BCIAA tourney to be cancelled
The Berks County Individual Tournament appears to be a casualty of wrestling schedule changes necessitated by the three-week pause in the high school winter sports season.
BCIAA wrestling chairperson Frank Ferrandino said he and BCIAA executive director Kerry Ciatto are recommending the 2021 individual tournament be canceled. It originally was scheduled for Jan. 15 and Jan. 16.
The BCIAA board still has to vote on the recommendation, which is seen as a formality at this point.
“We’ve exhausted every option possible,” said Ferrandino, also the Wyomissing wrestling coach and athletic director. “There’s just no way we could get it all in.”
The three-week pause in high school athletics across the state announced by Gov. Tom Wolf is set to expire on Jan. 4. It was put into place on Dec. 12, the weekend wrestling and other winter scholastic sports were set to begin.
Since then, coaches and athletic directors have been working to rearrange schedules to get in all their league matches. The BCIAA Team Tournament, which originally was scheduled for Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, has been moved to Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 to give teams time to wrestle their required matches.
Three teams will compete in the quarterfinals and semifinals at one site, with the other three qualifiers meeting at another site. The highest-seeded remaining team will host the championship match.
Ferrandino said there also is a contingency plan to double up on league matches or eliminate nonleague competitions if Wolf extends the pause of high school sports.
“I feel comfortable that what we did will work,” Ferrandino said.
The flexibility to push back the BCIAA Team Tournament was made possible when the PIAA announced it will hold its trimmeddown team tournament for district champions only following the individual state tournament on March 12 and March 13. District team tournaments could be held March 16-20, with the state team tournament to take place the following week.
“We’re trying to provide a postseason for all the kids,” said Ferrandino, who also is a member of the District 3 wrestling steering committee.
The individual postseason tournaments also will look a lot different with a series of one-day events starting with Class 2A sectionals on Friday, Feb. 19 and the District 3 Class 2A tournament set for the following day. All tournaments will consist of eight-man brackets so each tournament can be held in one day.
Class 2A schools would then compete in the Southeast Regional Tournament on Feb. 27, followed by a Super Regional Tournament on March 6 and the PIAA Championships on Friday, March 12.
Class 3A would have four sectional tournaments on Saturday, Feb. 20, the District 3 Championships on Saturday, Feb. 27, the Super Regional on Saturday, March 6, and the state tournament on Saturday, March 13.
In Class 2A, districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 11 and 12 are in one super region.
In Class 3A, District 3 will be in a super region with districts 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.