Equal Opportunity Doesn’T Knock

During a frenzied e-mail campaign last fall, Clarkston High wrestling coach Dan Randles lamented what he perceived to be inequity regarding state berths for the 11 3A schools in Eastern Washington.

This year’s allotments called for one state entry each for the District 7 Frontier League and District 5-6 Mid-Valley. That rankled Randles.

“The bottom three leagues in the state (including Kingco) are being allowed to send six wrestlers to the state meet,” he said. “The leagues that scored twice as many points as these 31 schools combined will send only two wrestlers to state. This is supposed to be equity?”

The WIAA this year got out of the business of regionalization, leaving state berths in the hands of districts.

Wrestling coaches from the Kingco League, who had been spanked by Frontier and Mid-Valley athletes for two years in regionals, had a way to improve their state chances.

As part of the large, but traditionally wrestling-weak District 2, Kingco wrestlers will now compete for six state berths per weight. It effectively cut in half the Frontier/Mid-Valley entries.

Dominant Eastern Washington wrestlers had used the tourney with the Seattle-area league as a springboard to state success. During a two-year period, while competing for four and five state berths per weight class, the smaller Frontier/Mid-Valley combine won 26 of 28 “pigtail” matches with their fourth wrestler against the Kingco’s fifth for entry into an eight-man bracket.

Then East Side wrestlers went on to claim 100 of 126 available state berths. Of those, 59 placed, earning over a quarter of all medals.

That state avenue lost, wrestling coordinators, including the Frontier League’s Wayne McKnight, worked out an agreement with District 3’s Olympic and Pierce County leagues to improve the situation.

The leagues, West Valley’s athletic director explained, agreed to pool their two berths with the Frontier and Mid-Valley berths to create a regional that will get four wrestlers to state.

“We proposed an amendment that our fifth finisher compete against District 2’s sixth wrestler, but they turned that down,” said McKnight.

While the agreement has increased hopes for Eastern Washington representation to Mat Classic in Tacoma, it doesn’t entirely resolve the equity issue.

This new format pits wrestlers from schools with top-25 state history against each other, while the state’s weakest wrestling leagues still get nearly half of the state berths.

Also left unresolved is the Great Northern League, which has dominated wrestling with but two state berths, at times leaving state placers home.

It seemingly doesn’t reconcile with WIAA bylaws cited by Randles that “seek fair and equal opportunities for all participants” and at the same time “recognizes excellence in performance as a result of the competitive process.”

“The foundation of Mat Classic was built on best-of-the-best,” McKnight said. “Now it is being diluted.”

An amendment, he added, is being proposed that would bring back the state regional concept in wrestling.

No matter what, regionalization will remain a staple in all sports for the Greater Spokane and Big Nine leagues.

Entries from the 4A wrestling regional have dominated state with Gonzaga Prep and Central Valley winning the last two state titles.

Now the two most-dominant 3A Eastern schools, Moses Lake and East Valley, have joined 4A bringing along their three straight 3A state wrestling team championships. The potent region still gets four state berths, so other possible placers will be left home.

“The consensus is that regionals is good for all, because of pooled allocations and also the additional layer of increased competition in getting our teams to state,” said Pasco’s John Crawford, the state cross country meet coordinator. “Last year’s success by teams from Eastern Washington proves that.”

East Side teams won seven of nine state boys titles and three girls crowns and have been dominant for years in several sports.

Such cooperative efforts to regionalize should be lauded as a model for individual sports such as wrestling, cross country and track. The idea is to give quality athletes, who sometimes are overlooked in the bureaucratic numbers shuffle, a deserved state avenue.

This sidebar appeared with the story: AT A GLANCE Frontier wrestling

Defending league champion: none Projected finish: Cheney, Colville, Clarkston, West Valley.

Openers: Cheney defeated Clarkston 38-28; West Valley at Colville, 7 tonight.

Returning district champions: Kyle Aiken, sr., Colville (2A).

Returning state placers: Tim Slater, jr., Colville, 6th, 129 (2A); Nate Combs, jr., Clarkston, 8th, 108; David Courchaine, jr., Cheney, 7th, 135; Blake Falor, sr., Cheney, 7th, 275 (1998).

Outlook: It’s a veteran league with all teams returning at least half their lineups. Cheney and Clarkston return six and four regional veterans respectively. Colville, moved up from the Great Northern League, brings back two state qualifiers among six top four district placers.

Notable: Geoff Hensley is the new coach at West Valley.