With the NJCAA just announcing their plan for a January start of their season to be concluded in April, I have to think that the NCAA will not be far behind. Football, and waiting to see how the coming two months play out, could have a big effect, but I've talked to a couple of D1 coaches and the opinion is that 90% of the people involved are pushing January start right now.
@smalls103 with an article pumped up about JR trials being in Sep/Oct but I think that is wildly optimistic given that UWW is saying championships tentatively before the end of the year. To me that's about saying January like the everyone else and I doubt the couple month head start selecting/training applies this year. Everything will be condensed.
Waterway Duals just canceled their 2020 event. May not be significant to some, but for me it signals we will not be having fall preseason events this year. Super32? How is that going to happen logistically unless we have reached a time were Covid is not considered a threat or, alternatively, safe practices are disregarded altogether. I know this may be happening with protests and rallies currently but putting together an event that hosts student athletes brings a whole different set of scrutiny and their hosts may be more adverse to risk.
What happens to the college "preseason" of tournaments. My guess is it mostly goes away. If high school wrestling doesn't start until January, what does that season look like? What happens to Ironman? Beast?
From my own perspective, ETR with a bit of an advantage being held in late January, but on Saturday we have 500 wrestlers and 2000 people jammed in the stands and balcony. Is our school district going to let that happen??? And if they don't, are they going to forgo the five figure facility bill they hand out to compensate for the lost gate? Tournaments can't lose money for the programs they are supporting - if they do, they just won't happen. Are our attending schools that travel from all over - like Ironman, Beast, etc. - going to allow that to happen this year? Travel that involves their student athletes staying overnight in hotels, some even fly, long bus trips with support personnel, etc.
My best guess is that for those of you that yearn for the return of the old days, this is your year. We are likely looking at condensed seasons with dramatically reduced competition numbers at all levels. Tournaments will be drastically affected, with many skipping the year altogether, and others operating much differently. Travel will be way down and maybe the Kiwanis Winter Classic in your local area will be the highlight of the regular season this year. At the NCAA level we may see a bunch of undefeated wrestlers headed into postseason with none having much more than 15 or so wins.
@smalls103 with an article pumped up about JR trials being in Sep/Oct but I think that is wildly optimistic given that UWW is saying championships tentatively before the end of the year. To me that's about saying January like the everyone else and I doubt the couple month head start selecting/training applies this year. Everything will be condensed.
Waterway Duals just canceled their 2020 event. May not be significant to some, but for me it signals we will not be having fall preseason events this year. Super32? How is that going to happen logistically unless we have reached a time were Covid is not considered a threat or, alternatively, safe practices are disregarded altogether. I know this may be happening with protests and rallies currently but putting together an event that hosts student athletes brings a whole different set of scrutiny and their hosts may be more adverse to risk.
What happens to the college "preseason" of tournaments. My guess is it mostly goes away. If high school wrestling doesn't start until January, what does that season look like? What happens to Ironman? Beast?
From my own perspective, ETR with a bit of an advantage being held in late January, but on Saturday we have 500 wrestlers and 2000 people jammed in the stands and balcony. Is our school district going to let that happen??? And if they don't, are they going to forgo the five figure facility bill they hand out to compensate for the lost gate? Tournaments can't lose money for the programs they are supporting - if they do, they just won't happen. Are our attending schools that travel from all over - like Ironman, Beast, etc. - going to allow that to happen this year? Travel that involves their student athletes staying overnight in hotels, some even fly, long bus trips with support personnel, etc.
My best guess is that for those of you that yearn for the return of the old days, this is your year. We are likely looking at condensed seasons with dramatically reduced competition numbers at all levels. Tournaments will be drastically affected, with many skipping the year altogether, and others operating much differently. Travel will be way down and maybe the Kiwanis Winter Classic in your local area will be the highlight of the regular season this year. At the NCAA level we may see a bunch of undefeated wrestlers headed into postseason with none having much more than 15 or so wins.
Last edited:
