Editor’s Note: Keith Spataro, the former wrestling coach and current athletic director at Menlo College, wrote the following proposal for wrestling to be competed in the first semester in response to the suggestion by the National Wrestling Coaches Association that collegiate wrestling begin in the second semester.

Out west they have it right. In 1982, the California Community College system changed the wrestling season of competition from winter to fall and has had great success doing so. Now, some 27 years later, action is being taken to make a similar move at the NCAA level.

            Discussions have identified the spring, fall, or possibly a hybrid of the two as the potential new season of competition. It appears that the wrestling community is leaning towards a spring solution, and I wonder why they are not looking at a proven model. There are several reasons the NCAA should look at the fall, identified here.

             Having competed and coached at the California Community College and the NCAA levels, I feel that I have a good feel for the options.

            A spring move would have a negative impact on our freestyle program and USA Wrestling. Of course USA Wrestling would adjust, but why? Our spring freestyle system is in line with the rest of the world and progressively prepares our athletes for the world and Olympic competitions in early fall.

            If the NCAA moves to a spring season, we would assure a reduced number of college athletes competing in the freestyle season. I recognize that USA Wrestling could move the competition season to the fall and accommodate a spring NCAA move, but why?

Our spring freestyle season is not the broken component here. It is the collegiate season. With the emerging strength of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), we are losing more and more competitors as it is, so why reduce that number by even more.

            A fall season would allow institutions to have a 15-week window of competition and then a non-traditional season of competition in the spring of four weeks. This model is very similar to other sports in the NCAA that are one semester (soccer, softball and baseball, for example).

            With wrestling, the non-traditional season of four weeks would lead up to the USA national events. The break between the two seasons would also assure that our wrestlers have solid competition both semesters during each academic year.

             If you look at the first semester, there are far fewer holidays to conflict with competition. Yes, there is Thanksgiving, but every wrestling season has that to deal with. Other than that, it makes for a pretty comfortable and competitive season. Imagine not having to deal with winter and spring break each year. I know the concerns of not having a preseason exist, but we would all be in the same position.

            All fall sports show up at least two weeks prior to school to start training, and competition usually begins in the first week of September. I know two weeks doesn’t sound like much opportunity, but remember that our best student-athletes are just a few weeks removed from Fargo and should have a foundation to build on.

            More importantly, as the culture changes, so will the sport. Student-athletes and coaches alike will be more prepared for preseason in August like all other fall sports.

             Finally, every college coach in the country will actually get to enjoy a recruiting season during the months of January and February. As it is now, and as it will be with a spring move, our coaches rarely get to watch good high school competition and almost never get to their respective high school state championships.

            Now more than ever, with the APR (Academic Performance Rating) the way it is and with the need to get good student-athletes, recruiting the right people is becoming the most critical part of the job. Being able to spend quality time watching, interviewing and following student athletes will assure quality recruiting. In turn, this will result in higher GPA, retention and graduation rates for all of us.

             The California Community College system is going on 27 years of successful programming and I think it is time the rest of the country follow suit. Without question, a one-semester sport is the answer and with a proven system in place why would we go any other way?

            A fall season allows us to fully entrench ourselves into the USA Wrestling schedule as part of a non-traditional season, deal with fewer holiday conflicts and spend quality time recruiting student-athletes.

            For these reasons, I support and promote a change to the fall. n