MHSAA Announces Revised Wrestling Schedule, 2021 Finals Site
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 2, 2021
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has revised its 2021 Wrestling Tournaments, scheduled for the final three weeks of March and first weekend of April, in an effort to reduce the mixing of communities and spread of COVID-19. The MHSAA also has selected Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo as this year’s host site for the Teams Finals on March 30 and Individual Finals to be wrestled April 2-3.
As in non-COVID seasons, the wrestling postseason will be divided into separate tournament tracks for teams and individuals, with competition at the District, Regional and Finals levels. Competition at the District and Regional levels for both the team and individual tournaments will follow the MHSAA’s traditional formats, which is possible due to the COVID-19 rapid testing required of each participating wrestler. Districts will be wrestled during the week of March 15, with Regionals the following week.
However, a number of changes for this season’s Finals have been put in place to provide the same experience for qualifying athletes but with more precautions to limit possible exposure to the virus.
Team Wrestling: Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals will be wrestled Tuesday, March 30 at Wings Event Center, with all rounds over one day instead of the traditional two. Two areas within Wings Event Center – the “Valley” and “Arena” – will host matches for Quarterfinals and Semifinals, with all four championship matches wrestled simultaneously in the Arena to conclude the event. Divisions 2 and 4 will compete in the Arena, and Divisions 1 and 3 in the Valley prior to the title matches.
Individual Wrestling: All rounds of the Individual Finals will be wrestled at Wings Event Center over the course of one day – Divisions 2 and 3 will compete Friday, April 2, and Divisions 1 and 4 will wrestle April 3. Both arenas within Wings Event Center will be used each day – one for each division – with all rounds including championship matches wrestled in that specific area. Divisions 3 and 1 will compete in the Arena, and Divisions 2 and 4 will compete in the Valley.
Determinations of which divisions were assigned to wrestle in Wings’ Arena and Valley were made by a blind draw conducted by the MHSAA in partnership with the executive board of the Michigan Wrestling Association, the statewide coaches association for the sport. Teams scheduled to wrestle in the Valley during the Team Quarterfinals and Semifinals automatically were selected to wrestle in the Arena for all rounds of the Individual Finals.
Spectator limits at Regionals and Finals will be determined locally following Michigan Department of Health and Human Services orders and will not exceed one per participant.
MHSAA Schools' National Participation Ranking Rises, Continues to Outpace Population
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 12, 2024
Michigan’s national ranking for participation in high school athletics improved during the 2023-24 school year, overall and also for girls and boys sports separately, and while continuing to outpace its national ranking for high school-aged population, according to the annual national participation study conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Michigan moved back into eighth for overall participation nationally, based on a total of 289,740 participants, after ranking ninth in 2022-23. The total counts students once for each sport played, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Michigan improved to seventh nationally for boys (169,533) and eighth for girls (120,207) participation separately, after ranking ninth for both the previous year and despite currently ranking 10th for both high school-aged boys and girls populations according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Michigan’s national rankings in eight sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments improved from 2022-23, with only four sports moving down on their respective lists from the previous year.
Notably, Michigan led the nation in participation in a sport for the first time in at least 14 years – boys bowling with 4,292 athletes – and also moved up to third nationally for girls bowling, girls golf and girls tennis participation. Boys golf (fourth), wrestling (seventh – girls and boys combined), girls competitive cheer (eighth) and boys lacrosse (nine) also moved up on their respective lists.
Keeping with annual trends, participation in several more MHSAA sports also continued to outpace the state’s rankings for high school-aged population.
For girls, participation in volleyball (fifth), cross country (sixth), basketball (seventh), softball (seventh), swimming & diving (eighth), track & field (eighth) and soccer (ninth) all ranked higher than their population listing of 10th nationally. Among boys sports, ice hockey (fourth), tennis (fifth), track & field (sixth), basketball (seventh), cross country (seventh), football (seventh – 11 and 8-player combined), baseball (eighth), swimming & diving (eighth) and soccer (ninth) exceeded the boys ranking of 10th for population.
Only 11 states sponsor alpine skiing, but Michigan again ranked third on both the girls and boys lists for that sport. For wrestling, boys participation moved down one spot to eighth but girls participation moved up one spot to seventh – and their totals combined ranked seventh nationally overall, also up one spot from 2022-23.
Participation nationally exceeded 8,000,000 participants for the first time, with a total of 8,062,302 an increase of 2.7 percent from 2022-23. The total includes 4,638,785 boys and 3,423,517 girls – both record highs – according to figures obtained from the 51 NFHS member state associations, which includes the District of Columbia.
Eleven-player football remained the most popular boys sport and registered an increase for the second consecutive year from 1,028,761 to 1,031,508 athletes. There also was an increase in 8-player football participation from 23,812 to 26,420.
Next on the boys list were outdoor track & field, basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling, cross country, tennis, golf, and swimming & diving, respectively.
For girls, outdoor track & field, volleyball and soccer all registered increases and remained the top three participatory sports. Track & field increased four percent to 506,015, followed by volleyball at 479,125 and soccer with 383,895 participants. Basketball ranked fourth, followed by softball, tennis, cross country, competitive spirit, swimming & diving and lacrosse, respectively.
Texas (859,301) and California (834,103) remained atop the list of state participation. New York (341,454) remained in third, followed by Pennsylvania (336,946), Ohio (323,117), Illinois (320,603), Florida (299,398), Michigan (289,740), New Jersey (280,798) and Minnesota (224,179).
The NFHS participation survey was started in 1971 and compiled in its current form through the 2018-19 school year, resuming annually with the 2021-22 survey.
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,800 high schools and 12 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than eight million in high school sports.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.