WEST VIRGINIA MAT THOUGHTS
by Dr. Bill Welker
... on Dual Meet Tiebreakers
There is an interesting approach to ties in dual meet competition throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was brought to my attention during a telephone conversation with a hometown friend -- Ron Weller. Let me share the discussion with you, regarding this unique set-up for dual meet draws.
I was quite intrigued when Ron explained the dynamics behind this team-tiebreaking approach to dual meets. Some time ago Pennsylvania decided to eliminate all draws in dual meets. Consider the following.
Should a tie occur in team score after the final match in a dual meet, the criteria below is utilized to determined the ultimate winner.
The Pennsylvania Dual Meet Tiebreaker Criteria
- 1. The squad with the greater number of individual
match victories.
- 2. The team with the greater number of bouts wrestled
and won by six team points (e.g., defaults, win by
an opponent's flagrant misconduct, fall, or other
disqualification.
- 3. The squad with the greater number of falls during
the dual meet.
- 4. The team with the greater number of technical falls
in the competition.
- 5. The wrestling team with the greater number of major
decisions during the meet.
- 6. The squad with the greater number of decisions
throughout the match.
- 7. The team with the less amount of acculumative time
for falls during the dual meet.
- 8. The mat squad with the less amount of acculumative
time for technical falls throughout the match.
- 9. The team with the greater total of individual match
points during the dual meet.
- 10. Finally, a "coin toss" then determines the dual
meet winner. (I'm not too excited about flipping
a coin as a criterion for determining the winner
of the dual meet.)
As previously mentioned, so far it seems to be working in Pennsylvania. However, Ron Weller has mixed feelings regarding the practice, having witness a number of dual meet ties. Here's what he has to say about the approach.
"I like the use of this criteria system to decide winners for conference or league dual meet championships. On the other hand, I don't think it is really necessary in dual meets not involving such championships."
You must understand that there has been a trend over the last few years to eliminate draws in all sports, and wrestling is no exception. Wrestlers can no longer have ties whether it be dual meets or tournaments. And now a number of states have found a way to remove draws from dual meets.
Now note, the above criteria would not be applicable for
tournaments. There are just too many extraneous variables that encompass wrestling tournaments. For example, if there was a tie between Team A and Team B in a tournament, it might be that Team A had easier opponents to wrestle throughout the competition. Thus, it
would be unfair to Team B, who may have had a much rougher road to travel. And to be quite honest, I think most coaches would be more than willing to accept a tournament co-championship, especially in state competition.
As a wrestling official, it is not my place to promote such a practice in West Virginia or Ohio. Such decisions should be left in the hands of the coaches. If they want to eliminate ties in dual meets, I can live with it.
So what do you think? Is it a good idea? I guess it all depends on whether or not you mind "kissing-your-sister" draws in athletic competitions.
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Updated January 16, 1998