Monday Mailbag: April 15, 2019

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

This week’s Monday Mailbag includes questions about a new location for the State Girls Basketball Tournament, the State Wrestling Tournament, the NFL Draft and Dwayne Haskins and the Bengals.

Q: Any idea where the State Girls Basketball Tournament will wind up, and will it be a permanent move or a temporary one? Name withheld upon request

A: The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced last week that the girls tournament will leave the Jerome Schottenstein Center in 2020, and officials said a new site has not yet been chosen.

Your guess is as good as mine for a new location, but I can’t help but wonder if the Ervin J. Nutter Center at Wright State University could be the site in 2020. The reason I say that is because OHSAA uses the site for state volleyball and used to hold state wrestling there.

The Nutter Center seats 10,400, which would be more than adequate. Again, that’s the first place that comes to my mind.

As far as permanent or temporary, that’s hard to say. Short term or long term might be a more accurate question, and I don’t have an answer for that, and I’m not sure OHSAA does either.

Q: Is the move of the OHSAA State Wrestling Tournament a good idea? Name withheld upon request

A: At the same time OHSAA announced the girls tournament is leaving the Schottenstein Center, officials also announced the 2020 wrestling tournament will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, instead of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It’s been under discussion for some time.

As far as it being a good idea, it depends who you ask.

A press release from OHSAA said “Starting on Friday will mean less school and work time will be missed by those coming to the state tournament. This will also help with the state tournament staff and the Schottenstein Center’s staff working the event. In addition, the change will help avoid traffic and parking congestion on Thursday around the OSU campus, especially the nearby OSU medical center, which uses some of the Schottenstein Center parking lots and other nearby parking areas.”

I suppose those are some valid points.

For a coach’s take, I reached out to Van Wert head wrestling coach Ben Collins, who said “I understand the reasons that the OHSAA gave for moving it. Moving the finals up 30 minutes is not enough to keep the schools that travel two or more hours from Columbus from getting home late on a Sunday night. However, I am glad they left it in Columbus at the Schott, and it is still the three greatest days in all of high school sports, no matter the day of the week.”

Of course, there are detractors, with the main complaint centering around wrestling on a Sunday.

Q: Wasn’t this year’s NFL draft supposed to be held in Cleveland or Canton? Name withheld upon request

A: Cleveland-Canton was one of the finalists for this year’s NFL Draft, but Nashville was chosen as the site, with Cleveland-Canton tentatively scheduled to host it in 2020. However, the NFL decided next year’s draft will be held in Las Vegas, most likely to coincide with the debut of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Q: What are the chances of the Bengals taking Dwayne Haskins in the NFL draft? Name withheld upon request?

A: There’s always a chance.

Barring a trade, the Bengals will have the 11th pick and quarterback is probably an area the team will have to address in the near future.

From a PR standpoint, picking the Ohio State would probably be a hit with fans. However, it’s risky, because he played just one full season and the so-called experts seem to be all over the place on him. If you follow mock drafts, he’s going anywhere from No. 6 to somewhere in the 20s.

Next week’s feature will be “The Best of the Monday Mailbag.”