Submitted by admin on Sun, 2006-11-26 08:00. ::
Most notable among the changes is a new hydration test as part of weight certification, implemented by New York State in an effort to increase safety. In a nutshell, unlike in the past the new hydration test is done electronically with a refractometer and many wrestlers have had difficulty passing the test -- which determines if a wrestler is sufficiently hydrated and not cutting too much weight -- leaving the makeup of some team's rosters in doubt early in the season.
Once every wrestler passes the hydration test and thus can complete weight certification, it can still have season-long ramifications as several wrestlers will end up needing to be certified at a higher weight than anticipated.
"I think it's a step in the right direction, but there are still some problems," Tioga coach Josh Roe said. "It's going to really hurt some of the smaller teams who have a tough enough time putting a full lineup together."
Also, wrestlers have to make weight in at least 50 percent of their contests at the weight they'll compete at in Sectionals, up from 33 1/3 percent from last year. This puts further strain on lineup flexibility.
"Keeping that weight down all year is very hard," Johnson City coach Pete Capone said. "It might be overkill, but we'll have to see how the year progresses."
Among the other major changes include the site of this year's New York State Public High School Athletic Association state championships and the makeup of the state tournament itself.
The state tournament returns to the Pepsi Arena in Albany, where it was held in 2005 before it moved last year to the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island.
This year, both the Division I and Division II state tournaments will have 16-wrestler brackets, up from 12 last year. In addition to all the Sectional champions advancing to the state tournament, there will be four wild-card entries from across the state in each weight class. The wild-card selections will be made using a point system that considers last year's state and Sectional tournament performance as well as this year's individual win-loss record.
In the past, there was a one-minute sudden-death overtime period followed by a 30-second criteria. Now, the one-minute overtime period will be followed by two 30-second non-sudden-death overtime periods, and if the score is still tied then the 30-second criteria overtime period will be used.
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