NCAA asks coaches to re-evaluate proposed National Duals format

The NCAA Championships Cabinet decided to shelf the idea of making a revised National Duals, which would be sponsored by the NCAA and crown the NCAA team champion, after meeting with the NCAA Wrestling Committee on Sept. 11.

The NCAA, reportedly, has ordered the Wrestling Committee to continue evaluating the proposal and will look at it again in February.

CLICK HERE FOR NCAA’S STATEMENT ON NATIONAL DUALS PROPOSAL

Under the new National Duals, which could begin in 2014, the NCAA would take over the sponsorship of the event, which has been run by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, and the winner of the event would be named NCAA team champion. Since 1928, when the first traditional NCAA tournament was held, the team championship has been determined from points associated with individual national championships, All-Americans and other advancement and bonus points which are generated in the traditional tournament.

The proposal which was first announced at the NWCA Convention by the NWCA Board of Directors in August caused a split among the NCAA Division I coaches; so much so that NWCA president Rob Koll was forced to send out a memo last week asking the 77 coaches to vote on the proposal before the Wrestling Committee met with the NCAA Championships Cabinet.

The proposal passed by a 39-36 margin (with two abstentions).

“Had we tabled it as coaches, it probably wouldn’t come back in February,” Koll told Andy Hamilton of the Des Moines Register. “The feeling I got was they were going to say, ‘Go back and work out some more details,’ which really, in my opinion, is the best scenario. I obviously had reservations about people having reservations about it.”
Mike Moyer, the executive director of the NWCA, pointed out that the NWCA would hold a coaching summit, Oct. 23-24, to talk more about the topic.

“The great news is we have more time to discuss it,” Moyer told Hamilton. “If there’s a better alternative, I hope it comes out. We have to be willing to try something different — whatever it is.

“The best decision for our sport needs to take into account a lot of different perspectives — the perspective of a coach, the perspective of an administrator, the perspective of television, the perspective of fans and the perspective of a businessman.”

Moyer and the NWCA has promoted the National Duals, which schools would have to qualify for by their conference dual meet record, as a way for schools to generate more fans on a grass roots level.

In the past, more importance has been placed on what schools send the most individuals to the traditional NCAA tournament.