Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Wrestling › 'Hawks are peaking › Reply To: 'Hawks are peaking
With an unusual hoops schedule this week I’ve got some downtime in my usual LU sports obsession – ha! So I’m doing some wrestling homework, trying to get informed. In following some links about the dual regionals coming up, I came away with questions. Some wrestling junkies wanna help me out?
First, it appears that in recent years there was a notion of adding some meaning to the dual championships, by awarding team points for the NCAA individual championships. Did anything ever come of that, or dead idea?
I also get the that sense the dual championships are diluted because some of the major programs choose not to participate. As of a few years ago, it looks like Penn St. was a prime offender. Is this still true? Key programs skip it?
I definitely come away with the feeling that the importance of dual meets is a topic of serious controversy. Interested in how you guys feel about it. On the surface, to a casual fan, it seems like giving it more meaning would be good for the sport. I’d like to root for Lehigh, rather than just individuals. I’m guessing this would be true for many less-than-hardcore fans. It also seems like an opportunity to “over achieve”. Have a few guys have huge days and win upsets, beat somebody you wouldn’t expect to – get a big bump.
Also seems like a way to add some more excitement. If just a handful of programs can qualify a lot of guys at a lot of weights, seems like a tough environment to overcome. What would the impact be on Lehigh, do you think? Beating Cornell seems like it could be a big deal and source of excitement, if it meant more.
For background, I was a track guy in high school, and it seems like there are parallels there. While everybody wanted to qualify individually for districts and states, for example, team championships were a BIG point of pride. Winning your conference or district was a big deal; put that patch on a jacket!
I get the sense, from quick web reading, that the “traditionalists” don’t like the idea. “It’s good like it is, wrestling is an individual sport”.