FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The debate continues to rage over the need for a traditional tournament for Tennessee Class A/AA schools, but the question continues to be the number of participants per weight class for Class AAA and the number for an A/AA event.
In informal discussions with the TSSAA some coaches believe the association will be asking for a reduction from 32 wrestlers to 24 per weight class to accommodate a 12-man A/AA state. Most coaches are against such a move, not wanting to reduce the number of wrestlers in the Class AAA field, but all seem to think such a move will increase the number of schools participating in the sport. There were 135 schools in one of the eight Division I tournaments.
“I don’t like the way [the TSSAA] is wanting to run it. The whole point in splitting the state [tournament] is to promote the sport and get more kids involved,” Hixson coach Garrick Hall said.
“There’re still talk of doing an eight-man A/Double-A state and dropping Triple-A to 16. The Triple-A folks aren’t asking for this. I just don’t think I want to take two kids from a region to the A/Double-A state.”
If the proposal is passed, Hall said that if teams are allowed to choose which tournament they want to compete in that they should have to do the same for the duals and the traditional tournaments.