Clay Durham IV, 16, died in the accident which occurred just a few miles from his home. He was a tight end for the Panthers and was also a wrestler.

The Carlisle Sentinel has the story here.

I know Clay’s father a bit (I live in East Pennsboro Twp.). He is a tremendous wrestling fan who has commented on this site a few times. Needless to say, my heart is broken for the Durham family. Please keep them in your prayers.

I put up this post on Tuesday, linking to a story in the Marion (O.) Star about the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s look at conducting separate state championships for its public and private schools. The idea stemmed from a survey sent out statewide by school superintendents in Wayne County, Ohio.

I ran some numbers in that post that were, well, they were close, but they weren’t 100 percent accurate.

In short, I said that private schools have won 243 PIAA team championships since private schools joined the PIAA in 1972 (more accurately, PIAA was forced to accept private schools that year after the General Assembly changed the school code, barring PIAA from barring private schools). That number was incorrect; the correct number is 256.

I worked off of my PIAA all-time championships database on Tuesday and I did so in a hurry; I had a “date” with my ex-wife on the 8th floor of the Dauphin County Human Services building that turned out to be the most expensive “date” I’ve ever had with any woman. Anyone who has been to the 8th floor knows exactly what I mean.

The bottom line is I went through the database once, rapidly and did not double-check my work. Yep, made a few errors.

I went back through each sport and recalculated the numbers. As noted, private schools have won 256 PIAA team championships since joining PIAA (of all sports, I failed to add in the 13 football titles won by privates). I also said there have been 1,580 PIAA team championships all-time (I still believe that to be correct), but when I calculated the number of total team titles since 1972, I used a completely erroneous total of 951 that came from another calculation, and thus reported that private schools have won nearly 26 percent of the state team championships.

Um, no. Since 1972, the PIAA has crowned 1,399 team champions. Using these correct numbers, private schools have won 18.3 percent of the state titles since 1972. Private school membership has usually been around 15 percent of total PIAA membership, so the private school titles run at just a slightly higher percentage of representation.

I apologize for the error.

If someone wants to check my math – and please do – I have added the following pdf file: Public v Private

Unfortunately, my 100-mph error left readers with the impression that private schools have been over-represented in PIAA team titles by winning about a quarter of them when in fact their numbers are in line with their percentage of membership.

As you can see, the problem is child is basketball, specifically girls’ basketball. Private schools have won 51.9 percent of PIAA girls’ hoop titles, and that’s where the flame burns the hottest on the public-private issue.

But what’s just as important – maybe even more important – is to look at the percentages of the other sports. By and large, the publics completely overwhelm the privates. No private school has won a PIAA boys volleyball or dual meet wrestling title. Private school titles are rare in baseball, softball and field hockey.

While it’s not entirely accurate to say the public v. private dust-up is a basketball-only issue, there really isn’t any other PIAA sport that has percentages as out-of-balance as hoops. That’s the No. 2 reason why I have always argued against the concept of separate championships, although based on their dismal numbers in some sports, the privates just might think it’s a swell idea.

Anyhow, I needed to correct the research. Like I said, numbers and I don’t always get along. Just ask the folks on the 8th floor.

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It’s been a while since I’ve addressed it here. With fall sports having already begun in a couple of sports and ready to commence next week in others, I’ve decided to re-post it today. For some folks, this will be their first look at the system. For others, it will be a welcome review.

It’s important for fans, players and coaches to understand the new system, which goes to greater depth than any power rating District 3 – and possibly the state – has used.

The new District 3 power rating system with examples and tiebreakers is here: DISTRICT 3 POWER RATING

The power rating will be used to seed the brackets for District 3 championships in football, field hockey and boys soccer. The district will also use the power rating for regular-season game only to determine at-large bids for girls volleyball (the district will still use league qualifying in volleyball). It will run pilot programs for girls tennis and a pilot for girls volleyball using all games including tournament results.

If deemed successful, District 3 will continue to use it in the winter for boys and girls basketball and team wrestling.

Its potent strength of schedule component, which accounts for one-third of the total power rating – weighted wins and losses account for the other two-thirds – helps to encourage the scheduling of strong opponents regardless of classification, eliminating a roadblock (or an excuse) often used in refusing to schedule certain schools.

It has two drawbacks: It will be time-consuming to implement (District 3 will count the results of all contests, including non-PIAA schools, although it will not weight the latter) and the power rating number itself is an unwieldy seven-digit decimal.

