AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

[wre157]

AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

Region 1: 49
Region 2: 31
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 33

The regions in AA/A are not balanced at all. I know the regions are divided due to geographical location within the state, but Region 1 is brutal. A lot of good wrestlers will not qualify for the state tournament. This hurts the top Region 1 teams chances at a state title.

[Bearhug]

They've never been balanced, if Point Pleasant or Independence were in Region 1 the last 10 years, I'd love to know how many wrestlers they would've brought to Huntington year in and year out. And yes I'm saying the southern regions are weaker than hell

[Bearhugger]

They've never been balanced, if Point Pleasant or Independence were in Region 1 the last 10 years, I'd love to know how many wrestlers they would've brought to Huntington year in and year out. And yes I'm saying the southern regions are weaker than hell

This topic has been discussed in years past. What anybody can do is go back through the state tournament results in the past 10 years. When looking at how both Point Pleasant and Independence has performed, it is more fair to say "how many region 1 wrestlers would NOT have qualified".

I agree that qualifying for the state tournament might be easier in AA regions 3 and 4. However, once these qualifiers start winning state titles, making the finals or placing, their weak region qualification goes out of the window.

[KDunbar]

They've never been balanced, if Point Pleasant or Independence were in Region 1 the last 10 years, I'd love to know how many wrestlers they would've brought to Huntington year in and year out. And yes I'm saying the southern regions are weaker than hell

This topic has been discussed in years past. What anybody can do is go back through the state tournament results in the past 10 years. When looking at how both Point Pleasant and Independence has performed, it is more fair to say "how many region 1 wrestlers would NOT have qualified".

I agree that qualifying for the state tournament might be easier in AA regions 3 and 4. However, once these qualifiers start winning state titles, making the finals or placing, their weak region qualification goes out of the window.

I believe there are two points regarding weaker regions. From an individual wrestler standpoint, I have always felt bad for the good quality wrestlers from a strong region who may have never been able to even qualify to attend the state tournament while there are much less deserving wrestlers who can for the rest of their lives "label" themselves as being good enough to make it to the state tournament, or in some cases even be a regional champion. I realize someone will be offended that I used the phrase "less deserving", but in comparison, that's just the way I see it. With that being said, I also feel that this is just another life lesson that wrestling teaches and it is up to the individuals being taught on how they decide to use the valuable bit of information for the rest of their lives.
The second issue regarding weaker regions, that of it's effects on teams and the one being addressed here is a whole different thing. I believe that the history of the state tournament has shown that being in a strong region is not an issue in winning state titles. Thus the vast majority of state titles have gone to the teams in the strongest regions. Yes there would occasionally be a fifth place wrestler from a strong region who would garner several team points if they were there. The reverse is not really true for the team who qualifies wrestlers who would not make it in the stronger regions. This is shown quite often when the 4th place wrestler from a strong region beats the champion from another region, thus even that champion may score very few team points in the state tournament, let alone the 3rd or 4th place wresler from a weaker region who most often are 2 and done. Now if you are referring to the teams like Point Pleasant and Independence, they were good enough to compete with and at times beat the best AAA teams as a testement to the quality of their wrestlers, just like Oak Glen did in the past.

[aacoach117]

What is a "southern" or "northern" region? OK, Region 1 is definitely northern and Region 3 is definitely southern, but 2 is in the middle of the state and 4 is mostly middle or southern.

Also, a lot of this "better region" talk is influenced by athletic directors and county administration. Some schools can practice and condition year-round. Others have an AD that insist that no out-of-season team activities of any type happen, period. Some schools have 5-star facilities while others roll out a 25-year-old mat in the football locker room. Some teams can produce a better JV wrestler than the varsity wrestler on another team because they have a 5 person coaching staff that can give that wrestler more one-on-one time while another team has one coach and a volunteer that shows up occasionally, so even the varsity wrestlers don't get much individual instruction. Do you actually think it would be fair for a varsity wrestler that has no control over factors like facility and coaching staff be left home so that a JV wrestler in a better situation can go?

[KDunbar]

What is a "southern" or "northern" region? OK, Region 1 is definitely northern and Region 3 is definitely southern, but 2 is in the middle of the state and 4 is mostly middle or southern.

