Coaches weigh in on new qualifying system

Andy Elder For the CDT

UNIVERSITY PARK — The new system the NCAA implemented to allocate qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships, the one which shrunk the Big Ten’s total from 72 to 61, was spurred by the coaches of the teams who expect to duke it out for this year’s Big Ten tournament team championship.

CDT file photo/Christopher Weddle

Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland and his Nittany Lions could be affected this weekend by the NCAA’s new qualifying system, which has cut the Big Ten Conference’s allotment from 72 to 61 wrestlers who will compete in the upcoming national tournament in St. Louis.

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In the words of singer Alanis Morissete, “And isn’t it ironic ... don’t you think?”

Neither Tom Brands, coach of defending Big Ten and NCAA champion Iowa, nor Tom Ryan, coach of leading challenger and defending NCAA runner-up Ohio State, disputed the irony Friday at the pre-championship news conference at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Neither offered apologies either. When the first whistle blows at 11 this morning to signal the opening of the tournament, Brands’ Hawkeyes and Ryan’s Buckeyes figure to be on a collision course for the team title. Despite the fact that the Big Ten could see its allotment of NCAA qualifiers reduced (the Big Ten figures to receive a portion of the 52 at-large selections that will be named on Wednesday), neither apologized for their role in instituting the new system.

“As it’s gone into play and we’ve seen it step by step, I’m very much in favor of it,” Brands said. “I haven’t, personally, foreseen anything that’s negative about it. I don’t know if there will be. We’ll know a lot more when this tournament is over and the committee meets to fill the at-large spots. Right now I don’t see any glitch.

“Right now I like it. When I was at Virginia Tech, it was something that we fought for because of the strength of those under-represented conferences. You get your medicine based on what you’ve done over the year. Now they’re rewarded by performance throughout the year, so that’s all positive.”

Ryan, like Brands, said he likes the system he fought to help create.

“Right now it looks like a system, obviously, that was in development for quite awhile and I think the right people were involved in the development of the system,” Ryan said. “Right now it seems to be working well. There are 52 spots left and right now it seems to be working well.

“I spent 11 years at Hofstra in a small conference. It was something that was the EWL and then the East Coast Conference and now it’s the CAA. Each conference you were in it was fighting for the right to have people who work very hard at the sport be at the national championship. This seems to me to be the most fair way.”

Penn State coach Troy Sunderland, whose Nittany Lions figure to finish somewhere in the middle of pack in the team race, didn’t quite offer the blanket approval of the new system that Brands and Ryan did.

“It’s a little bit disappointing, on the surface, having fewer qualifiers overall than what we had last year, at this point, Sunderland said. “I think it will be a wait-and-see (situation) to see how the wrestling pans out and what happens when the next allocations come.

“I think it is a more fair system than what it has been in the past and it gives a more current year evaluation of our best wrestlers in the country and gives them a better chance of getting to the national tournament, across the board. I think there are some things I’ve seen that could be weighted a little bit heavier.

“I think it does modernize the sport a little bit. When you talk about the RPI in football or basketball, I think with wrestling, people relate to that. Whether they understand the dynamics of it, that can be argued. But I think it modernizes the sport a little bit. I think that can help the casual person.”

As it stands right now, the Big Ten’s automatic qualifiers at each weight, determined by placing in the tournament, are as follows: 125 — 7; 133 — 6; 141 — 7; 149 — 5; 157 — 7; 165 — 8; 174 — 6; 184 — 6; 197 — 4; 285 — 5.

On Monday, the six-person NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in Indianapolis to select 52 at-large qualifiers using secondary criteria.

Wrestlers in each weight class will receive an updated winning percentage and RPI, through the qualifying events. Bronze Standard wrestlers, those who met one of the three qualifying standards (.700 winning percentage, top 33 in the RPI or top 33 in the coaches rankings), will be judged on the following: .700 winning percentage, top 33 RPI, top 33 coaches ranking (from the Feb. 23 rankings), .700 winning percentage against all competition, one win against a wrestler receiving automatic qualification, qualifying event placement one below automatic qualification.

Only Bronze Standard wrestlers will be eligible for selection for at-large qualifiers.

The committee will evaluate Bronze Standard wrestlers by using: head-to-head competition, qualifying even placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, RPI, coaches ranking, number of matches contested at that weight class.