have nothing but multi-team events on their calendar.
Coaches and athletic directors can use regular duels to spice up their season. They are a great way to highlite a rivalry or create one. They only last a short time and fans love them. I also suspect so do the wrestlers. Most coaches won't go to duels on their schedule exclusively, they still want wrestlers to get important mat time but fans who attend meets need consideration as well.
You did bring up another thought. A reason for coaches not using duels in their season is that they cannot fill weight classes, maybe we have to many weight classes. Weight classes are determined by National Federation of State High School Associations, so are not a function the KSHSAA. But the number of weight classes have changed throughout the years, eleven when I first started coaching, then twelve, and now fourteen. They have been and can be changed as different circumstances arrive.
Gary Ulmer
Last edited by Gary Ulmer; 03/09/08 09:40 PM.
