MSAC - Last Year

[Bearhugger]

The following schools were in the MSAC last season:

HHS , Ripley, CM, PHS, GW, Riverside, St. Albans, WW, Winfield, Nitro, SV, Capital, Hurricane, Princeton and South Charleston.

Princeton might already be out of the conference now and I believe Ripley is leaving after this season. Winfield and Nitro are dropping down to AA next season.

Anyway, this Saturday is the biggest the MSAC will be. Since the WSAZ was cancelled, we shall see some match ups that will preview the state tournament.

Gooooooooooooooood matches expected.

[Frank Stein]

Almost every class has 4 top ten wrestlers. Definitely the premier all WV conference. Several future state champions in action at MSACs. St Albans High is the place to be this Saturday. I'll be there. I predict several state final previews.

[Bearhugger]

I was very disappointed in the MSAC this year.

It was a spectator nightmare.

Weight classes 182, 195, 220 and 285 had all of their matches for the first round, quarterfinals, and semifinals all wrestled on mat 4 which was in a separate gym.

As a fan, you had a choice. Either watch the 182 through 285 matches OR stay in the main gym and try to follow what was going on with the other weight classes.

Mats 1 through 3 were weight class specific. 106, 113 and 120 were all wrestled back to back on mat 1. The same logic was followed for the remaining weight classes on the other two mats.

Often, there would be the same school wrestling on three mats. You couldn't see what was going on for the 4th mat.

The coaches and some fans were constantly walking all day from gym to gym.

I hope this was just an experiment.

If this is something that is going to become more common at other tournaments, it will decrease the already low amount of spectators wrestling has.

[Truesouthfaninhunt]

I agree BH... And to be honest I have felt for a long time that WV HS wrestling has been living in the dark ages with regard to such things.
Name me another sport in which seemingly important details like team scores, wrestlers names, match scores, start times...etc are impossible to determine for the average fan. I have felt for years that a more fan friendly environment that makes the above information readily available might just improve interest and attendance.
Having said that I'm sure that match organizers are hamstrung by lack of personnel/ volunteers ..etc. But it sure is frustrating at times for fans wanting to follow the sport.

[wvgymrott]

I thought it ran smooth for the room they had to work with. In a prefect world all the schools would have bigger gymnasiums .

[aaacoach2]

Well you certainly can't say the St Albans crew was not efficient. Wrestling was stopped several times to allow for required rest between matches. Well ran in my opinion.

[Bearhugger]

The parties involved with St. Albans took on the responsibility of running the MSAC tournament. They made the most of what they had. I applaud them all.

I also am excited to see a school like St. Albans become a tournament contender.

My single complaint was the practice of designating certain weight classes to certain mats and all of the 182 through 285 action was in another gym.

This was not necessary.

On another note, I noticed many of the parent and fans around me. They were there to only watch their son (or grandson). Once he was done, they were gone. They were not there to support their school. They definitely were not there to watch any other matches. Fans of this nature probably liked the format used.

I came to watch everybody..............to include all of these St. Albans wrestlers I have been reading about.

[Truesouthfaninhunt]

I was not necessarily being critical of SA and this year's MSAC, but rather was attempting a fan's perspective of WV HS wrestling in general, of which I've been a fan for over 40 years.

Somerimes it's very, very difficult to follow and track what's going on...