By Marty Gordon
Christiansburg High School wrestling coach Cliff Warden knows how to coach high school wrestling. After all, he has been at it for 26 years and has won state titles at two different programs in two different states.
He has coached teams to four state runners-up and five state championships in the past nine years. During that time, he has had 60 individual state title winners.
But this year, because of the COVID-19 restrictions, Warden admits to being uncertain about how he will coach in the upcoming season. This past weekend, he said there is still a lot of uncertainty up to the point as to whether there will even be a wrestling season.
“When things are changing, it’s extremely hard to plan for practice and competition,” the veteran coach said. “We have been forced into a dual-meet schedule that has been dictated. At many of those duals, there will not be full rosters and wrestlers will weigh in but will not get to compete.”
This is a change that Blue Demon wrestlers are not accustomed to. Over the past 10 years, most of their competition has come through weekend tournaments on a national scale.
Most of the larger tournaments have been cancelled, and if the restrictions in place now stand up, teams from Montgomery County high schools will not be allowed to travel out of state to compete.
Warden took over the Christiansburg High School program four years ago. In that first year, he led the Blue Demons to their 17th straight state championship. They have been the state runners-up for the past two seasons.
Practice officially gets underway next week for high school wrestlers, but when and if that happens, Warden knows he will be facing the possibility of more changes, including limited contact. For now, wrestling is listed on the high level of exposure scale because of the amount of contact. Now that will be limited.
“It is hard to wrestle with limited contact. We will see how this goes once we are allowed to practice,” Warden said.
Already, the Virginia High School League (VHSL) has made some adjustments to action on the mat. In competitive dual meets, the opening period will be shortened by a minute. The next two periods will last two minutes as in the past.
Warden is not sure how a five-minute as opposed to a six-minute match will prevent or protect his athletes from the coronavirus.
The VHSL has also said only one coach can be mat-side this season. Warden said this change should have a minimal effect because other coaches can be nearby. Some changes to practice in general will probably be made. The VHSL recommends splitting the team into pods of up to three or four, practicing throughout the day using other parts of the school other than a small wrestling room, sanitizing every 10 minutes and monitoring the room’s temperature.
“These requirements will obviously place more time and work on the coaching staff,” Warden said.
In most cases, participants at meets will be asked to social distance and sit in the bleachers. As in other sports, the post-match handshake will be eliminated. Also, the referee will not raise the winning wrestler’s hand. An eight-man bracket, z significant change, will be in place in the state tournament.
Warden said the CHS coaching staff will follow the required guidelines that the public school system and the VHSL put in place. He said his team of Blue Demons will be solid but losing four state finalists and two state champs will be hard to replace.
“It will make it interesting,” the head Blue Demon said about the upcoming season.