But in the main, it appears to be a superior mathematical power rating system and certainly worthy of experimentation by District 3. Other districts have already said they will be watching the results of District 3′s experiment with the system in order to ascertain whether it merits use in their own districts.

Disclosure: District 3 has hired me, as well as two others, to facilitate the power rating system. I will do the field hockey power ratings because the District 3 brass, sneaks that they are, know that I have a daughter playing field hockey and I couldn’t refuse. (Truth: it made sense to divide the work this way).

Any questions, email me at rod@rodfrisco.com.

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Bishop Guilfoyle's girls' basketball teams have made several honorary trips to the state Capitol

As noted, only three states that have private schools as members of their state associations have separate championships. Other states have only public schools as members.

As it happens, Pennsylvania is ripe for a serious look at the matter, even though Catholic schools are shrinking in enrollment and numbers (Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, which each used to have numerous Catholic high schools, are each served by one now; several Philadelphia area Catholic schools have merged in the last three years).

The PIAA is currently in the process of reviewing its entire structure, from the public vs. private issue right down to how it qualifies schools for its championships. Never has the climate been better for actual change.

But the question here is: Should it change? Advocates of separate championships for public and private schools or at least a different system of classification for private schools are passionate about the issue. Proof is that the matter is revisited on an perennial basis.

Personally, I think this is Crybaby Central and always has been. The privates have an advantage available to them, but I can’t abide separate championships.

It is a fact that private schools have won a high proportion of basketball championships relative to their numbers, especially in Class AA and and Class A. The problem is especially acute in small-school girls basketball.

The privates show up pretty large in other sports as well, soccer chief among them. But by and large, private school dominance is a non-issue in a number of sports. There’s an enormous amount of data available on this issue, but we’re just going to focus on totals.

All-time, there have been 1,580 PIAA team championships in all sports (excluding gymnastics, which is absent complete results).

Of those 1,580 team titles, 243 – or 15 percent – have been won by private schools. That’s roughly the percentage of private schools that are PIAA members.

But private schools have only been PIAA members since 1972; PIAA has been conducting championships since 1920, starting with boys basketball and adding other sports over the years.

When the pre-1972 years are excluded, the percentage of private school championships jumps to about 26 percent, an over-representation, but one inflated by the basketball results.

Since this is a general, and not a scientific, exercise, I’m skipping past all of the necessary statistics and disclaimers and possibilities to get to a central point: Yes, privates do have an advantage because of their ability to draw from multiple public school districts and even nationwide (Milton Hershey comes to mind).

But so what? I get the advantage, but I can’t stand the whining. I wouldn’t argue against a reasonable remedy regarding classifications, but there is no way I would support separate championships. The great thing about the PIAA Championships is they are virtually all-inclusive since the addition of the Philadelphia Public League and Philadelphia Catholic League schools. In that sense, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, yes, there are some private school issues that merit serious discussion. But separate championships should not be a part of that discussion.

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Well, that passion is about to be rewarded. The complete history of the PIAA Wrestling Championships is now in print for the second time.

The title, surprisingly enough, is: The Complete History of the PIAA State Wrestling Championships: 1938-2010

The book is authored by former PIAA wrestling champion Norm Palovcsik (120 pounds, 1968, Clearfield) and Mike Smith, the owner of D&J Sportswear in Newport, two men who have worked tirelessly to promote amateur wrestling in Pennsylvania.

The cost of the book is $39.95 including shipping and handling. That might seem hefty, but it’s because the book is: There are 591 pages that include the result of every bout in the PIAA Championship, plus a narrative for each tournament that recalls some of the highlights and the details of the respective state meets.

The authors will update succeeding years for a nominal fee, so you only have to purchase the book once.

As a bonus, the authors provide a complete list of PIAA wrestling champions sorted by school.

The flyer, which includes payment and shipping information, can be downloaded here: HISTORY

You can order the book by writing to: PIAA Wrestling History, P.O. Box 774, Lock Haven, PA 17745. Inlcude a check for $39.95 to Norm Palovcsik – History. Include your complete mailing address.

You simply can’t beat this book as both a narrative and a historical resource.

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UPDATE NO. 1: Added Lebanon High’s 1940 PIAA boys basketball title and York Catholic’s boys’ hoops title. What omissions! Thanks to my pal Steve Navaroli of the York Daily Record for pointing out the YC absence.