Also, a lot of this "better region" talk is influenced by athletic directors and county administration. Some schools can practice and condition year-round. Others have an AD that insist that no out-of-season team activities of any type happen, period. Some schools have 5-star facilities while others roll out a 25-year-old mat in the football locker room. Some teams can produce a better JV wrestler than the varsity wrestler on another team because they have a 5 person coaching staff that can give that wrestler more one-on-one time while another team has one coach and a volunteer that shows up occasionally, so even the varsity wrestlers don't get much individual instruction. Do you actually think it would be fair for a varsity wrestler that has no control over factors like facility and coaching staff be left home so that a JV wrestler in a better situation can go?

Since I never used the words northern or southern, I'm fairly certain that part of your comment was not directed at what I said. I'm not sure the purpose of your point that some schools have better programs than others, which is true for all sports and all education facilities throughout the world. I don't think anybody on here blamed the kids for not being as good as wrestlers in another region. I'm also confused about the JV wrestler comment. No one was referring to any teams JV wrestler, but the varsity wrestler who is considerably better than even the regional champ elsewhere but is only the fifth best wrestler in their region. But life isn't fair.

[aacoach117]

Since I never used the words northern or southern, I'm fairly certain that part of your comment was not directed at what I said. I'm not sure the purpose of your point that some schools have better programs than others, which is true for all sports and all education facilities throughout the world. I don't think anybody on here blamed the kids for not being as good as wrestlers in another region. I'm also confused about the JV wrestler comment. No one was referring to any teams JV wrestler, but the varsity wrestler who is considerably better than even the regional champ elsewhere but is only the fifth best wrestler in their region. But life isn't fair.

Bearhug said the southern regions were weak as hell. I was asking, based on that, to see what people's perception of the southern regions is.

The JV wrestler comment was more so based on previous comments I have seen on here claiming that the JV wrestler from a team has a better record/has beaten better opponents than the qualifiers from other regions and should be going to states instead of someone from another region (usually implied but occasionally directly stated). Wasn't directed at you. Just more of a lingering thought I have had that rose back to the surface thanks to the weaker region discussion.

[aacoach117]

AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

Region 1: 49
Region 2: 31
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 33

The regions in AA/A are not balanced at all. I know the regions are divided due to geographical location within the state, but Region 1 is brutal. A lot of good wrestlers will not qualify for the state tournament. This hurts the top Region 1 teams chances at a state title.

Being from Region 3 originally, I can attest to the issue being district size as compared to population. For example, Greenbrier county is the 2nd largest county in our state, but is 16th in population. Pocahontas county is 3rd largest, but only 48th in population. Even Monroe county is only 20th in size, but 41st in population. By default region 3 doesn't have as many schools because of low population.

Contributing to the problem is counties from region 1 don't want to be moved into 2 or 3 because of the travel time associated with attending meets to see common opponents and attend regionals. Moving St. Mary's to region 2 would mean a 2 hour trip for them to attend regionals when it is held in Braxton (like it usually is). Moving them to region 4 just makes that a larger region and again gives them a 2 hour drive to get to regionals most of the time.

[CowCatcher152]

AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

Region 1: 49
Region 2: 31
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 33

The regions in AA/A are not balanced at all. I know the regions are divided due to geographical location within the state, but Region 1 is brutal. A lot of good wrestlers will not qualify for the state tournament. This hurts the top Region 1 teams chances at a state title.

Being from Region 3 originally, I can attest to the issue being district size as compared to population. For example, Greenbrier county is the 2nd largest county in our state, but is 16th in population. Pocahontas county is 3rd largest, but only 48th in population. Even Monroe county is only 20th in size, but 41st in population. By default region 3 doesn't have as many schools because of low population.

Contributing to the problem is counties from region 1 don't want to be moved into 2 or 3 because of the travel time associated with attending meets to see common opponents and attend regionals. Moving St. Mary's to region 2 would mean a 2 hour trip for them to attend regionals when it is held in Braxton (like it usually is). Moving them to region 4 just makes that a larger region and again gives them a 2 hour drive to get to regionals most of the time.

It’s no different for OG and BS to travel 2 hours to Fairmont for the regional 1 tournament every year.

