Virginia Duals Coverage (3rd Part of 5) -- Over 400 HIgh Schools Apply for 48 Duals Slots

It's funny how finding stories works. I approached John Swartz and Bill Grubbs with the intention of writing an article about how kids adapt to the noise and bright lights of wrestling at the Coliseum. About 10 minutes into our talk, John dropped the nugget about having over 400 high schools applying to compete every year, and my whole article changed. 

HAMPTON – For many high school wrestlers, having a chance to compete at the Virginia Duals is the culmination of their athletic careers. Wrestling on the mats at Hampton Coliseum provides for opportunities that prep athletes cannot find elsewhere.

“There’s something to be said about being in a meet where you’re wrestling, and on the next mat over, there are a couple of college guys,” said Bill Grubbs, high school director for the Duals.

It’s an experience that many teams want to renew on an annual basis.

“Once a team gets in the Virginia Duals, no one wants out,” adds John Swartz, tournament co-director, and also coach of Smithfield High. “We have 48 teams in the high school divisions, and 48 will want to come back next year.”

As optimistic as this might seem to a meet director, it does create a problem.

“We get about 400 applications from high schools every year,” added Swartz. “There are a lot of unhappy teams.”

Ironically, the original problem morphed to become the current one. Two years ago, while facing 150 applications from high school teams, Swartz turned to Jason Bryant for assistance. Bryant is a Poquoson native and jack-of-all trades, namely as a wrestling guru, one who has expanded the sport on a national level to online platforms such as his own website, as well as Mat Talk podcast. Now based in Minnesota, Bryant is the go-to guy for wrestling teams of all levels to seek when they wish to expand their social media exposure.

Bryant helped Swartz to develop an online application process, one that would streamline the entry process and help to take the mounds of paper off of Swartz’s desk.

The new application form was a success. However, with the increased exposure came more applications, hundreds more.

I told Jason, “Maybe we should turn this off,” said Swartz, laughing as he recalled the conversation.

There is a waiting list, and Grubbs admits, “There are teams that have been on the waiting list for years.”

In an effort to make room, changes have been made to the process. Admission to the Duals no longer guarantees a permanent spot in the line-up.

Two changes are significant. First, when a team wins either the Black and Blue or American Division, they are forced to move up to the next division.

The reasoning was simple. From 2003-2005, Brentsville District won the B&B Division, and in 2005 presented their strongest team. In spite of the ease with which they won titles, Swartz says, they simply refused to move up.

Fearing that one very strong team would dissuade others from competing, the change was made. Recently, it has affected one local team, Poquoson, who two years ago won the Black and Blue and were elevated to the American Division. While they didn’t win at the next level in 2015, they did perform well.

“It does give the team a chance to wrestle against tougher competition,” said Swartz.

One team almost completed the trifecta. In 2011, Ocean Lakes won the Black and Blue, and then came back the following year to capture the American title. However, they failed to make the semifinals in the National Division in 2013.

The second change was built to maintain competitiveness. If a team goes 0-3 for the tournament, they are removed and put back on the waiting list.

For Grubbs, this new rule led to a painful moment. “Two years ago, York went 0-3, and were dropped. And my own kid is on the (York) team!”

Instituting the two new rules helped to open up some vacancies in the brackets. The next problem was coming up with criteria to select the replacement teams from the pool of 400 applicants.

Swartz believes that they a workable system in place, although there are still some kinks to work out.

“First, you have to have a competitive team. Teams that are traveling a long way to come to the Duals expect to have stiff competition to wrestle against. Second, the team has to travel well.” Asked about how a team such as Arvada West High from Nevada is considered to travel well, Swartz pointed out that they have brought as many as 40 fans to Hampton.

There is a third criterion that can help a team.

“We like teams that can bring a lot of volunteers. It hurt after last year when Tabb left, because they had a lot of people who helped. It takes 600 volunteers to run this tournament.”