UPDATE NO. 2: Ben Weirick fills in a blank, noting that Selinsgrove is the missing PIAA 1976 Class AA boys track team champion. We’ll confirm this with some research, but there’s no reason to doubt it based on the ’76 results.

The list isn’t complete, and it’s not perfect. Keep the additions/corrections coming. Thanks.

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Normally, re-posts are a really cheap way of looking like you’re doing something. But I’m going to re-post this file periodically because, well, I’m kind of proud of it. That, and I think you’ll find it interesting.

When you “retire” and you’re a certified high school sports geek like I am, you think things like: Who has the most all-time state champions in Pennsylvania? (Yep, that’s the kind of stuff that streaks through my mind.)

Worse, I actually took the time to figure it out and compile a database.

I finally got the thing completed and posted it in early July when everyone was at the beach. So, now that football is beginning to take hold and more folks are coming to the site, I’m re-posting it for those who might have missed it while they were tanning and shooing away gulls.

According to my research, North Allegheny has produced more combined state champions – team and individual – than any school in Pennsylvania with 130 PIAA championships. The Tigers have won 87 individual championships and a rather astounding 43 team championships.

That team number is just amazing. Consider that NA, which formed in 1959, has won team championships in 10 different sports: baseball, cross-country, football, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball and track. The only sports in which NA has not won a team title are basketball, field hockey, golf and lacrosse. Just give them another 50 years and the Tigers will be fine.

The original story, posted on July 10, is here. The 38-page database detailing every state championship won by every school (except for gymnastics) is here.

Find your school and see if you agree with the numbers. That way, you’ll be as big of a geek as I am.

Rod

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The PIAA released the Team Wrestling Brackets for 2010-2011. And someone loves their small districts.

In both the Class AAA and Class AA brackets, there are some interesting pairings involving District 9. See the brackets here.

In the 20-team Class AAA bracket, District 9 wrestles District 2 in the second round at Giant Center on Feb. 10. Why is that interesting?

Elk Lake (green) has managed to reach the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships out of District 2. But like most D-2 teams that make it to Hershey, the Warriors are winless. (Photo credit: www.timestribune.com).

So, someone with a, um, suspect track record with be guaranteed a spot in Friday’s quarterfinals.

In Class AA, where District 9 has had much more success (primarily in the consolation bracket), the 9-AA champion will catch either the District 1 or District 12 champion in the second round. District 1 and District 12 teams have never won a PIAA Team Championships match.

Contrast that to District 10′s draws. District 10 teams have won the last four of the last five PIAA Class AA titles (three by Reynolds and one by Fort LeBoeuf), but the 10-AA champion catches the 7-AA runner-up (usually a decent team like Shady Side Academy or Burrell) while the 10-AA runner-up hits the 3-AA champion, often a team capable of challenging for a top three spot. Note that Fort LeBoeuf was the 10-AA runner-up this past season.

Also in Class AA, the District 2 and District 5 champions square off in the second round. District 5 has had reasonable representation from Bedford and North Star, but has never advanced to a championship match. District 2′s AA history, at 7-18 with all but one victory coming in either the first round or the consolations, is nearly as dismal as its AAA history. West Scranton’s 36-31 win over North Star in 2005 is the only time a 2-AA team advanced to the state quarterfinals.

The pairings are not the result of smoky back-room shenanigan by the PIAA staff (no one on the staff smokes and I think there’s only one room that could be considered “back”), but basically the result of PIAA policy.

Note that where districts have multipile qualifiers in AAA, their lower places wrestle other lower places (with the exception of 7-AA third getting a first-round pass against the woeful City League rep) in Monday’s first round. The second-round matches then are basically paired by size of district with the larger districts facing the first-round survivors, which has been PIAA’s policy since they expanded the tournament beyond champions-only.

That leaves the remaining district champions to be paired against other champions or the runners-up from Districts 3 and 7. And PIAA policy again forces champions and runners-up from the same district to be on opposite sides of the bracket. Thus, you end up with, virtually by necessity, pairings that pit weak district vs. weak district.

Same in AA. That’s why the 10-AA runner-up is facing a larger district champion from D-3 rather than a smaller district like 1, 2, 5 or 9 despite District 10′s historical strength.

On the other hand, it appears the PIAA violated policy by pairing the 6-AA runner-up, which was nearly left out of the tournament when the Board botched the first vote on Team Wrestling in May, with the District 8 champion rather than the District 3 runner-up or the District 5 champion. Policy provides that, where possible, first-round matches should match teams from contiguous districts. But PIAA ignores this rule in basketball, too.