[Bearhug]

Yea teams are going to have to travel its just how it is, but what made region1 unbalanced in the first place was when Marion County went AA and all three schools joined. Then it got ridiculously unbalanced when Berkley Springs, Petersburg, and Keyser all joined later on. Last classification they skimmed Ritchie, and Petersburg out of the region, but still its an absolute meat grinder.

Zach Frazier
Peyton Hall
Caleb Rea
Cole Laya

Are just a few names that have came out of this region in the last 6 years, competition does breed athletes.

[wre157]

AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

Region 1: 49
Region 2: 31
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 33

The regions in AA/A are not balanced at all. I know the regions are divided due to geographical location within the state, but Region 1 is brutal. A lot of good wrestlers will not qualify for the state tournament. This hurts the top Region 1 teams chances at a state title.

Being from Region 3 originally, I can attest to the issue being district size as compared to population. For example, Greenbrier county is the 2nd largest county in our state, but is 16th in population. Pocahontas county is 3rd largest, but only 48th in population. Even Monroe county is only 20th in size, but 41st in population. By default region 3 doesn't have as many schools because of low population.

Contributing to the problem is counties from region 1 don't want to be moved into 2 or 3 because of the travel time associated with attending meets to see common opponents and attend regionals. Moving St. Mary's to region 2 would mean a 2 hour trip for them to attend regionals when it is held in Braxton (like it usually is). Moving them to region 4 just makes that a larger region and again gives them a 2 hour drive to get to regionals most of the time.

I’m sure counties from region 1 wouldn’t mind the extra travel time especially when it could be the mean you qualify and additional 3-4 wrestlers for the state tournament.

[mscoach152]

I think the system is as good as it can be. No system is perfect for everyone. I agree on the life lessons wrestling teaches, and in this case, it reminds us life isn’t fair sometimes. Just the way it is.

I don’t have a dog in this fight but my opinion on northern and southern regions is a little different. I am from region 4. Yes region 1 has the deepest competition, but only because there are more really good wrestling programs. The focus and effort needs to be toward building better programs that feeds the high school, vs focusing on fixing the seeding system etc. The southern regions have some great programs, but just not as many. If you analyze every great high school program in the state, there is quality coaching at the youth level, and middle school level. I see so many large youth programs in southern WV, but inexperienced coaches run the programs, and many of the wrestlers never progress and then many quit before high school. If you look at southern programs like Indy, Huntington, Point, etc…they have really knowledgeable coaches at the youth and middle school level. I’m addition, they all work together. I’ve seen the coaches from great HS programs working with youth and MS coaches. Insuring knowledgeable coaches are in place, and if they don’t have one, then they coach the youth and MS coaches up, and the youth and MS coaches coach the assistants up. This is all easier said than done, but wrestling is a sport that takes more than hard work. Regardless how hard a kid works, without the proper coaching a kids progression is limited. My point is, we need more good wrestling programs in WV. We lack that in southern regions. Region 1 has more of these programs.

[aacoach117]

I’m sure counties from region 1 wouldn’t mind the extra travel time especially when it could be the mean you qualify and additional 3-4 wrestlers for the state tournament.

I wouldn't be too sure. If they did then they would be publicly lobbying for a move. I have not heard of any of them doing so. Have you?

[Bearhugger]

Another perspective is to look at the team rankings as they stand right now.

Based on an entire season, southern located Greenbrier West is ranked #1 in Single A.

All single A teams were able to bring all of their wrestlers to the Single A Challenge and Greenbrier West won it.

Lets all remember this once the regional tournaments conclude and we start counting state tournament qualifiers for Greenbrier West.

Southern located Independence beat southern located Point Pleasant by 1/2 point in the AA team standings at the WSAZ. Both teams were without some big point scoring guns and still finished 1 and 2.

Point Pleasant and Independence are currently ranked #2 and #4 in AA.

[RegionOne_fan]

Greenbrier West is a very solid team no doubt. But look at Region 3 in Beartracks, and he can't come up with a 3rd or 4th kid to rank in many of the weight classes.

[Weir_Coach]

This really puts it into perspective how good those Oak Glen teams were from 1997-2009. They had 12 Region I finalists in 2000.

