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32 ACC Qualifiers- Get Real!

Jim Harshaw | Profile
March 16, 2009

Come on… 32 qualifiers? The ACC only had 2 All American’s last season?

It’s been a long time since the ACC had more than 30 NCAA qualifiers. When I qualified for my first NCAA tournament the conference had 27 bids, but in those days the conference also produced NCAA champions and multiple All-Americans: TJ Jaworsky, Sam Henson, Dave Land, Justin Harty, et al. Soon, the conference stopped producing as many All-Americans and basically hit a wall. However, the conference still had the leftover effects of the golden years and some national qualifiers didn’t deserve to go due to flaws in the old system.

The new system is based on this year’s results and while there may be flaws at least we are looking at current data, and that's an improvement.

Inevitably, complaints will be made about the number of All-Americans the ACC produces this year. The conference has a lot of talented wrestlers but only 4 are ranked in the top-8 nationally: Hudson Taylor of UMD, Chris Henrich of UVA, Darien Caldwell of NC St and Konrad Dudziak of Duke. Also, only Virginia Tech is ranked in the top 25. Notice this though -- none of the 4 top eight wrestlers is a senior and 27 of the 32 qualifiers will be back next year. Half the conference was ranked top 25 at some point this season. This season the ACC has two of its returning All-Americans in position to have repeat performances at NCAA's.

The ACC won't produce the All-Americans at the rate of the Big 10 or Big 12, but I believe the wrestlers’ winning percentage at the national tournament will be comparable. Although every conference has its exceptions, the qualifiers from the ACC are within the top 32 in the nation and that’s what we’re talking about here. Getting the best to the dance and letting them fight it out over 3 days.

The new ACC is emerging. The ACC is once again for real. See you in St. Louis!



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#18
Brad N   March 19 at 10:44pm
If you want to shrivel D 1 wrestling to two or three conferences sure go back to the old method. If you want to grow wrestling in D 1 you will have to distribute the bids equitably across all conferences. Pretty simple concept to understand. If the past methodology would have continued D1 wrestling would eventually be extinct and have only themselves to blame.
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#17
Brown Bear   March 19 at 8:29pm
it's a balance. they will get unnecessary amount of qualifiers one year but be short the next. it doesn't really matter; the best will find a way to be standing on the podium anyway
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#16
Bottom Line   March 19 at 9:09am
The bottom line is that every conference plays by the same rules. So stop bit*hing and let's wrestle!
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#15
Eh   March 18 at 8:19pm
acc's has got screwed the in the past so this is the year for them to prove they deserve to have more go...plus more people will want to wrestle for an acc school now because they have a better shot at makin nationals ,they dont have to just win accs just to be guarenteed
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#14
SE Wrestler   March 18 at 7:18pm
buffett said:
“The ACC is smart to feed off the increasing gains the Southeastern part of the country is making in the sport. There are very few wrestling colleges and the ACC can pick the cream of the crop, talent wise, and continue to grow as a wrestling conference. Good luck to these guys at NCAA's.”
thats actually exactly it. the same reason UTC and VT are suddenly "up and coming" programs. They recruit the balls off of top kids from GA, FL, and TN
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#13
Asdlfkj   March 18 at 1:46pm
odu is also in the caa not the acc
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#12
Anonymous Coward   March 18 at 11:51am
odu is ranked in the top 25
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#11
Anonymous Coward   March 18 at 10:37am
the acc is a bunch of crap. end of story. acc aka "the party and waste talent conference". serously, thats why the acc blows. the top teams from eiwa would kill them.
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#10
buffett   March 18 at 5:16am
The ACC is smart to feed off the increasing gains the Southeastern part of the country is making in the sport. There are very few wrestling colleges and the ACC can pick the cream of the crop, talent wise, and continue to grow as a wrestling conference. Good luck to these guys at NCAA's.
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#9
Head Butt   March 17 at 8:44pm
Well, the rise of the ACC. We have to give some credit here to the former MD Coach: Pat Santoro. What he did in his brief stay at MD certainly raised the profile of the ACC and the University of MD. Coach Kerry McCoy has proven that he can continue Santoro's success.
Not sure if 32 for the ACC is justified?? We will find out in a couple of days. I am just patiently waiting for the next East coast team to win an NCAA title. It has not happened for the last 50 + years, maybe an ACC team can do it, but if I had to bet my paycheck I will put my money on Lehigh!!
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#8
Head Butt   March 17 at 7:57pm
Well, the rise of the ACC. We have to give some credit here to the former MD Coach: Pat Santoro. What he did in his brief stay at MD certainly raised the profile of the ACC and the University of MD. Coach Kerry McCoy has proven that he can continue Santoro's success.
Not sure if 32 for the ACC is justified?? We will find out in a couple of days. I am just patiently waiting for the next East coast time to win an NCAA title. It has not happened for the last 50 + years, maybe an ACC team can do it, but if I had to bet my paycheck I will put my money on Lehigh!!
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#7
Walkon   March 17 at 5:52pm
This is not the ACC of old...
VT beat Michigan and CMU
UVa beat Mich State, loses by 4 to Penn State
Md lost to Oklahoma in Norman by 7

Though I'm no expert, it appears to me that the ACC recruiting has taken a major step forward. When I competed, it felt like teams recruited a bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier talent and hoped a few of them would blossom. Now, the top schools in the conference are recruiting 1st and 2nd tier talent.
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#6
BILL BRASKEY   March 17 at 5:51pm
WHO IS JIM HARSHAW ANYWAY? WHO EVER HEARD OF... AND WHERE IS THE ACC... ISN'T THAT A BASKETBALL LEAGUE? WRASTLIN. ALL THE OPINIONATIN WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF ON THE MAT... WE'LL SEE THE WHO WHAT AND WHERE OF THE A C C. HA.
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#5
MD   March 17 at 3:36pm
maryland won this year
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#4
John Stepleton   March 17 at 2:04pm
what team won the ACC tourny this year
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#3
Mandingo   March 17 at 1:57pm
The more names you have in the jar, the better your chance at winning.
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#2
Action Jackson   March 17 at 12:48pm
I bet you 3 nickles they produce more than 3 all americans
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#1
Old Outsider..   March 17 at 12:42pm
The ACC does not deserve that many bids, atleast not yet...it definitely hurts the depth of the NCAA tourney, I see 3 AA's at the most
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4.2/5 (6 votes cast)