Trust me, 6-2 vs. 8-1 in the AA first round is the right matchup for the tournament (and especially for the 6-AA runner-up, which gets a much easier first-match draw than the 6-AA champion, which wrestles the 4-AA runner-up in its first match).

No doubt many people will find the brackets unfair, especially when it comes to their partisan concerns. But by and large, it’s not bad for an unseeded draw.

Well, until the actual results in February become apparent. Then the bitching will really begin.

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Here are the final approved qualifiers for wrestling for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years; they were adopted at the PIAA Board of Directors’ meeting in May.

Derry Area's Jimmy Gulibon (left, in blue) and Franklin Regional's Nico Megaludis (right, in white) are seeking their third PIAA titles this season. (Photo credits: Gulibon, www.pittsburghwrestlingclub.com; Megaludis, www.post-gazette.com)

Here are the reports for team and individual wrestling:

PIAA CLASS AA REGIONAL WRESTLING QUALIFIERS
PIAA CLASS AA STATE WRESTLING QUALIFIERS
PIAA CLASS AAA REGIONAL WRESTLING QUALIFIERS
PIAA CLASS AAA STATE WRESTLING QUALIFIERS
PIAA CLASS AA TEAM WRESTLING QUALIFIERS
PIAA CLASS AAA TEAM WRESTLING QUALIFIERS
PIAA CLASS AAA AND CLASS AA TEAM WRESTLING BRACKETS

Reminder: Brackets for individual PIAA wrestling are released the Sunday prior to the PIAA Wrestling Championships

PIAA POST-SEASON CALENDAR
PIAA Team Championships
First round: Monday, Feb. 7, sites TBA
Second round through PIAA Championships: Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 10-12 at Giant Center, Hershey

PIAA Individual Championships
Section sites (not all districts): Saturday, Feb. 19, various sites
District championships: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 25-26, various sites
PIAA Regional Tournaments: Friday-Saturday, March 4-5
(Not all regional sites have been determined; PIAA will release upon completion of all site agreements)
PIAA Championships: Thursday-Saturday, March 10-12 at Giant Center, Hershey

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As much as I like wrestling, I’ve never been a big Greco or freestyle guy, probably because I even worse at that than I was at folkstyle. But Fargo is as close to a true national championship as we have at that level and I have admiration for every kid who pounds his head against that particular wall.

Thankfully, my friend of 30+ years, Jim Butler of Clearfield, is there and e-mailed a report with the Greco results. Here it is in italics:

Rod, just wanted to let you know that two District 3 wrestlers were the only champions for the PA team at the 2010 Cadet Greco Roman Nationals which concluded Tuesday afternoon at the Fargodome in Fargo, ND.

23 mats were used to determine this years champions in the Cadet division (ages 15-16) and winning titles for PA were Patrick Coover (I think he’s from Carlisle) at 140 pounds and Brooks Black from Dover, PA (he attends Blair Academy and will be a soph there this fall) at 285 pounds.

They were the only PA champs this year and helped PA win the overall team title as well.

Several other notables from District 3 that earned AA honors were Kennard-Dale frosh to-be Chance Marsteller (4th at 145) and Laike Gardner of Biglerville (5th at 135). The Junior (ages 17-18) division Greco finals will be held Tuesday afternoon and PA is not faring very well; there are no unbeaten wrestlers remaining alive for an individual title.

Freestyle competition begins on Wednesday for the Cadets while the Junior Freestlye portion of the seven-day event starts on Thursday. Both PA freestyle teams are expected to do very well in that portion of the grueling event.

The link to the bracket results from TheMat.com is here.

Big thanks to Jim, obviously.

Also, here’s a post from PA USA Wrestling.

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The PIAA has posted classifications for all schools in all sports for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. You’ll recall this information was posted back in December when the new enrollment figures came out, but was taken down for several months while PIAA made sure all of the proper adjustments (co-operative sponsorships, upgrades, etc.) were completed.

They’re back up on a handy grid that can be easily accessed by clicking on our new PIAA Classifications page. One click there will give you the direct link to each school by sport and district as well as the parameters for each sport. Of course, the PIAA executive staff did all of the work; I just clicked a few buttons.

The classifications are official for the next two years. And they aren’t changing … unless someone comes up with some tearjerker that hits the PIAA Board of Directors right in the heart. But I hope not.