Dapper Dan Results -- 1991 through 1999

Here's a look back at the Dapper Dan, now Wrestling Classic, from 1991 through 1999. Many well-known wrestlers from throughout the nation in this event pitting Pennsylvania against the nation's best, with an under card of western PA (WPIAL) versus the best from another state.

How Expensive is an NCAA Division I Wrestling All-American?

With the recent demise of Boise State's wrestling program and discussions about budgets, we took a dive into the cost of operating a NCAA Division I wrestling program during 2015-2016.

For the sixty nine teams in the database, average annual expenses were roughly $886,000.   University of Iowa has the most expensive program and spent more than twice that of the 20th most expensive program at University of Virginia.

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Twenty Most Expensive Division I Programs
Source: US Dept. of Education

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Not surprisingly, these same programs did well at the NCAA Championships that year, capturing 57 (71%) of the All-American awards.  Four of the twenty most expensive programs didn't not have an All-American in 2016.

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Twenty Most Expensive Division I Programs -- All-American Awards
Source: NCAA

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From this data, it's easy to calculate a cost per All-American.  On average, the top 20 most expensive programs invested about $500,000 to generate an All-American during the 2015-16 season.

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Twenty Most Expensive Division I Programs -- Cost Per All-American
Source: US Dept of Education, NCAA

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As it turns out, many of the most expensive programs are also pretty efficient at making All-Americans.  Virginia Tech, tenth in total expenses, was the most efficient at $229,351 per All-American in 2015-16.

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Twenty Most Efficient Division I Programs -- Cost Per All-American
Source: US Dept of Education, NCAA

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What doe all these numbers mean? Wrestling is under siege -- witness Boise's demise -- and budget is part of the discussion.  Knowing your "numbers" and improving spending efficiency might be important in battles that are sure to come.

Dapper Dan Results -- 1975 through 1990

Here's a look back at the Dapper Dan, now Wrestling Classic, from 1975 though 1990.

Many well-known wrestlers from throughout the nation in this event pitting Pennsylvania against the nation's best, with an under card of western PA (WPIAL) versus the best from another state.

High School Wrestlers -- Fat % by Minimum Weight Class 2015-16 and 2014-2015

We looked at over 190,000 high school wrestlers in the 2015-2016 season and found an average fat percentage at certification of 16.6%.  By minimum weight class, the average fat percentage is:

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No big surprises here, just a good set of numbers to have handy.  We'll take another look next season.

Addendum (4/15/16)

We also went back and looked at 2014-2015.  Slightly smaller sample size, but otherwise very similar:

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Takedown Scoring and Stats is a mobile app for scoring wrestling matches, generating stats, managing team members and engaging wrestling fans via social media.  Download from the App Store.

Fun Facts: NCAA Division I Championship Finals

Congratulations to the NCAA for a wonderful championship in Madison Square Garden!  For all you college wrestling trivia fans, here are some fun facts about the Saturday night Division I finals:

• Total number of match points scored: 103
  • By winner: 65
• Match points by period:  
  • 1st: 24  
  • 2nd: 36  
  • 3rd: 41  
  • OT: 2
• Average margin of victory: 2.7 points
  • Excluding 149 pound match: 1.8 points
• Percentage of periods with no scoring: 9.7 % (3 of 31)
• Total number of
  • Takedowns: 26  
  • Near falls: 1
  • Reverses: 0
• Takedown + escapes, percentage of all match points: 87%
• First takedown winners: 7
• 3rd period comebacks: 1
• Points scored in the last 10 seconds of any period: 11
• # of matches won by red: 8
• Probability of red winning 8 of 10 matches with random color assignment: 4.4%

Stats provided by Takedown Scoring and Stats.

Did Sam Jones Return his Singlet and Warmups?

For those of you using Takedown's equipment tracking features (click here), we'll have an associated report for you in an upcoming release.  The report is a straightforward presentation of which wrestler has which piece of equipment, issue and return dates and associated notes.  There's also a summary so you'll know how many pieces of gear are still outstanding.  For programs interested in controlling costs and preserving precious funding for important stuff, like tournament fees, here's a report that you'll find handy:

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This is just an example.  Look for this report in the next Takedown release coming to an App Store near you soon.

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 2.1.1

With release 2.1.1, users can customize the Scoreboard to optionally include:

• Team logos

• Team score

• Wrestler name and record

• Opponent name

Here's what these options look like in operation:

Also, Takedown Scoring and Stats can automatically generate the end-of-period buzzer when the match clock winds down to zero.

Here's a Tutorial on configuring these options (includes the buzzer sound, so adjust your speaker volume accordingly):

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 2.1.1

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 2.1.1 is available for download from the App Store.  New features include:

• Team scores with logos and wrestler names added to Scoreboard
• Optional end-of-period buzzer.  Supports iPad speakers or an external speaker connected via the iPad headphone jack, HDMI, Airplay or Bluetooth.
• Event and match start notifications automatically sent to Takedown LIVE users
• Various bug fixes

This is a recommended download for all users.

Save Money, Impress your Fans with Scoreboard

Professional and Automatic Wrestling Scoreboard

Takedown Scoring and Stats can turn any digital display into an inexpensive, professional looking, wrestling-specific scoreboard.  Here's what it looks like in operation:

To learn how to setup a scoreboard, click here.

New Score Keeper? Get them trained before your first competition.

Student managers graduate, parents volunteers come and go.

If you have a new score keeper this year, it's important to train them on Takedown Scoring and Stats before the season starts.

Here are the recommended steps in order:

1. Paper. Provide your score keeper with last season's paper scorebook and ask them to score in Takedown a dual meet and a few tournament bouts.

2. Video. Score a few matches from video. Use your team’s video or search for matches on YouTube.

3. Live. Invite your score keeper to score your challenge matches, wrestle-offs or intra-squad scrimmage.

Scoring a wrestling match with Takedown is easier than scoring with paper and pencil. Even so, the workflow is different from manual methods and scorers should become familiar before live competition.

Give your scorers the pre-season training they need to be successful using Takedown to capture scoring (and video) for you and your team.