Please fix it

The team tournament should be one of the vehicles by which the WPIAL shows off its sport. But too many times, it fails miserably. Take Wednesday night in the Class AA site at Burrell. The program that was sold for $.50 at the door had last year's Mt. Pleasant roster in it. Twice, the Burgettstown-Mt. Pleasant dual meet had to be stopped because the name of one Blue Devils wrestler was missing and another was marked at the wrong weight in the scorebook at the scorers table. The sound system was awful, but it didn't matter because the wrestlers were not introduced before each bout. And no one, not the coaches from both schools, the fans in the seats, and the media knew what wrestler was competing. It was a constant struggle to find out who was on the mat.

Compare that to Tuesday's dual meets at Canon-McMillan, where the sound system is terrific, the bouts are announced before each one is wrestled, the wrestlers are identified so the fans know who are out there, and the scorebook had all the names in the right spots. A real pleasure to watch.

Look, it's not difficult to understand. You would not want to watch a basketball game with players who did not wear numbered uniforms, who were misidentified and whose actions on the court were not noted by the PA announcer. So why would you want that for wrestling? These are just common sense adjustments. Tell the fans who is wrestling before each bout. Have a PA system that doesn't sound like the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher, and make sure the programs are correct.

Then, at least, you can present an entertaining evening for fans, not keep them in the dark.