Cody Harrison's diet of champions, one day versus two days, and more.
NJSIAA District 1 Tournament
Diet of champions. One of the most compelling aspects of wrestling for us is how these remarkable young athletes can cut so much weight and still perform at such a high level. Losing weight and holding a weight can be an exhausting process both physically and mentally (the mental discipline to avoid a cookie, a soda or a cupcake for three months can wear anybody down) even without grueling physical competition at hand. This is especially so at the lighter weights. Take Warren Hills’ 106-pound District 1 champion Cody Harrison, who serenely told a reporter he was weighing in at 11 pounds below his normal body weight. That’s over 10 percent of his regular weight – think about that for a second. Yes, wow. Yet Harrison’s performance at D-1 was certainly not impeded by his weight situation – his energy and power impressed the entire gym. So how does Harrison do it? “Two eggs in the morning,” he said. “Maybe an omelette with egg whites. Some chicken. A lot of fruit.” Saturday showed Harrison’s diet is a winning one.
One day or two? We could go either way on the matter. Warren Hills’ one-day event did work, but made for a very, very long day. A two-day event does allow a lighter schedule and not turn Saturday into a marathon. However, it also means everybody has to schlep to the site Friday night fighting rush hour traffic and make two trips. With eight teams one day is possible; if District 1 were bigger, say 11 teams as many districts are, it would have to be two days. What the one-day formula Warren Hills used could be improved by is …
Give us a break. The breaks between rounds Saturday were far too long. Breaks are important – helps the wrestlers to be fresh and gives all those working the event a chance for a cup of coffee and to stretch their legs – but multiple-hour breaks are too much. Instead of announcing a set schedule, do this: first round at 9, next round 45 minutes after first round, et cetera, with finals 30 minutes after consolations but not before a set time (“5 p.m.” say) that could be approximated in advance. That way, fans could arrive at the site at 5 knowing they’d see all the finals. In the end, what really matters is …
Two mats or three? It may be that any two-mat site, such as Warren Hills, must be two days. Mount Olive can lay down three mats and could easily go one day though oddly, at Mt. Olive, D-1 is a two-day event. The new Phillipsburg gym could get down 4 mats if not more, start at 10 a.m. and be over by 3, almost. As Region 1 will show us once again, two-mat postseason tourneys are unnecessarily tedious. Speaking of tedious topics …
Seeding struggles. It’s really not a good thing for the NJSIAA seeding process that a freshman at one D-1 school laid out what should have been the ladder at 106 pounds better than the seeding system did. The seeding cost Phillipsburg sophomore Cullen Day a fair shot at extending his season. There are two possible solutions: one would be full wrestlebacks, meaning a two-day event for sure. The other would be for an “oh-dear” clause in the seeding process. That would come into play when people look a completed bracket and say, “Oh, dear”, and allow for a do-over that ignores the seeding criteria. When numbers don’t add up, humans need to overrule the equations.
Quick hits: Belvidere had a tough say with just two wrestlers advancing but the Seaters were hit by illness and injuries at precisely the wrong time; we suspect things will be different at 2017's D-1 tournament ... The tournament was full of good bouts but the best of all may have been North Warren's Anthony Duardo's 8-7 win over Mount Olive's Dominic Hink in a 152-pound semifinal. It was high-speed back-and-forth action for six minutes. ... Hackettstown's excellent third-place finish and six Region 1 qualifiers could be partially credited to the Tigers' rigorous schedule preparing wrestlers for post-season intensity. It also helps that wrestlers such as Anthony Carida (145) and Kyle Connelly (182) took major strides forward from last year .. While it was a long day even for reporters mat side, being able to talk wrestling with such experts as Warren Hills veteran announcer/man-about-wrestling Bill Lunger, longtime Pennsylvania official Rick Solofsky who is now moonlighting in New Jersey and a host of knowledgeable and savvy fans made the time fly for us.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.