In the classic 1986 film Hoosiers, a small-town Indiana basketball team competes for the state championship in their basketball-crazed state. The story is based on a true story that took place in 1954. For many years, the Indiana basketball state championship has been one of the most meaningful scholastic titles, both because of the region's fervor and passion for the sport, and because it is a unified state championship, one that schools can compete for regardless of their size or location. Hoosiers is a perfect illustration of how the unified state championship concept can energize a sports following.

So the question posed here is why Massachusetts doesn't award a unified state championship award at the All-State tournament? The concern should not numerical equality. While a number of historically dominant powers (e.g. Lowell and Chelmsford) are large Division I schools, many of the contenders over the past ten years for a unified state championship would have been Division II or III schools. Ask most wrestlers whether an All-State title would diminish a state title and they would say no. Ask them whether it would it would be good for the sport, and I would believe they would say yes.

The last few years, Division I dominance has returned. Lowell's young guns look like they will provide the firepower to top the All-State standings for the next few seasons, as they did last year. In 2001, Chelmsford, led by Brian Viglione was the top scoring team. The top five teams were all Division I, and seven of the top eight. But sixth place Woburn was essentially only one wrestler in finals from taking the cake.

1998 is the finest case for a competitive unified dual or tournament championship. That season, I wrestled for a Weston team that was largely regarded as a the top dual meet (beating #2 Hingham and #3 Wayland) and tournament team (winning sectionals, states and the highest scoring team at All-States). Division III Foxboro was third that season. The second place team at All-States was Lowell. The story here should have been Dave Baldanza. He should have been carried off the mat with Alex Botchan, Weston's 140 pound state champion, and the tournament's outstanding wrestler. He coached a team with an enrollment of 183 boys that season to the spiritual equivalent of a unified state championship. Second-place Lowell had an enrollment of 1198 boys that year. However, because the state does not award an All-State team trophy, the story went largely unnoticed by fans and the media. Baldanza didn't even win Coach of the Year honors for Division III from the local papers.

An All-State title could be one more goal a team like Foxboro that has done it all could shoot for. It could push them to get better. Just imagine the additional drama that could take place in the finals, the storylines and the excitement in a tournament that history has shown would be close in scoring. In 2001, Weymouth was only a single match win from topping Chelmsford.

In closing, I think it would be wonderful to see the MIAA have the imagination to award this title. Of course, it would be even more ideal if a state champion came out of a dual meet tournament, but that's a topic for another day. Until then, it will remain my belief that a unified team trophy would be positive for promoting the sport of wrestling in this state.