This column was originally published in the Feb. 19, 2013 edition of The Mercury.

Upper Perkiomen’s Dante Steffenino wins the championships at 120 pounds over Spring-Ford’s Matt Krieble at the Pioneer Athletic Conference Championships over the weekend at Boyertown. (Photo/Tom Kelly III)

There was (actually still is) a lot of debate on District 1’s shift from sectionals to league championships to begin the postseason.

Some argued there was no need to abandon the six-section format — in place since 1974 (or since 1957 if you go all the way back to when sectionals began) — so history was certainly on their side. They even borrowed the old adage about not needing to fix something that wasn’t broken.

Some countered that argument with geography, or the lack thereof — grouping some teams in with others that really weren’t that close to one another. That, they added, may have been one big reason why most if not all the sections were losing money.

But maybe, just maybe, everybody overlooked, as they have so often in the past, the most important aspect of the issue — the wrestlers themselves.

What do they prefer? Or, to be more specific, what is more important to them, a section or league championship?

During last Saturday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference Championships at Boyertown, 15 wrestlers — five sophomores, five juniors and five seniors, all of whom competed in at least one previous sectional tournament — were asked that question. They were asked off the record, asked with the understanding their names would not be revealed.

The final count was 14-1 … a gold medal for winning their weight class in the PAC-10 carried a lot more weight than a gold medal for winning their weight class in a sectional.

Interesting, to say the least.
Student-athletes don’t make the rules, nor should they. But maybe — again, just maybe — it wouldn’t hurt at times to ask and listen to what they do have to say, and perhaps bring their thoughts and opinions to the administrative tables when changes are proposed and debated, before they’re enacted.

Wrestlers are, without a doubt, a rare breed. They lift weights, yet they watch their weight. They run mile after mile to build their endurance, yet feel totally exhausted after just six minutes of wrestling. They loosen up every joint and stretch every imaginable muscle, yet know full well any one of them could dislocate, break or tear the moment they step on that mat.

Because of all that, because of their commitment to a sport that still sadly pales in popularity to other major sports like baseball, basketball and football, a sport that offers little if any rewards other than an opportunity to compete in college, wrestlers deserve what is best for them.

So, after Saturday’s brief chats with 15 of them, seeing more fans in the stands than I’ve seen in the last 20-30 years of sectionals, and having the pleasure of sitting in on one of the most well-run tournaments I’ve seen in the last 20-30 years, I was convinced at least one league championship — with 10 teams all familiar with one another and competing in one place rather than splitting up and going off to one of three different sections — was a good move.

Boyertown High School – with its long list of workers, from ticket-takers and concession stand workers to scorers, bout-sheet runners and go-fers — was a host with the most. And Steve Perlstein, the athletic director at Upper Perkiomen who served as the tournament chairman, didn’t miss a beat keeping everything in order. That combination, along with making a big deal out of recognizing not only individual champions and medalists but a team tournament champion as well, helped make the change from sectionals to at least one league championship a great move.

And putting together a schedule that featured just a few brief breaks and a lot of continuous wrestling — complete with built-in rivalries — was not only entertaining, but a fantastic move.

A move that, hopefully, will remain intact for the future.