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Times Leader P.M. Update: Wednesday, March 3

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The PIAA announced Wednesday that more spectators will be allowed at the basketball and individual wrestling state championships after Gov. Tom Wolf increased the allowable indoor capacity to 15% during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While that will give a big boost to basketball, it won’t do the same for wrestling. Instead, each wrestler qualifying for the state tournament will be given six tickets instead of two.

Also, three of the four sites for Saturday’s super regional tournaments will increase the number of tickets for each wrestler from two to four. This will help Wyoming Valley Conference wrestlers competing in the East Class 2A super regional at Martz Hall in Pottsville. However, the spectator ban remains at Quakertown High School where WVC wrestlers will be in the East Class 3A super regional.

PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said there will be no general public tickets available for state wrestling, which is scheduled for March 12 and 13 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Any tickets not used by the wrestlers will be sold by their schools.

Lombardi explained there is not enough space at the Giant Center to accommodate the general public after all the essential personnel needed by the arena and the PIAA, wrestlers, coaches, media and the wrestlers’ allotment of tickets are factored in. He said the arena capacity under the revised state guidelines would be 1,575. That number includes everyone inside the facility.

“To be honest, six is better than two,” Lombardi said. “We’ll take whatever we can.”

As for state basketball March 25-27 at the Giant Center, Lombardi said each school will be between 600-700 tickets. Teams will still be held to a 25-person limit which includes coaches, players, trainers, managers, school personnel and cheerleaders. Any additions to that 25 would cut the school’s ticket allotment.

Prior to Wolf’s announcement, the PIAA was looking at about 500 people total in the arena for basketball.

PIAA officials did a site visit to the Giant Center on Monday to get an idea of how both championships would be run under the capacity limitations.

“We learned we have a lot of challenges because there have been some things put in place with the Giant Center as part of the AHL that really changed the dynamic of things,” Lombardi said. “So there’s a lot of logistics, traffic flow, entry. As you know, we’re separating in wrestling the 13 weight class, so you have some logic issues we’re working through.”

Lombardi said the top team on the state basketball brackets will host the game unless its gym isn’t big enough to have a suitable number of spectators. In that case, the game will be moved to a bigger gym inside that school’s PIAA district.

The PIAA Board also addressed some recommendations presented by steering committees for spring sports, which can begin official practices on Monday.

• Lombardi said the PIAA has been in contact with host sites for the spring championships, but no decisions have been made on whether to change those sites. He also said a decision whether to limit the spring state championships to district champions only, like the PIAA did in the fall and winter, won’t be made until April.

• Baseball: The baseball steering committee had a discussion about permitting umpires to call the game from behind the pitcher as opposed to behind home plate because of COVID-19 concerns. The rules, according to board member Mark Byers, allow an umpire to stand behind the pitcher if he is the lone umpire. If two or more umpires are used, the game must be called from behind the plate.

Byers said sports medicine advisor committee said placing an umpire behind the pitcher was “accommodating a non-qualifiable risk” and recommended the umpire call the game from behind the plate if there is more than one umpire.

Also, if teams want to provide balls for each half-inning, it should be communicated before the game. The sports medicine advisor committee didn’t think it was necessary. No face mask is required if 6-foot social distancing is maintained.

• Softball: Pitchers are prohibited from wearing an optic yellow face covering, which is the same color as the ball. Dugouts and bench areas can be extended down the foul line to create more social distancing. As in baseball, no face mask is required when players are at least 6 feet apart.

Also, pitchers will be encouraged not to blow on their hands or lick their fingers.

• Track: Runners on relay teams will be allowed to use disposable gloves. However, they can’t be like football receiver gloves where it would give a runner an advantage.

Participants in jumping events will be permitted to take all their attempts consecutively, although they are not required to do so.

• Boys Lacrosse: Players won’t be required to wear masks while on the field.

Lombardi said the reason is because like in football where masks weren’t required on the field lacrosse players wear helmets with face masks and mouth pieces.

• Boys volleyball: The sport will have a minor change from girls volleyball in the fall when a 25-person indoor limit was in place. Boys matches will require line judges.

PIAA will increase spectators for state basketball, wrestling championships