What TSSAA wrestling championships will look like
There remains one question entering with what will be a significant new look to the TSSAA individual wrestling state championships held Wednesday-friday at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
Will the limited spectators be able to see the wrestling action?
"I don't know," said TSSAA assistant director Mark Reeves, who oversees wrestling and is a former high school wrestling coach. "We don't know how it's going to work. We've never had a wrestling tournament in a convention center.
"It's going to have to work. Because we don't have any other options."
There will be seating for about 1,000 people, Reeves said. Each state qualifier received two tickets for the event.
Those at the event will have temperature checks. They will be required to wear masks.
However, all seats will be at floor level and not elevated like previous years at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin.
The TSSAA was forced to move venues because the expo center is being used as a COVID-19 testing center.
Reeves said the TSSAA has faced "too many obstacles to count" in trying to pull off the event during the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest was simply finding a venue that would permit fans, albeit limited, to attend.
"We had no arenas that we could secure confidently to accommodate the number of coaches and competitors," Reeves said. "You are right at 500 before you bring in the first fan.”
The format of the three-day event also is drastically different. Previously, the state championships started with opening rounds on one day and culminated with state champions being crowned in the four classifications and divisions on the third day of the event.
That will not happen this year. The TSSAA will hold its Class A/AA on Wednesday, Division II and girls on Thursday and Class AAA on Friday.
The event was pushed back from a week ago after snow and ice blanketed Middle and West Tennessee.
The tournament will use eight mats, down from 12 previous years. There isn't a warm up area due to the limited space available.
Wrestling starts at 9 a.m. on Wednesday and Friday with the finals at 6 p.m. for Division I boys.
Competition begins at 10 a.m. Thursday with finals at 4:30 p.m.
With each tournament held over the course on one day, the TSSAA received permission from the NFHS to allow wrestlers to compete in six matches in a day if needed. Previously, wrestlers could only compete in five a day.