[wre157]

AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

Region 1: 49
Region 2: 31
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 33

The regions in AA/A are not balanced at all. I know the regions are divided due to geographical location within the state, but Region 1 is brutal. A lot of good wrestlers will not qualify for the state tournament. This hurts the top Region 1 teams chances at a state title.

AA/A regions 2, 3, and 4 each had multiple wrestlers with losing records qualify for the state tournament. Region 1 had zero.

[westworld]

They've never been balanced, if Point Pleasant or Independence were in Region 1 the last 10 years, I'd love to know how many wrestlers they would've brought to Huntington year in and year out. And yes I'm saying the southern regions are weaker than hell

Those Indy teams would've probably brought the same amount of kids every year. Just looking at their 2017 team, they had 12 place and 7 in the finals. Half of their team were in the state finals. Indy's 2018 team had 13 place and 6 finalists. They had two i believe placed 6th due to inj def and the rest did not place lower than 4th. The Point teams that came after Indy's run had a time as dominating as them. I don't think region quality of comp. had anything to do with either team having some absolutely dominating teams.

[KDunbar]

They've never been balanced, if Point Pleasant or Independence were in Region 1 the last 10 years, I'd love to know how many wrestlers they would've brought to Huntington year in and year out. And yes I'm saying the southern regions are weaker than hell

Those Indy teams would've probably brought the same amount of kids every year. Just looking at their 2017 team, they had 12 place and 7 in the finals. Half of their team were in the state finals. Indy's 2018 team had 13 place and 6 finalists. They had two i believe placed 6th due to inj def and the rest did not place lower than 4th. The Point teams that came after Indy's run had a time as dominating as them. I don't think region quality of comp. had anything to do with either team having some absolutely dominating teams.

Hard to argue with facts.

[Lloyd Christmas]

[quote="RegionOne_fan"]Greenbrier West is a very solid team no doubt. But look at Region 3 in Beartracks, and he can't come up with a 3rd or 4th kid to rank in many of the weight classes.[/quote

Now those are facts.

[Lloyd Christmas]

AA/A ranked wrestlers per region

Region 1: 49
Region 2: 31
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 33

The regions in AA/A are not balanced at all. I know the regions are divided due to geographical location within the state, but Region 1 is brutal. A lot of good wrestlers will not qualify for the state tournament. This hurts the top Region 1 teams chances at a state title.

AA/A regions 2, 3, and 4 each had multiple wrestlers with losing records qualify for the state tournament. Region 1 had zero.

Facts

[ringworm14]

For reference, these garbage regions produced 11 of the 14 champions last year, with region III and region I each having 3 and region IV having 8.

What bums. I'm surprised they are even allowed to show their faces with those cake walks

"Beware of the ringworm!"
-- Spencer Lee

[wre157]

For reference, these garbage regions produced 11 of the 14 champions last year, with region III and region I each having 3 and region IV having 8.

What bums. I'm surprised they are even allowed to show their faces with those cake walks

"Beware of the ringworm!"
-- Spencer Lee

I’m not disagreeing that they have some great wrestlers. They just have no depth. 6 of the champs were from one school, Point Pleasant. It’s easier for teams in weaker regions to qualify more wrestlers than it is for region 1 teams. This is proven by the FACT that region 1 had the most ranked wrestlers and region 1 was the only region with with no wrestlers with a loser record to qualify.

Oak Glen beat Herbert Hoover 57-12. Oak Glen beat Braxton County 42-30. Oak Glen qualified 8 wrestlers while Herbert Hoover and Braxton County both qualified 11. You can’t argue that region 1 isn’t the toughest region.

[aacoach160]

For reference, these garbage regions produced 11 of the 14 champions last year, with region III and region I each having 3 and region IV having 8.

What bums. I'm surprised they are even allowed to show their faces with those cake walks

"Beware of the ringworm!"
-- Spencer Lee

I’m not disagreeing that they have some great wrestlers. They just have no depth. 6 of the champs were from one school, Point Pleasant. It’s easier for teams in weaker regions to qualify more wrestlers than it is for region 1 teams. This is proven by the FACT that region 1 had the most ranked wrestlers and region 1 was the only region with with no wrestlers with a loser record to qualify.

Oak Glen beat Herbert Hoover 57-12. Oak Glen beat Braxton County 42-30. Oak Glen qualified 8 wrestlers while Herbert Hoover and Braxton County both qualified 11. You can’t argue that region 1 isn’t the toughest region.

