PIAA Championships Archive Thread...
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What remember most about Hershey was the smell coming out of the bathrooms. The round after super had almost every overweight man shitting. The smell took over that arena.
saw my first hockey game there as a lad, and was shocked when a line brawl suddenly broke out and gloves were strewn about the ice.
Thanks for posting. It was a fun match for the first 2 periods.I thought I remembered Kwortnick was working double arm bar . It was a power half.
I think I confused him with Ray Brinzer when he hammered someone with a double bar. When Smith screams it brought back memories. I was sitting almost first row behind the hockey wall near Rohn, so you could hear the scream easily.
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At one point way way back, they were held at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg. Up until 1975, there WERE no class a, or aa, or aaa, etc..
Everything and everyone thrown into ONE tournament for all the marbles. AND MAN, was it unforgiving, because back then there were no advancements unless you won the entire thing, ALL THE WAY there. 2nd at districts? Sorry, nice career though. 2nd at regionals? Seasons over kid. Unreal. And it was INTENSE at States, 4 guys per weight. Semis and finals both broadcast live on public TV. Capacity crowd every year.
Everything and everyone thrown into ONE tournament for all the marbles. AND MAN, was it unforgiving, because back then there were no advancements unless you won the entire thing, ALL THE WAY there. 2nd at districts? Sorry, nice career though. 2nd at regionals? Seasons over kid. Unreal. And it was INTENSE at States, 4 guys per weight. Semis and finals both broadcast live on public TV. Capacity crowd every year.
1973 was the last year of single class championships in PA. Two of my teammates placed in AAA in 1974. And first and second in sectionals, districts and regions advanced in the tournaments. John Mailles (sp?) from Hempfield and Greg Duke from Manheim Township wrestled each other in the finals of each tournament and were both in the semi's at states. Mailles was winning his match until he got injured, ultimately lost and prevent a Mailles/Duke final in a tournament for the fifth time in the season (also met in a Christmas tournament).
When they went to the new format in '73, I was insulted. How could they let losers advance??
Then I saw a guy place 2nd in sections, 2nd in Districts, 2nd in Regions and 2nd in the state. I figured there must be something to this.
It's hard to imagine the pressure that was the old one-and-done system. You couldn't screw up. You couldn't make a mistake that could cost you a match. If you did, you were out. That's why they wrestled far more conservatively then.
When I was a Senior, the 3 best kids in my weight class in the Region were in my section. The winner of my section had a clear path to the states. But those other 2 guys, equally tough, were out in the first week. At the time, I thought it was great, cause I survived the Sections. In retrospect, I see that it sucks. In today's world, both of those other guys were probably state place winners.
Then I saw a guy place 2nd in sections, 2nd in Districts, 2nd in Regions and 2nd in the state. I figured there must be something to this.
It's hard to imagine the pressure that was the old one-and-done system. You couldn't screw up. You couldn't make a mistake that could cost you a match. If you did, you were out. That's why they wrestled far more conservatively then.
When I was a Senior, the 3 best kids in my weight class in the Region were in my section. The winner of my section had a clear path to the states. But those other 2 guys, equally tough, were out in the first week. At the time, I thought it was great, cause I survived the Sections. In retrospect, I see that it sucks. In today's world, both of those other guys were probably state place winners.
Even more outrageous:
Before the switch, our Region consisted of Districts 1 + 3. Originally, District 1 had 2 sections. At Districts, the 1st and 2nd place winners of the 2 sections wrestled each other. If the same section won both bouts, the kid who was 2nd in the winning sections got to wrestle for "true 2nd" in the District. The winner went to Regions. But to wrestle for the championship? No; to wrestle for 3rd in the Region. When the District transitioned to 4 sections that stopped -- no more 'true second'.
Those two other kids at my weight in my Section had both been Section champs at different weights the year before and both ended up 3rd in the Region that year. (By that time, 2nd in the District wrestled the 2nd placer in the other District for 3rd in Region. It all made a great deal of sense.)
Now it's possible to place 5th in the Section (and often the section doesn't even have 5 wrestlers in the weight) and to advance all the way to states by continuing to place 5th. Wonder if it's been done.
Put yourself in this place:
It's the semi-finals of Districts. You've been sucking weight all year and it's become a tremendous drag. You're in a tight match, the winner going to finals. But with a caveat: the winner also gets to lose weight for another week, even if he loses the finals. You know the winner of the other semi-final is going to be tough as nails.
Those things are going through your mind: should I go all out and win the semi's, even though I'll probably lose the finals. But then I'd have to suck for another week just to wrestle a meaningless match.
It's a quandary that kids found themselves in. I'm an eyewitness.
Before the switch, our Region consisted of Districts 1 + 3. Originally, District 1 had 2 sections. At Districts, the 1st and 2nd place winners of the 2 sections wrestled each other. If the same section won both bouts, the kid who was 2nd in the winning sections got to wrestle for "true 2nd" in the District. The winner went to Regions. But to wrestle for the championship? No; to wrestle for 3rd in the Region. When the District transitioned to 4 sections that stopped -- no more 'true second'.
Those two other kids at my weight in my Section had both been Section champs at different weights the year before and both ended up 3rd in the Region that year. (By that time, 2nd in the District wrestled the 2nd placer in the other District for 3rd in Region. It all made a great deal of sense.)
Now it's possible to place 5th in the Section (and often the section doesn't even have 5 wrestlers in the weight) and to advance all the way to states by continuing to place 5th. Wonder if it's been done.
Put yourself in this place:
It's the semi-finals of Districts. You've been sucking weight all year and it's become a tremendous drag. You're in a tight match, the winner going to finals. But with a caveat: the winner also gets to lose weight for another week, even if he loses the finals. You know the winner of the other semi-final is going to be tough as nails.
Those things are going through your mind: should I go all out and win the semi's, even though I'll probably lose the finals. But then I'd have to suck for another week just to wrestle a meaningless match.
It's a quandary that kids found themselves in. I'm an eyewitness.
