We have an update this week on a story we first brought to you at the beginning of April regarding a proposal by the NJSIAA to create separate districts and one region for non-public wrestlers.
There was an executive committee meeting held by the NJSIAA on Wednesday, which voted in favor of moving forward with the proposal by a 22-10 vote with two abstentions.
A second reading of the proposal will take place in June, at which time the executive committee will vote again. If the proposal is favorably voted on, it will then head to a vote by the general membership in December that will decide its ultimate fate.
Should the proposal pass, there would be four districts created for non-public schools and one region that would take effect for the 2016-2017 season.
With this change, public schools would then be split into 32 districts and eight regions.
When the wrestlers get to Tournament of Champions or State Wrestling Championships, wrestlers from public and non-public schools would compete against each other again.
Public school wrestlers who finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the regional tournaments would advance to the State Tournament. The non-public region would see the top four wrestlers advance.
We spoke with Cinnaminson head wrestling coach Mike Beirao about the vote, who said, “It’s going to pass. It is interesting to hear the things going on up North, but there will be negative effects in this area.”
Beirao also talked about some non-public schools up North having wrestlers on their teams from New York State because they have the ability to recruit players.
“It’s at the point now where, in all honesty, at some point it’s not fair anymore. In my belief, if Cinnaminson was a choice school and could recruit kids, from our academics to the programs this school has to offer, we would be the best in every sport. Now we have new facilities being built. Everybody would want to come here. There would be no stopping us in every sport.”
Beirao continued, “Bergen Catholic for example, brings in kids from New York state to compete for a New Jersey title, how is that remotely fair? It gets to the point where it is over the top.”
As he noted the first time we spoke about the proposal, Beirao is worried about some programs in the area that might not be able to survive such changes.
“I am somewhat concerned about the long-term and some of the smaller Catholic school teams being able to survive after this happens.”
With 292 public schools and 38 Catholic schools with wrestling programs in the state, Beirao does not see how the proposal would be defeated if it makes it to a vote by the general membership.
We will keep you updated as the proposal is set for a second reading by the NJSIAA executive committee in June.