Last year Herbert Hoover (Region 3) and Braxton County (Region 2) finished ahead of both Oak Glen (Region 1) and Berkley Springs (Region 1) in the State Tournament. So what's your point? It goes in cycles. What's your solution to "evening out" the regions? There's no doubt that Region 1 is a tough region, but posting the dual scores against teams from other regions doesn't prove anything.

[KDunbar]

For reference, these garbage regions produced 11 of the 14 champions last year, with region III and region I each having 3 and region IV having 8.

What bums. I'm surprised they are even allowed to show their faces with those cake walks

"Beware of the ringworm!"
-- Spencer Lee

I’m not disagreeing that they have some great wrestlers. They just have no depth. 6 of the champs were from one school, Point Pleasant. It’s easier for teams in weaker regions to qualify more wrestlers than it is for region 1 teams. This is proven by the FACT that region 1 had the most ranked wrestlers and region 1 was the only region with with no wrestlers with a loser record to qualify.

Oak Glen beat Herbert Hoover 57-12. Oak Glen beat Braxton County 42-30. Oak Glen qualified 8 wrestlers while Herbert Hoover and Braxton County both qualified 11. You can’t argue that region 1 isn’t the toughest region.

I believe most people would agree with you that as far as depth, Region 1 AA/A year in and year out has a greater number of quality wrestlers. With that being the case, there are some individual wrestlers who don't get to make the trip to the state tournament that are considerably better than ones from other regions that do. Has always been that way (in a lot of things in sports) and always will be. However, that doesn't mean they would be scoring a lot of points at the tournament. Without placing, the maximum points a wrestler can possibly score is 7. So that's the only statement you can accurately make, "some wrestlers that are better than others don't make it to the tournament". When people start inferring that is the "reason" region 1 teams aren't winning state championships, then that is demeaning to the teams that did win. You also have to seperate whether you are talking AA championships versus A championships. Since one of my admirers on here also likes to deal in facts, I looked some up:
2022 AA #1 Point over #2 Fairmont Senior by 116.5 points
2021 AA #1 Point over #2 Fairmont Senior by 135.7 points
2020 AA #1 Point over #3 Fairmont Senior by 171 points
2019 AA #1 Point over #3 Fairmont Senior by 88.5 points
2018 AA #1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 51 points
2017 AA #1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 153.5 points
2016 AA # 1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 132 points
At this point I grew tired of finding out the same thing year after year. It wasn't the number of wrestlers being qualified, it was the quality. For most of these years you could take the top 2 teams from region 1 and combine them and still not win the State championship. The exception was 2018 where East Fairmont and Madonna combined would have nipped Independence. That was a great State tournament with Independence sending 14 and placing 13 and East Fairmont sending 12 and placing 10 (with 4 champs).

Now in Single A it gets a little trickier. Here I do agree that it is a little tougher to determine the "true" single A champion when the AA schools are thrown in to the mix. However, it's not just a Region 1 thing. For most years it probably isn't an issue, but when the scores are close then having a true single A tournament would be better. But for multiple reasons (cost likely being the major one) that is not likely going to happen and splitting things into 4 classifications wouldn't make this any clearer. Over the same 7 year span as above (2016-2022) in single A, 2017 had a difference of only 10 points between #1 (with 8 wrestlers) and #2 (with 2 wrestlers) and 2021 only 1/2 point between #1 (with 6 wrestlers) and #2 (with 5 wrestlers). The single A challenge may help make things a little clearer if all the top teams will attend every year and may unfortunately be a better measure of these teams on a tournament basis than the state tournament itself. I'm guessing that was the reason it came about. I suggest giving a really big trophy for that tournament. Look at the 2017 results in both tournaments of the top 4 teams in each. But it doesn't appear to have much to do with Region 1 having the most depth on average.

So let's just stick with saying that it's tougher to get to the State tournament as an individual wrestler in Region 1 AA/A than for some of the regions and leave it at that. Then we can have this same discussion all over again next year. But it's enjoyable having a walk down memory lane. I'm sure Gator would have liked it.

