Wrestling teams battle snow, positioning for regional duals

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

Whether it is bumping a wrestler up for a certain matchup, or encouraging kids not to give up six points, a lot goes into winning a meet.

However, one aspect that not even the greatest coach can account for is weather.

The recent snowstorms that have hit the Southern Maryland area and closed schools recently have affected local area teams as the Class 4A-3A South region meet is scheduled for Wednesday. The snow has put teams, athletic directors and standings alike in limbo heading into Wednesday.

"Teams are scrambling," said the 4A-3A South region director Cliff Nagle, who is also the athletic director at La Plata High School. "Athletic directors, I'm sure, are trying to get creative as possible with rescheduling because there are so many variables that come into rescheduling, though."

As of press time — not including Thursday night's matches — La Plata (zero losses) is the No. 1 seed followed by Leonardtown (1 loss), DuVal (1 loss), and Eleanor Roosevelt (2 losses) as only the top four teams of a 26-team region qualify for the region meet.

However, three teams are tied with three losses, those being Northern, Chopticon and North Point, respectively.

But with the threat of more snow scheduled for today and on into Saturday, matches may not go on as scheduled, and teams' power point average — number of wins multiplied by eight and divided by total matches wrestled, at least 11 and any number above — may not change and thus, locking in seedings.

"There are still a few teams on the bubble, so to speak," Nagle said. "But, we will have to see where things work out with any matches wrestled the remainder of this week."

Leonardtown looks to be locked in at the No. 2 seed and can fall no lower than the third seed depending on matches wrestled and/or matches not wrestled.

Leonardtown wrestled against Calvert Thursday night, too late for inclusion into this edition, and will be making up a match tonight at Huntingtown, weather permitting.

"Missing matches and missing practice is never good for anyone," Raiders head coach David Cummins said. "But, I guess we are all in the same boat when it comes to that. The snow just came at a bad time."

North Point head coach Rich Pauole added: "Even with the snow, I believe that we are not getting in. I think it may be at 95 percent that we don't get in. The snow probably helps some of the Prince George's County teams that are in. … Unless something drastic happens, I doubt that we'll be in, though."

Even if teams happen to not make the regional duals, individual wrestlers still need mat time along with mat experience, both being missed in considerable amounts thanks in part to the large amount of snow.

"Well, for the more experienced guys, it's not that big a deal," Northern head coach Matt Smith said of wrestlers missing time. "But for the guys who are, at this point of the season, starting to turn the corner and need this time to correct a few things, and need points to qualify for SMAC and regional tournaments, it is pretty significant."

Making up matches will be important because for a match to count toward region dual championships, it must be wrestled by Saturday, and getting that done for athletic directors is a task all its own with other events occupying gym space and time. And then there's the weather.

"We may not be able to get our matches in because we rescheduled our match with Calvert for Saturday," Smith added. "But, the chances of that even happening is in question. So, it is pretty significant for us because Eleanor Roosevelt is ahead of us with two losses right now."

Whatever the case may be, the snowstorms have come at a bad time for all sports, but more in particular wrestling with the end of the season quickly approaching.

jmccray@somdnews.com