BleacherCoaches.com

Big match next week at Westmont for the conference title...thoughts on Ridge -vs- Westmont?  

The coin toss could decide this match.
Heard rumor that Westmont is putting this match in the small auxillary gym, opening the doors early for the match and when the gym fills up they will have TV’s in the cafeteria to watch the match. Seems kind of weird that they would put a match this big in the small gym, almost as if they know Ridge fans travel well and normally bring a large contingent of fans and are hoping to try and keep most of the Ridge fans in the cafeteria.

So much misinformation in one post. Congrats. Westmont will wrestle in the same gym that it always wrestles in. This "auxillary gym" probably seats as many if not more than your main gym seats. Fans will not be segregated as to who gets in and who does not. That's an assinine comment in itself. As in any large event, seating will be as fans come in. Once the gym is filled its filled. We like to listen to our Fire Chief on the capacity laws.

What I heard is that the match will take place in a classroom with only parents of Westmont families allowed to be in attendance. Westmont fans have been encouraged to spend the day at WH, taking classes with the wrestlers and eating lunch in the cafeteria. Credit hours will be made available, and I hear the art classes are filling up quickly. This way after school they will already be in the school, thus assuring entrance to the gym ( and a nice educational experience for the day ). NBCSports will carry the match via cable for the whole world to watch. Fans wearing Red and Gray will be seated in the ultra swanky student commons to watch with a catered buffet style dinner. Fans wearing any sort of Blue or Gold will be permitted to stand in the parking lot ( provided they bring a shovel) and listen through the brick walls. CR fans will be removed if they aren't actively shoveling during the match. Parking will be free, but any fan with a "I love CR Wrestling" bumper sticker will be charged $50 to park.

I hope you get sarcasm. Best of luck on Tuesday.

That made me chuckle...I can appreciate sarcasm. 

Westmont’s auxiliary gym was the school’s primary gym up until last year for many years.  It’s small, but it’s not inadequate or anything.  

I'm not a wrestling guy, but if the coin toss is that big of deal, there is something wrong.

When two teams are evenly matched and the match is expected to be very close, the coin toss can make all the difference. It gives the coin toss winning coach the opportunity to control the match ups and to get the matches that they think will help them score more points. Dual meets can often come down to how one team matches up with the other, especially if teams have more than one wrestler weighing in at a weight class. It’s like a chess match with each coach trying to get the best match up for their team and countering whatever move the other coach makes.

So winning the coin toss allows a coach the ability to avoid tough match-ups and get the most forfeits possible? It sounds like the adults need to get out of the way and let the kids compete.

Actually, teams like Westmont and Ridge don’t forfeit any weights at all. Winning the coin toss allows the coach the flexibility to control matchups, which ultimately gives the team the best chance to win the match. This is part of any competition. In basketball, a coach isn’t going to match a 5 foot guard up against a 6 foot forward. In baseball, a coach isn’t going to have his pitcher throw fastballs down the middle to the cleanup hitter. In football, the coach isn’t going to run up the middle when the defense has 8 men in the box. The definition of competing is “striving against one another to gain or win something.” The ability to strategize and create favorable matchups gives a team an advantage when competing.

That's exactly my point. In the other sports, my best players are going to go toe-to-toe with your best players, and may the best man win. But apparently in wrestling, the coach that wins the coin toss can stack his line-up so his stud can crush your weakling and get more team points. For every Westmont-Ridge match-up, there are five meets where every match is either a forfeit or a pin in under a minute.