Feb 15, 2017 4 min read

Some final thoughts on the PIAA Wrestling Team Tournament.

Save for the first-round loss to Council Rock South, Canon-McMillan’s wrestling team went as far as their talent allowed.

The Big Macs one-point loss ended any chance of winning the Class AAA portion of the PIAA Team Tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey over the weekend, but it did seem too light a fire under the Big Macs. Well, that loss and a team meeting that followed it seemed to do it.

Canon-McMillan wrestled strong and smart in their remaining dual meets: wins over Dubois and Exeter and a close loss to Kiski, which went on to finish in third place.

This was not a strong enough C-M team to win the team title. Too many soft spots in the lineup forced the Big Macs to wrestle a perfect match to win. They didn’t do that against Council Rock South, allowing devastating bonus points at the end of some bouts that hurt their chances, but they did against Kiski, which was a more talented team.

Winning a state team title is hard and even the Chris Mary-led Big Macs, arguably the most talented team in the program’s history, had to wrestle at a higher level to defeat Central Dauphins twice on the way to titles a few years ago.

This was a good teaching tool for C-M head coach Jason Cardillo, who will have much of this team returning next year. It should be strong enough to make a return trip to Hershey for this tournament. Understanding what it takes to win as a team will be important to the success of that team, too.

• I have never been a fan of this tournament, and from the incredibly small crowds Thursday and Friday in Hershey, neither are many wrestling fans.

It’s a costly event for any qualifying team that has to stay overnight. The price tag for the three-day, two night event can run close to $10,000.

And that price, like hotel room rates, has significantly gone up over the years.

If the PIAA wants a better idea, why not use its basketball playoff formula? Take the same amount of teams but whittle the number down by holding dual meets in the districts. Bring the semifinalists to Hershey Friday afternoon and wrestle off to a champion. Not only are the best teams there, but more fans can come without missing work.

If the PIAA is considering another classification for wrestling, then changes like this will have to be made or there will be push-back not just from the coaches and booster clubs but also the superintendents who will balk at the high cost of this competition.

• The PIAA has run the state team tournament for nearly two decades but it is amazing how many glitches still exist.

The latest one came in the first round Thursday, when the overhead scoreboard continuously posted the wrong team results in a few dual meets. One dual meet had its final score changed three times before getting it right.

What made this such a head-scratcher was the PIAA had time and scoring stanchions at each of the four mats, which consistently had the right team scores as well as the bout scores. These stanchions were in easy view of the main scoring area.

Wrestling is difficult enough to follow for fans without giving the wrong score.

Another fan-friendly change that should be considered: make the wrestlers wear numbers on their singlets to make them easier to identify. That also would make buying a program more tempting to fans.

• Follow me on twitter at @JosephGTuscano and on the web at www.observer-reporter.com/wrestling

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com