This year’s Mat Classic is supersized. Is that good for the state wrestling tournament?
Thousands of high school wrestlers travel to the Tacoma Dome each year for the annual state tournament. Friday, for Mat Classic XXI, that number nearly doubled.
Because of recent inclement weather, which doused much of Washington in snow during the past week, the state’s governing body (Washington State Interscholastic Activities Association) made an unprecedented decision to cancel regional tournaments.
That meant expanding each weight bracket in the six wrestling classifications — 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 2B/1B and Girls — to 32 wrestlers instead of the usual 16. In 2018, 1,285 wrestlers filled out the brackets. This year, 2,493 have come to compete for a state title in Tacoma.
“Because of the extreme weather conditions, we had to make a decision about regional wrestling, and from there, spun out the idea of going to 32 (wrestlers), because that’s the best way to be fair to everybody — bring them in on the same field,” WIAA executive director Mike Colbrese said.
Because of this move to expand the tournaments in 2019, several questions now swirl about the future of Mat Classic.
Will the WIAA consider making the move permanent? Can the tournament plausibly be expanded every year? Do coaches and wrestlers prefer this format to the traditional 16-wrestler brackets?
Opinions vary on whether this is the best solution going forward.
Brian Smith, an assistant executive director at WIAA who oversees wrestling, said the association will have to see at how the tournament plays out before making any longstanding decisions, including considering costs, parking and experience for fans and participants.
At this point, WIAA will likely revert to the usual regional tournaments to pare down the brackets next season.
“There’s a long list of what we’d have to look at, and figure out if it has value,” he said. “We’re ready to go right back to the regional concept, because it’s what we’re used to.”
Colbrese echoed this, noting the association has always attempted to treat each sport consistently. A permanent expansion of wrestling could open the door for other sports to ask for expanded state tournaments, which would set an entirely new precedent.
Colbrese said a proposal was made to the WIAA several years ago to expand to the 32-wrestler format, but it also included adding a third day to the tournament, which would include extra costs.
“The situation (with the weather) created this weekend, and I anticipate that we’ll go back to the 16-wrestler bracket,” he said.
Though, most coaches and wrestlers seem to welcome the bigger tournament. Many coaches, like Orting’s Jody Coleman, are pleased to bring more wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome.
Orting — which is a perennial state contender, and in a tight race with 2A favorite Toppenish and White River after the first day — brought 18 boys, but Coleman estimated he would only have about 14 in attendance had the regional tournaments taken place.
“It’s exciting because it puts a lot more kids in the room, and on the brackets,” Coleman said. “It’s kind of uncharted territory for us. I think it’s exciting for the kids. ... A team like ours, where we have good numbers, I can’t complain. I’m happy to see it.”
“It gives my kids more chances to score, because I have more kids here,” said Yelm coach Gaylord Strand, a National Wrestling Hall of Fame member who is in his 45th season with the Tornados.
Like many other coaches, Coleman and Strand also believe the addition of 16 more wrestlers at each weight could impact the team standings.
Some teams that were projected as clear favorites could now face tougher competition. And the likelihood of pins in the earlier rounds — which award extra points to the winner — could change team scores significantly.
“It depends how tough the kids are on the back side of the brackets,” Coleman said. “Teams with big numbers, if they have quality kids, can probably exceed some expectations.
“In those first round, it kind of waters down the brackets a little bit, so there’s lots of pins,” he added. “And those are big points in a tournament like this.”
Yelm was two points out of first place behind favorite Mount Spokane at the end of Friday’s 3A session. Tonasket had a commanding lead in 2B/1B.
Because of the newly instated split session — which the WIAA had planned for this year before the weather-related changes — 3A, 2A and 2B/1B concluded their early rounds midway through the afternoon.
The 4A, 1A and Girls tournaments began slightly behind schedule just before 3 p.m. Chiawana, Sunnyside and South Kitsap were leading the 4A race; Colville, Deer Park and Forks the 1A race; and Sunnyside, Union and White River the Girls race.
White River senior Payton Stroud, a returning state placer and title contender at 120 pounds, said she likes the expansion because of the extra competition.
“I kind of like it, because it would feel better to say, ‘Out of 32 girls I took first, not 16,’ ” she said. “But, then again, it does take a while (to get through the brackets), and I haven’t seen how long it’s going to take.”
Stroud also said that the added round isn’t too strenuous for the wrestlers, many of whom compete in two-day, 32-wrestler tournaments throughout the season. Other wrestlers had similar reactions.
“We usually do 32 in one day,” said Curtis junior Aizayah “Maka” Yacapin, a Stanford commit and returning state champion who is the favorite in 4A at 126 pounds. “I feel like we wrestle more live matches in practice than we do in the tournament. It’s not a big deal.”
Yacapin, and Curtis coach Shawn Gaspaire did note that Curtis — which was near the top of the 4A team race early Friday evening — is at somewhat of a disadvantage, bringing less wrestlers than some other programs, because it competes in the tough 4A SPSL.
“It is what it is,” Gaspaire said. “If you’re going to be a champion, you’re going to win.”
Some coaches would favor a return to the traditional 16-wrestler brackets, including Tahoma’s Chris Feist, who said he would advocate against making this expansion permanent.
Feist, in his 18th season at Tahoma, has won a pair of 4A team titles, and coached 20 individual state champions.
“I’m a big fan of the regional tournament process,” he said. “There’s something to be said for being a regional champion and winning that tournament.
“It helps keep the right level of wrestling at this tournament, where we already have five (boys) classifications with five state champions.”
Puyallup School District athletic director Jim Meyerhoff, who manages the 2B/1B tournament, but has been involved in all 31 iterations of Mat Classic, said it is plausible to create the 32-wrestler bracket each season.
Bracketing posed some challenges with the added wrestlers — returning state champions and placers were given preference when seeding the brackets — but much of the response seems positive.
“It’s just more kids, more matches,” Meyerhoff said. “Other than that, it’s just a wrestling tournament. Once it gets going, it’s great and it runs smoothly.”
Meyerhoff did note that so many changes in one season — the expansion, switching to a split-session model and recent Tacoma Dome renovations — have created challenges, but said this year’s format could work in the future.
“It’s working,” he said. “A lot of coaches have asked for that for a long time, so we’ll see if that’s something they want to continue or not. And, is it worth continuing at the WIAA level? They need to make that decision as well.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 5:48 PM.
