Received a question the other day from an All-American wrestler who is affiliated with one of the nation’s most successful programs.
He was questioning whether it was right, or fair, to limit a travel team to 13 athletes? He felt it doesn’t work well for the visiting team whereas the home team basically has any number of athletes, per weight, who could weight in.
I understood his inquiry and responded; “yea, doesn’t seem fair,” assuming fairness was the goal?
I do understand why the NCAA places limits on travel squads though.
Basically, to control spending, especially for those institutions who don’t have access to unlimited budgets, which in wrestling, covers everyone except maybe the Top 10 programs. It allows the rich to maintain their positions of power at the expense of lesser funded programs.
But I agree, the whole concept of limiting the size of traveling teams is a sound decision.
However, in collegiate wrestling, with ten weight classes, and a rule limiting a wrestler’s ability to go up more than one weight class after weighing in, and the home team being allowed to weigh in double at every weight class; it really isn’t fair to the traveling team; nor is it reasonable.
Now, without fighting the regulation the NCAA has in place, which again is a solid one, here’s my work around. Something the Rules Committee would never think of, nor will they act on . . . because it wasn’t their idea.
For each dual meet formatted competition, be it a dual, tri, or quad; the home team has to designate which 13 wrestlers they’re weighing in 3-days before the competition. Okay, 2-days, 4-days, whatever, as long as it’s the same for each team.
That gives the traveling squad time to adjust their line-ups anyway they see fit. It’s just a ‘what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander’ modification.
Or, if you don’t like that and want a different solution, please allow me to refer you to one of my Super 7 rule modifications; a
wrestler can wrestle twice in a dual meet; the weight class he or she weighed in for and then the one just above it. That way you
never have forfeits, even if you only weighed-in one wrestler per weight class.
This alteration has multiple benefits for the sport, the fans,
and the athletes. If you haven’t had a chance to read about this, or these rule revisions before, you can find them below.
You forgot about the travel expenses of the fans when all your competition lives several hundred if not thousands of miles away.
Even your friends and family of your athletes will think long and hard before making such arduous trips.
You can’t expect other students to travel long distances to watch their team and their friends.