Schools scrambling to reschedule sporting events

The Mid-Columbia Conference athletic directors met for lunch Wednesday at LuLu in Richland for their monthly meeting. First and foremost on the list — after a round of pig candy — was trying to sort out the schedules for the rest of winter sports after inclement weather has postponed several days worth of events.

“Oh my gosh, somebody made Mother Nature angry,” Kamiakin AD Casey Gant said. “We are running out of dates. Playoffs are looming down the road, and we have to put a bunch of stuff in there before that. We met as a conference today, and it was literally sitting there wondering where we are going to move everything. You have to try and stay on track the rest of this week, because you don’t know what next week will bring.”

“This is a great group of people to work with,” Gant continued. “A lot of guys with a vast amount of experience. At this point, you have to get creative with your schedules.”

From Royal City to Walla Walla, more than 30 sporting events were canceled Monday through Wednesday this week, leaving schools scrambling to rearrange schedules.

Wrestling has been the hardest to reschedule, and several dates now have been rolled into double duals to get them all in. Kamiakin is scheduled to host Walla Walla on Thursday, weather permitting.

“Walla Walla’s guys got stuck in Boise until Monday,” Gant said. “Our guys were in Seattle until Sunday night. Our wrestlers are supposed to go to Post Falls this weekend for a tournament. On the flip side, they haven’t had any matches and you need to get some in. We are still planning to go if the weather holds. If not, we will need 15-pound weight allowances.”

Wa-Hi already has decided that its wrestlers will not go to Post Falls this weekend.

With snow falling all day Wednesday in Walla Walla, AD Dirk Hansen had to join his fellow ADs via conference call.

“We are getting hit hard right now,” Hansen said. “Yesterday it was the Tri-Cities, today it is Walla Walla. The roads were nasty and I couldn’t get there. As an athletic director, it is scary when you have teams scattered all over the Northwest and a storm hits. You want to get them home safely. We put them in precarious situations. These are people’s lives. I have been involved in athletics for 25 years, and this is one of the more trying winters with events. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature.”

Hansen said he didn’t waste his snow day. He took his sons pheasant hunting. They came home empty handed, but not for lack of trying.

“I had opportunities, but I’m a terrible shot,” Hansen said.

The Kamiakin wrestling team has gotten in one MCC dual this winter. Wrestling several matches a day isn’t a big deal, but wrestling several days in a row — with separate weigh-ins — is challenging.

“We have good plans in place, and we have some double duals coming up,” Gant said. “If the weather holds, we should be fine. We have six league matches to get in over three weeks. That’s when it starts to weigh down on you. The biggest thing is the number of weigh-ins: You make them weigh in three or four times a week, and that takes it toll. They just want to get in the gym. Wrestlers are tough kids. They are a very impressive breed of kid. They can manage their weights better than most.”

Braves wrestling coach Jordan Anderson said his guys were ready for Wednesday’s dual with Southridge, but that now has been move to next week.

“I don’t know if it has ever snowed this hard before,” said Anderson, who grew up in the Tri-Cities. “We haven’t practiced for a week now. They are tired of sitting inside. All they want to do is eat.”

The Hanford wrestlers have gotten four of their seven MCC duals out of the way, but they too haven’t been on the mat for several days.

“Our guys have gotten in some snow shoveling services, and some have pulled their brothers and sisters up the hill to go sledding,” Falcons coach Dom Duncan said. “It’s not an ideal wrestling workout, but it’s better than nothing.”

A couple of Hanford wrestlers suffered from cabin fever Monday. They donned their singlets and went out and made snow angels.

“They thought it was a good idea,” Duncan said. “I had no part of that.”

Basketball coaches don’t have to worry about their players making weight, but getting in all of the games is going to be tight.

“I’ve been doing this 28 years,” Richland boys coach Earl Streufert said. “It happens. You have to adjust and do the best you can. Practice is super important. This is where you get ready for the postseason. It is getting difficult to move games. We are just going to have to line them up and do what we can.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Schools scrambling to reschedule sporting events."