WRESTLING: Reform the way it's scored

Last week I read where nine members of the Post Falls wrestling team won regional championships. Lewiston had three champions.

Yet somehow Lewiston won the team championship over Post Falls by 4.5 points. How can a team win 9 out of 12 championship matches and not win the team title? It makes absolutely no sense.

This week, Post Falls wrestlers finished second at state and returned home with four state champions.

The Trojans came in second to Centennial High, who crowned three state champions. In the top four places, each team placed nine wrestlers. Yet Centennial was able to amass 318 team points compared to only 232 points by Post Falls?

It wouldn’t have mattered if Post Falls crowned nine state champions (to Centennial’s three); the Trojans still would have likely finished in second place.

The way points are awarded is the problem. Instead of rewarding points for producing individual champions and the best wrestlers, the current point scoring system rewards teams with the highest number of kids in wrestlebacks, who compete for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place finishes.

There’s only 15 weight classes, but some teams can produce over 25 kids to compete. So it’s not about which team has the best 15 wrestlers, it’s about which team has the highest number of mediocre wrestlers.

I read where the sport of wrestling is going to be omitted from the Olympic Games due to low fan interest. Gee, I wonder why?

STEVE SHAMION

Post Falls