A shortened schedule has prompted the WPIAL Wrestling Steering Committee to make significant changes to its section schedule for the 2008-09 season.

The PIAA has adopted a winter sports schedule that begins one week later, due in part to the extended length of the football season.

In response to the change, the PIAA cut two competition points from its schedule. That means schools will have only 22 points to schedule its dual meets and tournaments.

Each dual meet counts for one schedule point. Individual tournaments with up to eight teams count as two points. Individual tournaments with nine or more teams count as three points, as do one-day dual-meet tournaments. Two-day dual tournaments are four points.

The wrestling committee wanted to keep its current section alignment, but felt it would be a hardship on teams to schedule eight to 10 section matches in a six-week stretch. That's especially true because schools normally avoid scheduling section matches during the holiday period.

"We had to come up with a creative way to deal with the shortened season and cut in competition points," said Chartiers Valley athletic director Frank Vulcano Jr., a member of the WPIAL Wrestling Steering Committee. "There was no way we could schedule so many section matches with only five Wednesdays available."

The Wrestling Steering Committee's solution to this dilemma was to divide each section into two sub-sections, with either five or six teams in each.

"Each school must wrestle the schools in their sub-section," said Vulcano. "That means each school will wrestle only four or five section matches. Schools are not required to schedule teams from their other sub-section, but may choose to do so as a non-league match."

The section dual-meet schedule will conclude on Wed. Jan. 21 with a four-team playoff in each section to determine playoff seeding. The top two finishers from each sub-region will face off in a semifinal round at a site to be determined. A championship match and third-place consolation will also be wrestled that night, and neither round will count against the 22-point cutoff because it's designated as a qualifying round in the WPIAL team tournament.

"We're hoping the section playoffs will create some more interest," Vulcano said. "The winners of Sub-Section A will host the eight section playoffs this year, while the winners of Sub-Section B will have a chance to host next season."

The committee also decided to invite all four teams from each section playoff to the WPIAL team tournament, which will take place the following week. The prior setup had only the top three teams from each section qualifying. That means 20 teams will participate in the Class AAA tournament, while 12 qualify in Class AA.

"The committee came to me with three or four different ideas and had me poll some of the coaches to see which idea they liked the best," said Fox Chapel coach Ron Frank, who is also president of the WPIAL Wrestling Coaches Association. "The coaches I talked to felt this was the most imaginative idea. I was glad the committee wanted an opinion from the people in the trenches."

The Class AAA alignment has increased to 51 teams with the addition of Derry and South Allegheny. Derry returns to Class AAA after a six-year stint in Class AA. South Allegheny moved up due to its co-operative agreement with Serra Catholic.

Class AA will have 32 teams, including South Fayette. The Lions have resurrected their varsity program after a nine-year hiatus.

"Having nine section matches handcuffs your scheduling options," Canon-McMillan coach Chris Mary said. "I like this setup because of the flexibility it gives us. We have a chance to face some different teams in non-league matches and possibly add a tournament. And I especially like the four-team section playoff. Any team that qualifies, gets their two points back."

McGuffey coach Jeff Breese Sr. also likes the scheduling flexibility of the new setup.

"We used to wrestle Trinity every year, but that ended a few years ago due to scheduling limitations," Breese said. "I'm hoping to get them back on our schedule.

"I would also like to add a tournament, possibly a dual-meet tournament. I really like this setup because it keeps the sections together, but still gives us some scheduling flexibility."

Coaches across the state were concerned that the reduction in competition points would force teams to cut a regular-season tournament or multiple non-league dual meets. The reduced number of section matches allows teams to keep their current regular-season tournament schedule.

"With two fewer points, I was worried that we might have to pull out of a tournament," Fort Cherry coach Rick Chaussard said. "I was also concerned that it might affect our Fort Cherry Duals.

"I like the flexibility this setup gives us. We are currently entered in four tournaments. We might be able to pick up a fifth tournament with this setup."