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Wrestling Season

Per the new orders issued today by the PA Governor and the PA Department of Health, all youth sports, as well as school sports, are not allowed to take place between 12:01 am on Dec. 12 and 8:00 am on Jan. 4, 2021. As such, there will be no youth, middle school, or high school wrestling until at least 2021.

College (and pro) sports are not banned during this timeframe.
 
Just guessing: could the "supplemental" designation be what allows continuation if a mask is dislodged?

Meaning that masks will still be required, but if they're designated as "required" then continuation is not allowable?

that's a pretty good guess, and I salute you for it.

alas, it's not why masks are being designated as "special equipment." Basically, everything that's part of a wrestler's uniform is specified in the NFHS rule book. If it's not specified in the rule book as being permitted, it's illegal, and can not be worn.

the only exception to specified equipment that is permitted to be worn by wrestlers is what's called "special equipment." Rule 4, Section 3, details Special Equipment. Examples of special equipment would be things like 1.) the green or red anklets wrestlers wear in tournaments, 2.) hair coverings, 3.) tape on fingers, 4.) foam padding which covers any protective equipment (like a cast).

the PA Department of Health rules seem to indicate that masks have to be worn by wrestlers. (There is some question about that, so let's put aside whether or not they are required for this discussion.) The PIAA is aware that some school districts are leaning towards requiring masks, and that the parents of some wrestlers are pushing for having their kids wear masks. So the PIAA was put in a situation of having to figure out how refs should deal with masks, as they are not listed as equipment that wrestlers can wear. By indicating that masks are to be treated as special equipment, the PIAA is coming up with a means by which refs can allow masks to be worn during a match.
 
that's a pretty good guess, and I salute you for it.

alas, it's not why masks are being designated as "special equipment." Basically, everything that's part of a wrestler's uniform is specified in the NFHS rule book. If it's not specified in the rule book as being permitted, it's illegal, and can not be worn.

the only exception to specified equipment that is permitted to be worn by wrestlers is what's called "special equipment." Rule 4, Section 3, details Special Equipment. Examples of special equipment would be things like 1.) the green or red anklets wrestlers wear in tournaments, 2.) hair coverings, 3.) tape on fingers, 4.) foam padding which covers any protective equipment (like a cast).

the PA Department of Health rules seem to indicate that masks have to be worn by wrestlers. (There is some question about that, so let's put aside whether or not they are required for this discussion.) The PIAA is aware that some school districts are leaning towards requiring masks, and that the parents of some wrestlers are pushing for having their kids wear masks. So the PIAA was put in a situation of having to figure out how refs should deal with masks, as they are not listed as equipment that wrestlers can wear. By indicating that masks are to be treated as special equipment, the PIAA is coming up with a means by which refs can allow masks to be worn during a match.
I woulda gotten it right, if only I had waited a day to guess.

 
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What company makes that Hannibal headgear? I need to invest in them, because if masks are being required, wearing them under one of those has got to be the best way to do it.
 
That is good news. The downside is that with so many schools not competing, becoming a NQ becomes far easier, perhaps to the point of an implied asterisk. With full seeding the amount of first round massacres should tip up.
Yep.So could be 39 teams and still have 33 man brackets
 
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That is good news. The downside is that with so many schools not competing, becoming a NQ becomes far easier, perhaps to the point of an implied asterisk. With full seeding the amount of first round massacres should tip up.
It'll be interesting to see what effect this has on conference tourneys, qualification, and seeding.

Auto-qualifying spots will be allocated differently than in past years. But how, if B10 (and anybody else?) bars non-conference duals and tourneys?

EIWA will definitely take a hit if the Ivies are out. Both with fewer schools, and with quality (Cornell, Princeton, Penn). Those spots have to go somewhere ...

If B10 gets even more auto-qualifiers, then the conference tourney could be littered with MFFs.

Etc.
 
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MN is getting our "pause" extended a month, 'til mid-January, I read. What an awful time to be a kid.
I agree. I have 2 Penn Staters hating their Junior and Senior years, a newbie in the workforce in Chicago working from home, my 26 year old in NYC with hours cut to 20 and her unemployment benefit just ran out. But as I remind them, it was tougher being a kid in 1965-70. They have their health and no one is shooting at them.
 
So when quarantine started I was working on creating interactive conference brackets to track potential seedings throughout the year. They are below with who wrestlestat projects as the starters, ranked by wrestlestat. Before anybody says anything I am well aware it will draw anger that DeSanto is ranked higher in the ELO than Bravo-Young. If they wrestle in the season, it will work itself out. Also true freshman start from the bottom and have to work themselves up so with Howard and Bartlett as projected starters for Penn State it hurts the projected team score. I have tried to catch everything but if somebody notices something that looks off, just let me know. I hope you enjoy them. I plan to try and keep them updated throughout the year but we will see how much of a time commitment that becomes.

In case anybody is interested in using them, here are some tips. I tried to keep it simple but feel free to ask any questions.

Bracket advancement:
D - Decision
M - Major
T - Tech Fall
F - Fall
X - use this for any round where there is a bye, if he advances after the bye it will add in the correct advancement points.

The lineups page are where you can adjust rosters for the different teams.

The R pages: 125R, 133R, etc. are where you can go to manually adjust the seedings and the brackets will update accordingly.

Big 10



ACC



Big 12



EIWA (2021 version)



MAC



Pac 12



SoCon
 
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MN is getting our "pause" extended a month, 'til mid-January, I read. What an awful time to be a kid.
Truly a bummer. Let’s hope this doesn’t define the season or school year for these kids, or cause the victors to be saddled with an asterisk-type nickname, like the “Pause Boys” or, for the college guys, the “Men of the Pause” (which of course would inevitably be contracted to “Men O’Pause”).

