MURFREESBORO -- In a historic move, the TSSAA board of control voted today approving the Brentwood High School proposal for the D-I traditional state wrestling tournament to be a true double elimination 32-man bracket format beginning with the 2011 tournament in Williamson County.
In previous years, the traditional tournament used a pull-through format, in that wrestlers who lost in the round of 32 or 16 could only advance to the consolation round if the wrestler who beat them reached the championship semifinals.
A 32-man, true double elimination bracket per weight class is arguably the most important and far reaching decision in the 50-year history of the state traditional tournament.
The D-II state traditional tournament uses a 16-man, double elimination bracket per weight class.
Bradley Central wrestling coach Steve Logsdon responded to the vote by saying, "this decision by the board of control is the fairest way to give the wrestlers the opportunity to wrestle for a medal.
"I am tickled to death about this land mark decision and now we can let the kids sort out the top six places on the mat."
TSSAA vice-president Mark Reeves, who presented the Brentwood High School proposal to the board, made a compelling argument for the change.
"Now is the time to put in place a double elimination tournament for the D-I schools," said Reeves.
"The Williamson County Ag Center (which was the site for the 2010 state wrestling duals and traditional tournaments) is a great venue for us and has plenty of floor space for 10 mats which are needed for the increase in matches incurred by a double elimination event and for us to stay within the three-day schedule (Thursday-Saturday)."
Reeves also pointed out that coaches, wrestlers and fans are already familiar with double elimination since most in-season tournaments use this same format.
Science Hill coach Jeff Price sees the decision as a very practical one for the sport.
"To me, the kids who have worked all season and qualified for the state tournament deserve two matches instead of just a guaranteed one as in past years.
"Our neighboring states of Kentucky and Georgia use a double elimination high school tournament format as does the NCAA and it seems to work fine for all concerned," he said.
Price also pointed out the financial outlay by wrestlers and parents with the lingering thought in the past of "one-and-done".
"Nearly every coach in the state can give you a hand full of examples of a senior on their team who worked for three or four years, then finally qualifies for the state in his last year only to get pinned in the first period in a first round match and then having to watch his victor lose in the next round and his dream of being a state medalist is shattered.
"I applaud the board of control on voting yes on this proposal today which makes it all about the kids and giving them the best chance to medal," Price stated.
Houston High School coach Walt Holmes believes today's vote is the best for the wrestlers and the fans.
"A true double elimination format will give us the truest indication of who the best six wrestlers are in each weight class," he stated.
"A great deal of praise and congratulations goes to Joe Blair (Brentwood High School coach) for his diligence and hard work for at least two years of explaining the benefits and pluses of a true double elimination tournament. His dream and hard work have come to fruition today."
Blair, who wrote the proposal, sees the decision as one long over due.
"The decision to move the D-I traditional tournament to a double elimination format is one that everyone favors and a format the coaches have wanted for years," he stated.
"This format is the fairest ruling for the kids that has come along in many years."
Looking to the Future:
A/AA & AAA Traditional: After 2013, there is discussion of three state traditional tournaments under one roof: D-II, D-I AAA and D-I A/AA ... D-I A/AA could use an 8- or 12-man double elimination format, while D-I AAA would be a 24-man bracket ... for D-I AAA, each region would send three wrestlers per weight class x 8 regions for the 24-man bracket ... at present, each region send the top four in each weight class.
Seeding of Past Medalists: A proposal could be made later this summer to the TSSAA board of control to seed all past state medalists with the assurance that medalists do not meet until the championship quarterfinals.
At present, the only wrestlers seeded are past state medalists who win their region in the current season ... if a past state medalist does not win the region he or she is not seeded.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net