[mscoach90]

2016 Roane was runner-up to Indy 131 pts. You can look at the accumulative if you go to home page state tourny results

[Lloyd Christmas]

For reference, these garbage regions produced 11 of the 14 champions last year, with region III and region I each having 3 and region IV having 8.

What bums. I'm surprised they are even allowed to show their faces with those cake walks

"Beware of the ringworm!"
-- Spencer Lee

I’m not disagreeing that they have some great wrestlers. They just have no depth. 6 of the champs were from one school, Point Pleasant. It’s easier for teams in weaker regions to qualify more wrestlers than it is for region 1 teams. This is proven by the FACT that region 1 had the most ranked wrestlers and region 1 was the only region with with no wrestlers with a loser record to qualify.

Oak Glen beat Herbert Hoover 57-12. Oak Glen beat Braxton County 42-30. Oak Glen qualified 8 wrestlers while Herbert Hoover and Braxton County both qualified 11. You can’t argue that region 1 isn’t the toughest region.

I believe most people would agree with you that as far as depth, Region 1 AA/A year in and year out has a greater number of quality wrestlers. With that being the case, there are some individual wrestlers who don't get to make the trip to the state tournament that are considerably better than ones from other regions that do. Has always been that way (in a lot of things in sports) and always will be. However, that doesn't mean they would be scoring a lot of points at the tournament. Without placing, the maximum points a wrestler can possibly score is 7. So that's the only statement you can accurately make, "some wrestlers that are better than others don't make it to the tournament". When people start inferring that is the "reason" region 1 teams aren't winning state championships, then that is demeaning to the teams that did win. You also have to seperate whether you are talking AA championships versus A championships. Since one of my admirers on here also likes to deal in facts, I looked some up:
2022 AA #1 Point over #2 Fairmont Senior by 116.5 points
2021 AA #1 Point over #2 Fairmont Senior by 135.7 points
2020 AA #1 Point over #3 Fairmont Senior by 171 points
2019 AA #1 Point over #3 Fairmont Senior by 88.5 points
2018 AA #1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 51 points
2017 AA #1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 153.5 points
2016 AA # 1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 132 points
At this point I grew tired of finding out the same thing year after year. It wasn't the number of wrestlers being qualified, it was the quality. For most of these years you could take the top 2 teams from region 1 and combine them and still not win the State championship. The exception was 2018 where East Fairmont and Madonna combined would have nipped Independence. That was a great State tournament with Independence sending 14 and placing 13 and East Fairmont sending 12 and placing 10 (with 4 champs).

Now in Single A it gets a little trickier. Here I do agree that it is a little tougher to determine the "true" single A champion when the AA schools are thrown in to the mix. However, it's not just a Region 1 thing. For most years it probably isn't an issue, but when the scores are close then having a true single A tournament would be better. But for multiple reasons (cost likely being the major one) that is not likely going to happen and splitting things into 4 classifications wouldn't make this any clearer. Over the same 7 year span as above (2016-2022) in single A, 2017 had a difference of only 10 points between #1 (with 8 wrestlers) and #2 (with 2 wrestlers) and 2021 only 1/2 point between #1 (with 6 wrestlers) and #2 (with 5 wrestlers). The single A challenge may help make things a little clearer if all the top teams will attend every year and may unfortunately be a better measure of these teams on a tournament basis than the state tournament itself. I'm guessing that was the reason it came about. I suggest giving a really big trophy for that tournament. Look at the 2017 results in both tournaments of the top 4 teams in each. But it doesn't appear to have much to do with Region 1 having the most depth on average.

So let's just stick with saying that it's tougher to get to the State tournament as an individual wrestler in Region 1 AA/A than for some of the regions and leave it at that. Then we can have this same discussion all over again next year. But it's enjoyable having a walk down memory lane. I'm sure Gator would have liked it.

Please check the differences between 2nd and 3rd. That is a big deal too. 2nd - 5th is often between twenty points. Getting 2nd equals hardware third does not. That is a big deal for schools that aren’t a perennial powerhouses. There have been years where region one athletes did not qualify but beat state placers or guys that scores 6-7 points. Thanks

[Lloyd Christmas]

Wrestlers with losing records making the state tournament is exactly why there should be just one class. The state is watered down enough

[Lloyd Christmas]

For reference, these garbage regions produced 11 of the 14 champions last year, with region III and region I each having 3 and region IV having 8.

