Braves’ dual meet season ends with new NJSIAA rules

Not long after Wednesday’s dual meet at Lower Cape May Absegami head coach Shawn Scannell announced that, due to new NJSIAA rules governing the individual post season, the Braves’ team season was over after winning 7 of ten meets.

“The state came out and told us that every wrestler picked by the committee to participate in the individual post season is not permitted to wrestle in any dual meets,” Scannell explained Friday.

The committee will meet this weekend to select wrestlers for the post season. Seedings will be done Monday. Wrestlers selected for the post season can wrestle in a dual meet Monday but not after that date.

“I understand what they’re doing. They don’t want to lose kids out of the individual tournament because they kept wrestling in dual meets and got infected by the virus. In a more normal year where you’d have lots of kids you could keep wrestling duals but we just can’t do it. We’re going to have maybe six or seven kids in the regionals. That wipes out half of our lineup. I only have 21 kids. I just don’t have enough kids to still fill out a lineup.”

Scannell, who is in his 11th season as head coach at Absegami, will be serving on the NJSIAA committee that will select the wrestlers to fill 24 slots in 14 weight classes at the regional level. It is a prestigious post filled by a man who has done much to keep Absegami wrestling strong in a modern era where the sport is shrinking and seems to have pinned its future at the scholastic level on girls’ wrestling.

“I feel bad for our kids who don’t make the regionals,” Scannell continued. “They are kind of being left out in out in this case. But I really don’t see the point in traveling somewhere to wrestle a dual meet with six varsity wrestlers. I understand the rule. I get the state’s point of view but I still feel bad for our kids who won’t be able to continue wrestling.”

Wrestling at the regional level will take place next weekend.