Rep Council Wrap-up: Fall 2012
December 7, 2012
A change in format for the Boys Basketball Finals highlighted actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Fall Meeting, Nov. 30 in East Lansing.
Mirroring closely the format of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals, the Boys Finals will move this season from three to two sessions. The first session will tip off with the Class D Final at 10 a.m., followed by the Class A championship game. The second session will begin tentatively at 4:30 p.m. with the Class C Final and conclude with the Class B title game.
Previously, the Class A and B Finals were separate sessions, with the Class A Final tipping at 4 p.m. and Class B at 8 p.m. The change will make for a shorter day for spectators wishing to attend all four games, and also allow them to do so by purchasing tickets for two sessions instead of three.
The Fall Meeting also saw the addition of two members to the 19-person council. Reese Public Schools athletic director Dave Derocher began a two-year term after being elected earlier this fall to represent Class C and D schools in the northern Lower Peninsula. Orlando Medina, who serves as athletic coordinator for Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, was appointed for a two-year term. He also previously served as athletic director at Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy. They fill positions formerly held by Beal City superintendent William Chilman IV and Romulus High School athletic director Mark Woodson, whose terms ended.
Also, Carmen Kennedy, principal at St. Clair Shores South Lake High School, was reappointed for a second two-year term. The Representative Council is the legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
The most prominent points discussed at the Fall Meeting were risk minimization for athletes and possible strategies for making school sports safer. Among topics discussed were raising expectations for coaches’ participation in online safety courses and schools’ management of heat illness; the possible restructuring of practice policies in regards to hot weather; and game rules revisions to enhance safety especially in football, soccer and ice hockey.
The Council reviewed its previous actions on those topics, including discussions in December 2011 that led to the inclusion of health and safety content in online rules meetings. Council members considered a model policy for managing heat and humidity, and also a number of ideas collected during Fall Update meetings with administrators throughout the state.
No action was requested on those items at the Fall Meeting. Complete and vetted proposals are likely to be considered when the Council next meets in March and then May.
PHOTO: Outgoing Representative Council members Mark Woodson of Romulus (left) and William Chilman IV (right) are presented plaques for their service by MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts (middle) during the Fall Meeting.
Addition of Girls Wrestling Team Championship Highlights Winter Sports Changes
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 5, 2024
With the first wrestling matches of the 2024-25 season taking place Wednesday, and the first girls and boys skiing and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving meets able to be scheduled for this weekend, teams will be competing in all 13 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Those sports are or will soon join competition already underway in girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls gymnastics, boys ice hockey, and Upper Peninsula girls and boys swimming & diving.
This season, for the first time, an MHSAA Finals team championship will be awarded in girls wrestling. After first introducing a girls championship bracket to the Individual Wrestling Finals for the 2021-22 season, the MHSAA will honor its first team champion based on those individual finishes. The format will be similar to how MHSAA team championships were awarded for boys wrestling prior to the creation of the dual format Team Finals with the 1987-88 season.
Also on the wrestling mat, a competition rule change alters the penalty for using a wrestler at an ineligible weight class – dependent on when the ineligible wrestler is discovered.
Beginning this season, the use of an ineligible wrestler – if discovered during the involved match – will result in six team points being awarded to the opponent, plus the head coach of the team with the ineligible wrestler will be assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulting in a one-point team score deduction. If the ineligible wrestler is discovered after the involved match, any points earned by the offending wrestler will be removed from the team score, along with the point for unsportsmanlike conduct, and six points will be added to the offended team’s total. In both instances, neither wrestler involved in the match in question may compete again in that dual. If the ineligible wrestler is discovered after the dual is completed, the teams have left the mat area and the scorebook has been signed by the official, the results and team score will stand.
A pair of wrestling playing rules changes also will be immediately noticeable. The number of match points awarded for a takedown was increased from two to three. Also, near-fall points will now be awarded based on the number of seconds during which the near-fall criteria are met – beginning with two points for two seconds, up to four points for four seconds.
Postseasons for basketball and bowling also will incorporate slight changes. In basketball, entire District brackets will be seeded for the first time, instead of the previous top two teams receiving seeds only. Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) data will still be used to seed those full brackets. In bowling, Regionals may now take place as early in the week as Wednesday and Thursday, as long as the Team and Singles competitions are competed on consecutive days. Previously, those were competed only on Fridays and Saturdays, respectively.
The 2024-25 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 15 and wraps up with the Girls Basketball Finals on March 22. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – Feb. 24, 26, 28
Regionals – March 4, 6
Quarterfinals – March 11
Semifinals – March 13-14
Finals – March 15
Girls Basketball
Districts – March 3, 5, 7
Regionals – March 10, 12
Quarterfinals – March 18
Semifinals – March 20-21
Finals – March 22
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 19-22
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1
Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 14-15
Regionals – Feb. 22
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 1
Finals – March 7-8
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 17-26
Quarterfinals – March 1
Semifinals – March 6-7
Finals – March 8
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 10-14
Finals – Feb. 24
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 15
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 6
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 14-15
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 5-6
Regionals – Feb. 12
Finals – Feb. 21-22
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 8
Boys Regionals – Feb. 15
Girls Regionals – Feb. 16
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1