2/02/2007

Tough times

For only the second time since the format change in 1979, the Washington-Greene County did not produce a finalist for the WPIAL Team Tournament. That should be a concern to those who would like to see the competitive level of this area rise. Not only do I not have anything to do for the next two weeks while the team tournament plays out, but it leaves me feeling a little ill at ease about the strength of this area in wrestling.
At least in the team portion of the season.
The center of wrestling power has shifted to the eastern part of this region, where Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant, Burrell, Connellsville, Penn-Trafford, etc., consistently field stronger teams than those in the west.
Why?
It's a good question that may not have an easy answer.
It's not a coaching problem. This area has some of the best coaches in the sport.
It might be more a numbers' problem, considering how some of the traditionally strong teams struggled to put a full lineup on the mat this season. Or it just might be a down talent cycle.
This area does well in the state tournament, coming back from Hershey with at least one individual title in eight of the last nine years.
Team-wise, it's been a struggle. And it doesn't promise to get better anytime soon.

79 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now you are getting desperate for responses on this blog. Well I guess I will bite on this one. Maybe if you stopped being so negative about a sport you seem to have passion for. Maybe if you controlled your bias a little better towards your wa. County favorites. Maybe if you gave props where props were truly due it might broaden interest a little. But in your case we know that none of this will happen so continue to entice all you want. Oh and as a final note there isn't a team in Wa. or All. counties that could beat Waynesburg this year. Thats how good of a team they are. A little school down in the corner wrestling up for competition. But you cant mention any of this because your too busy whining about your favorites having off years. Chew on that one for a while. Oh by the way I was the one who identified you at waynesburg after the raiders won when I said that there is the guy who will find a way to make the wa. county teams look better in loss than the Raiders do in winning.

Saturday, February 03, 2007 7:57:00 AM  
Blogger Joe Tuscano said...

Well, let's see. In a span of about eight days, we covered three Waynesburg dual meets and I did a feature on Ethan Headlee at the Powerade Tournament. We also covered three West Greene matches in Rogersville. And we haven't even reached the individual tournaments, yet. That seems like pretty good coverage from someone you think hates Greene County.

Monday, February 05, 2007 12:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have an idea of what you could do the next few weeks while we all wait for the individual tournaments....see if you can get information about all the local wrestlers and how they are doing in college...just a suggestion, I always wonder what happens to the local guys Thanks

Monday, February 05, 2007 9:35:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks the O-R ignores the Greene County teams and especially Waynesburg isn't paying attention very well.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007 11:27:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gee if I had known I was going to get this much attention I would have written something sooner. Lets see now, where to start? Read the post again Joe, and tell me where I used the word Hate. I didn't even imply it. I said and will say again that you write more about the WA. county teams than the Greene county ones. Case in point, On the same night that CM beat Trinity Waynesburg walked all over McGuffey. In the first round of the team tournament when Waynesburg beat both CM and CV you wrote about how Trinity didn't have a good night against NA. Yes there was an article about Waynesburg winning I think you titled it "Nick OF Time" and implied that it was one person who turned it around for the Raiders. See I do read the paper. Now back to my original post. Why is it you don't respond to my comment that There isn't a team in WA. or ALL. counties that could beat the Raiders this year? You had a great team staring you in the face and either couldn't see it or refused to see it. I'll let you pick. The Raiders went out and wrestled their fannys off prior to the team tournament. They faced and defeated nationally ranked teams. Yes they lost some key matches but it did not deter these kids. I do agree that as a majority the caliper of most of the teams in the OR reporting area are having a tough year but why lump Waynesburg into that. As a matter of pure insight Could it be that there is a population shift in the region that is causing the Westmoreland Co. teams to feed their programs.

Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:05:00 PM  
Blogger Joe Tuscano said...

OK, I guess you read the paper but you missed this paragraph in my column that predicted the winners in the team tournament.

"The interesting pool of teams is in Waynesburg, where Canon-McMillan, McGuffey and Chartiers Valley square off in today's first round beginning at 6 p.m. The Big Macs and Raiders each captured section titles and Waynesburg got the fourth seed.

The two should win their openers and meet in the 8 p.m. quarterfinals. The Big Macs don't match up well against the Raiders so look for a narrow win by Waynesburg."

You are right when you say there wasn't a team in Washington or Allegheny counties that could beat Waynesburg.

But your assumption that I ignored Waynesburg's wrestling team is still wrong. I repeat: we covered three of their dual meets and did a feature story on one of the wrestlers at Powerade.

That's about as good as it gets in the team portion for any team.

Friday, February 09, 2007 12:10:00 AM  
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