You’re going to be hard pressed to find a bigger wrestling fan than me. Ever since middle school I’ve been in love. So, when I heard about USA Wrestling’s new world team qualifying process, I had mixed emotions.
Under the old format all weights were held the same day at the same location. The “challenge tournament” was held before the finals with the winner of the challenge tournament facing the wrestler who got to sit, or forgo the challenge tournament, until the finals in a best of 3 matchup to determine the world team member. If a weight had a returning world or Olympic medalist, that wrestler got to sit until the finals. If not, the winner of the US Open got to sit until the finals.
Starting this year, it is quite a bit different and I am not a fan. Under the new format, the challenge tournament is a whole separate event from the best of 3 match final, which is now called “Final X”. Similar to before, returning World or Olympic medalists immediately qualify for Final X, and if there is no returning medalist at the weight, the winner of the 2018 U.S. Open in will advance to Final X. The challenge tournament will be held several weeks before the Final X events.
My first problem with this process is sitting wrestlers until the finals. No other country does that for a reason. That’s not the format at the World Championships so why would it be the format to qualify to wrestle at the World Championships? If you want to win Worlds you have to win multiple consecutive matches on the same day. You should have to prove you are able to do that to qualify for the World Team.
The biggest change, and my biggest critique of Final X, will be the fact that USA Wrestling is splitting up the 10 men’s freestyle weights and 9 women’s weights into three separate events. The first held in Lincoln, Nebraska on June 9. Second in State College, Pennsylvania on June 16. And the third in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on June 23.
It’s clear USA Wrestling and Flowrestling did not have the fans in mind when they came up with this format as it creates quite the conundrum. Clearly fans can’t travel to all these events. If you want to go to one event and see the best wrestlers on the highest stage in the country, what do you do? Do you go to one of the Final X dates and only see 6-12 men’s freestyle matches and 6-9 women’s matches? Do you go to the US Open see more matches but miss all the World medalists? What about the challenge tournament and see a lot of great matches but miss all the World medalists and some of the US Open winners?
After coming off a great World Team Trials in 2017 where I heard nothing but good things about the experience everybody had there it seems very strange to change it up and space the entire process out.
I understand if USA Wrestling wants to give more fans a chance to come by doing three separate events, but are fans going to be willing to pay money and travel to see at most 21 matches, and probably more like 14. With a couple of those matches being Kyle Snyder teching Kyven Gadson or something similar? And why make two out of the three locations in Pennsylvania?
Now with all that being said, if you’re looking for me on June 9th, you can find me in Lincoln, Nebraska watching the first event of Final X.
Rader's Reflections and Reveries 