Richland duals changing to individual tournament

The Richland Coaches Duals are no more.
The event, which was the biggest in Pennsylvania just a few years ago, is the victim of the rules change that targeted dual-meet tournaments.
Instead, Richland will switch to an individual, bracket-style tournament next season. Rams coach Mike Naglic sent out info to coaches tonight on the event, which will be held Jan. 17-18, 2014, at Richland High School. He is hoping to attract 32 teams for the tournament, which will be wrestled on five mats.
Naglic sent the info to dozens of coaches and media types in order to get the word out about the change. He said to feel free to share the info with any other coaches who might be interested. Those looking to get more details on the event can email him at nag33172@yahoo.com.
What kind of field the new-look tournament can attract in its first season?
The facilities at Richland are fantastic and the duals have always been well-run, but the move from a dual-meet event to an individual tournament is about a lot more than just a format change.
At least in our area, the two tend to attract different types of teams. Weaker teams or those with some holes in their lineup have tended to favor the dual-meet events. There are some exceptions -- Chestnut Ridge has been a regular in dual-meet tournaments -- but that has always been the knock on the Richland Duals and similar events.
There's a reason for this, of course. The dual-meet format is great for a school with a number of inexperienced or less-skilled wrestlers. They're guaranteed to wrestle five matches (assuming they don't get forfeits), no matter how they do. The same isn't true for an individual tournament. That same wrestler may very well go two-and-out in a bracket-style event.
Meanwhile, teams with some top individuals like to see how they stack up against others as opposed to dual meets, where they're more likely to get a forfeit or a backup than see another stud.
Last year's field - Blairsville, Cambria Heights, Central Cambria, Greater Johnstown, Kittanning, Moshannon Valley, Somerset, Tyrone, United and Richland - would be a decent starting point for the individual tournament. Who wouldn't want to see Jason Nolf and Drew Doak in action? But there would also need to be some better top-to-bottom teams in the event to make it noteworthy.
You'd certainly expect to add some of those when bringing in 22 more teams.
The bigger issue might be geographical. Getting local teams to commit could be difficult, given the number of times area wrestlers already face off. Also, the Thomas Tournament will likely be two weeks later, so teams that are in it won't want to see a similar field in Richland.
When I spoke with Naglic earlier this year, he told me his dream was to turn it into a one of the top tournaments in the state. To do that, it likely will need to attract teams from the WPIAL and possibly invite a number of AAA squads.
Richland has plenty of things going for it to lure teams from farther away. Whether or not it's enough to draw schools from long distances in an era where shrinking budgets limit overnight trips remains to be seen.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next year.