What bums. I'm surprised they are even allowed to show their faces with those cake walks

"Beware of the ringworm!"
-- Spencer Lee

I’m not disagreeing that they have some great wrestlers. They just have no depth. 6 of the champs were from one school, Point Pleasant. It’s easier for teams in weaker regions to qualify more wrestlers than it is for region 1 teams. This is proven by the FACT that region 1 had the most ranked wrestlers and region 1 was the only region with with no wrestlers with a loser record to qualify.

Oak Glen beat Herbert Hoover 57-12. Oak Glen beat Braxton County 42-30. Oak Glen qualified 8 wrestlers while Herbert Hoover and Braxton County both qualified 11. You can’t argue that region 1 isn’t the toughest region.

I believe most people would agree with you that as far as depth, Region 1 AA/A year in and year out has a greater number of quality wrestlers. With that being the case, there are some individual wrestlers who don't get to make the trip to the state tournament that are considerably better than ones from other regions that do. Has always been that way (in a lot of things in sports) and always will be. However, that doesn't mean they would be scoring a lot of points at the tournament. Without placing, the maximum points a wrestler can possibly score is 7. So that's the only statement you can accurately make, "some wrestlers that are better than others don't make it to the tournament". When people start inferring that is the "reason" region 1 teams aren't winning state championships, then that is demeaning to the teams that did win. You also have to seperate whether you are talking AA championships versus A championships. Since one of my admirers on here also likes to deal in facts, I looked some up:
2022 AA #1 Point over #2 Fairmont Senior by 116.5 points
2021 AA #1 Point over #2 Fairmont Senior by 135.7 points
2020 AA #1 Point over #3 Fairmont Senior by 171 points
2019 AA #1 Point over #3 Fairmont Senior by 88.5 points
2018 AA #1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 51 points
2017 AA #1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 153.5 points
2016 AA # 1 Independence over #2 East Fairmont by 132 points
At this point I grew tired of finding out the same thing year after year. It wasn't the number of wrestlers being qualified, it was the quality. For most of these years you could take the top 2 teams from region 1 and combine them and still not win the State championship. The exception was 2018 where East Fairmont and Madonna combined would have nipped Independence. That was a great State tournament with Independence sending 14 and placing 13 and East Fairmont sending 12 and placing 10 (with 4 champs).

Now in Single A it gets a little trickier. Here I do agree that it is a little tougher to determine the "true" single A champion when the AA schools are thrown in to the mix. However, it's not just a Region 1 thing. For most years it probably isn't an issue, but when the scores are close then having a true single A tournament would be better. But for multiple reasons (cost likely being the major one) that is not likely going to happen and splitting things into 4 classifications wouldn't make this any clearer. Over the same 7 year span as above (2016-2022) in single A, 2017 had a difference of only 10 points between #1 (with 8 wrestlers) and #2 (with 2 wrestlers) and 2021 only 1/2 point between #1 (with 6 wrestlers) and #2 (with 5 wrestlers). The single A challenge may help make things a little clearer if all the top teams will attend every year and may unfortunately be a better measure of these teams on a tournament basis than the state tournament itself. I'm guessing that was the reason it came about. I suggest giving a really big trophy for that tournament. Look at the 2017 results in both tournaments of the top 4 teams in each. But it doesn't appear to have much to do with Region 1 having the most depth on average.

So let's just stick with saying that it's tougher to get to the State tournament as an individual wrestler in Region 1 AA/A than for some of the regions and leave it at that. Then we can have this same discussion all over again next year. But it's enjoyable having a walk down memory lane. I'm sure Gator would have liked it.

So you don’t think that individuals making the state tourney out of region one would score any points. Obviously is wrestlers an and b score 15 total points the team would have 15 more points. I’m not real sure where your logic is that would explain it being harder to make it as an individual but not harder as a team

[ringworm14]

Wrestlers with losing records making the state tournament is exactly why there should be just one class. The state is watered down enough

So only reason this can happen is because the region is weak vs a kid hitting their stride? Maybe healed up from injury? Maybe recovered from bad weight cuts? Can’t be wrestling really well, only a weak region?

That makes absolutely no sense

“Beware of the ringworm!”
— Lincoln McIlravy