Speaking of contractions, if you need a pick-me-up in these trying times of wrestling uncertainty, I highly recommend this timeless bit from Gary Gulman.

 
I agree. I have 2 Penn Staters hating their Junior and Senior years, a newbie in the workforce in Chicago working from home, my 26 year old in NYC with hours cut to 20 and her unemployment benefit just ran out. But as I remind them, it was tougher being a kid in 1965-70. They have their health and no one is shooting at them.

"Four dead in Ohio"
 
"Four dead in Ohio"
No doubt a tragedy. Any death is, especially of a young person. Fortunately my senior at PSU recovered from her bout with Covid without any problem. But I would still have them experience this pandemic in 2020 than a draft notice in the mail in 1968. I was not trying to minimize what the population is going through. I was just trying to lend perspective, not make a statement about the pandemic. 2020/2021 will shape a generation of young people. The Vietnam War scarred a generation of young people. We should be grateful for what we have, not remorseful for what we have lost. The only exception to that is a lost life. It is the only thing that is irreplaceable.
 
So when quarantine started I was working on creating interactive conference brackets to track potential seedings throughout the year. They are below with who wrestlestat projects as the starters, ranked by wrestlestat. Before anybody says anything I am well aware it will draw anger that DeSanto is ranked higher in the ELO than Bravo-Young. If they wrestle in the season, it will work itself out. Also true freshman start from the bottom and have to work themselves up so with Howard and Bartlett as projected starters for Penn State it hurts the projected team score. I have tried to catch everything but if somebody notices something that looks off, just let me know. I hope you enjoy them. I plan to try and keep them updated throughout the year but we will see how much of a time commitment that becomes.

In case anybody is interested in using them, here are some tips. I tried to keep it simple but feel free to ask any questions.

Bracket advancement:
D - Decision
M - Major
T - Tech Fall
F - Fall
X - use this for any round where there is a bye, if he advances after the bye it will add in the correct advancement points.

The lineups page are where you can adjust rosters for the different teams.

The R pages: 125R, 133R, etc. are where you can go to manually adjust the seedings and the brackets will update accordingly.

Big 10



ACC



Big 12



EIWA (2021 version)



MAC



Pac 12



SoCon

Daaaammmmn, homie. You're a vlookup King! I opened the B1G one into Gsheets, started trippin on it, came back here, and THEN noticed all these other conferences' sheets. Awesome work! Thank you!
 
Daaaammmmn, homie. You're a vlookup King! I opened the B1G one into Gsheets, started trippin on it, came back here, and THEN noticed all these other conferences' sheets. Awesome work! Thank you!
vlookup is a pretty boss function. I regularly earn my 🧙‍♂️w/ it.
 
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Daaaammmmn, homie. You're a vlookup King! I opened the B1G one into Gsheets, started trippin on it, came back here, and THEN noticed all these other conferences' sheets. Awesome work! Thank you!

Thanks. I shouldn't take all the credit. Whoever started the NCAA Tournament Interactive brackets in the past I took those and could kind of manipulate it to fit whatever the bracket size is for a particular conference. I am not smart enough to make that completely from scratch.
 
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Thanks. I shouldn't take all the credit. Whoever started the NCAA Tournament Interactive brackets in the past I took those and could kind of manipulate it to fit whatever the bracket size is for a particular conference. I am not smart enough to make that completely from scratch.

Hey man, that's how the internet's most core-ist culture works: we share, and borrow, and credit others as we do.

It works and it's super freakin f*n.
 
Not really typically a schedule of great note since they aren't championship eligible yet but Cal Baptist put out their 2021 schedule and I was pleasantly surprised to see both Fresno State and Stanford on it which means they are planning on a season. I was worried it would be too easy for those schools to say we are cutting after this year so might as well start early. Good to see Stanford take the mat with what should be a pretty good team if they all stay intact for this year.
 
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Lehigh released its schedule. Includes a non-conference opponent but not PSU ... which lends credence to the reports of B10 going conference-only this year.

 
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I agree. I have 2 Penn Staters hating their Junior and Senior years, a newbie in the workforce in Chicago working from home, my 26 year old in NYC with hours cut to 20 and her unemployment benefit just ran out. But as I remind them, it was tougher being a kid in 1965-70. They have their health and no one is shooting at them.
Anyone residing in Chicago or NYC who has no one shooting at them is very fortunate.
 
Lehigh released its schedule. Includes a non-conference opponent but not PSU ... which lends credence to the reports of B10 going conference-only this year.

It says in the release Lehigh is looking to add one more EIWA dual. The only teams they haven't scheduled are American, LIU Post, and Sacred Heart so I would think American makes the most sense from that list if they can make it happen. But with no Ivies if you look at wrestlestat Lehigh has 5 guys ranked #1 in the EIWA heading into the season. It looks like Navy has the second best team on paper in the conference (followed closely by Army) and Navy just let go of its coach for Kolat.
 
I agree. I have 2 Penn Staters hating their Junior and Senior years, a newbie in the workforce in Chicago working from home, my 26 year old in NYC with hours cut to 20 and her unemployment benefit just ran out. But as I remind them, it was tougher being a kid in 1965-70. They have their health and no one is shooting at them.

Just tell them how you had to walk through 3 feet of snow to contract your virus.
 
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Just tell them how you had to walk through 3 feet of snow to contract your virus.
Hell Yeah! I'm from Erie. This was us going to mass on Sunday.
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