Wrestling agate question, ASAP

You definitely write it from where the match begins. If you do it any other way, it's misleading.

And I'm not saying you're wrong, C-KY. You're not. I just don't like how that's written, so I'm not going to write my agate that way.

 

mike311gd,

Its' cool. Different styles for different people/papers.

That being said, I took wrestling agate tonight since KySportsWriter was busy with our annual All-Area Cross Country team.

One coach called in and gave us the team scores from both of his matches (which were against out-of-area schools) and records (2-0 or 1-1 or 0-2) only for individuals.

Second coach, who I graduated with, did a better job. Gave us team scores and match-by-match results for all 28 individual matches, but sometimes for the other team (another out of area school), had just a last name, a first initial and last name or first name and last initial).

So I was 0-for-2 on the night on getting everything I wanted. And this was the opening week of the season.

 

That frustrates me. We usually struggle with the first-year coaches, but they're pretty much trained by their ADs -- many of whom are former coaches in our area -- to give us just what we need. It's a luxury I've never had anywhere else.

 

Kid,

Not all matches result in 3 team points. A decision is worth less than a tech fall, which is worse less than a pinfall.

 

Really? No kidding?

I always wondered how teams could rack up 70+ points with only 14 individual matches at 3 points a pop. Thanks for clearing that up.

I know the scoring system for a regular dual (I'm not getting into individual tourneys right now):

Fall (Pin), Forfeit, Default, & Disqualification -- 6 team points
Technical Fall -- 5 team points (15-point spread)
Major Decision -- 4 team points (8-14 point spread)
Decision -- 3 team points

So if you win all 14 matches by pin, FF, DF or DQ, you win 84-0.
Or get 14 straight decisions, you win 42-0.

Thing is, do we expect our readers to know that?

Because if they don't, there's no reason to put "decision" or "tech fall" or "major decision" in the agate. Unless you have a box which explains the scoring OR do a running score at the end of each individual match.

But if the readers DO know the scoring system, then they should be smart enough to know that 6-4 is a decision and 16-4 is a major decision and 19-4 is a tech fall. You shouldn't have to say "decision, 6-4" because with a 6-4 score, the only result is a decision.

 

Here's how we do it.
Always start at the starting weight class if it's known.
Haven't ever put the team score after each weight class' final, but I can see how it would be helpful for the reader. My only concern would be space. I know agate is small, but it doesn't take much to bump it to another line when the weight class result stretches across, especially with long names.

Royaltown 34, Catholicburg 26
160 — Kyle Kwiat (C) d. Mitchell Lee 10-6 (2 OT)
171 — Jordan Ackley (R) tf. Aaron Smith 16-0
189 — Zach Seislove (C) p. Travis Tahy 3:28
215 — Jon Aurand (R) p. Zach White 2:44
285 — John Stover (C) d. Mike Wenig 4-1
103 — Nick Goebel (R) p. Luke Hafley 3:53
112 — Wes Lee (R) d. Sebastian Williams 10-4
119 — Zach Felton (C) forfeit
125 — Eric Gase (C) p. Joey McCartney 3:14
130 — Tyler Baer (R) md. Matt DeRose 14-4
135 — Darris Correll (C) d. Nic Hernandez 5-4
140 — Cody Alexander (R) d. Dillon Kwiat 4-1
145 — Alex Betts (R) d. Joe Scherger 8-0
152 — Gavino Hernandez (R) d. Jeff Stover 11-9
NOTE: Catholicburg penalized 1 team point for coaching misconduct

 

fossywriter8,

Not sure it would make much difference, but you could save one character per weight class by using a colon instead of a long dash.

FWIW, my paper does not do the running score at the end of each weight class. But like you, I could see why it would be helpful (especially if we insist on using pin, decision, major decision and tech fall instead of using just the score or pin time).

 

We save a few lines here and there by eliminating the periods on the abbreviations. They're really not necessary. And we put the entire summary in one paragraph. Can't tell you how much THAT saves.

103: Bob Jones CDE d Mike Wilson 14-11. 112: Andy Sarniski WV tf Joe Jackson 15-0 (1:42). 119: Garrett Watkins WV p Mike Miller 4:41 (2-7). 126: Billy Brace CDE won by forfeit. 132: Connor Dixon CDE md Ronnie Hoy 9-1.

Yes, we use time on technical fall. If you know a kid put a tech together in 1:42, it's a helluva lot different than doing it in 5:50.

And yes, we use score at the time of a pin. If you see a kid is trailing at time of the fall, it's very useful information.

By the way, CD East leads Williams Valley 13-11 through five weight classes.

 

At my first paper, that's what we did: one graf, Guy A d. Guy B, or p. Guy C, or tf. Guy F.

On tech falls, we use time but not score, since margin of victory is going to be 15-17 no matter what. We don't use score at time of pin -- if someone got a pin after trailing, it would either be in the gamer (meeter?) or the highlights.

I've done it that way ever since, since nearly everywhere I've been since had no consistent style.

 

And semi colons after each weight class and deleting the line break would pull more space when condensed into paragraph form....

 

This is what I thought about while getting ready for bed last night/this morning. There's a really good chance, during anyone's time covering wrestling at any level, that they'll never see that happen.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in order to rack up a 15-point lead without any near-fall points, you'd have to earn all the scoring off reversals, takedowns, escapes, cautions and stalling points. However, once you record a takedown -- in the first period, let's say -- in order to score another point(s), the opponent has to get an escape, cutting the lead in half. And you'd have to repeat the process 14 times. Or you can vary it by choosing down at the second restart and scoring a reversal or an escape and a quick takedown ... and you're stuck in the same position

The way I'm thinking, mixing it stalling and caution points (which are tough to get if you're defending a hold), you'd have to pretty much toy with your opponent to score 26-30 points on him or her, vying not to try for a pin. And even then, you've got six minutes to do that. So if you're that dominant, you're bound to pick up three or four near-fall pins.

Am I wrong in this thought?

 

Actually, the takedown-allowed escape-takedown is a strategy for some superior wrestlers, especially at the high school level. Some guys who are takedown masters make a game of it, trading one point for two over and over again until they rack up a tech fall.