I'm not to familiar with either of these schools, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me which is a better wrestling program?

Are there any more directions left for Johnson County schools?

Olathe North was the original Olathe HS and has been around for many years. Olathe NW is beginning, I believe, their third year!

Better wrestling program? Maybe you need to define your criteria Curtis!

... and to Sportsfan02 ... it is a bit confusing ... about like Wichita!

Well, if you were going to send a kid to one of the schools, which would it be?

lol ... well it would depend on several factors ... if you want the kid to start right away, maybe NWest ... if you valued an established program that it may be tough to crack a starting lineup?

... but I'm assuming certain things about their programs that may not be true!

I think you need several responses from ON and ONW directly!

... that should confuse you even more!

LOL. Thanks for all the confusion, luckily there are nice people out there that clear things up...

hey before I started my senior year I was at oltathe NW for the tiger style wrestling camp. Its going on its 4th year. Its a really nice school and the coach is a really nice guy. He let me come in early in the morning and lift weights, then when the camp was over he let me come and role with some of his guys.

What about the academic programs offered at each school. Why not look for that first than wrestling. I think an education will take your kid further than wrestling.

I'm looking at all aspects of the schools, but this is a wrestling forum and I figured it'd be the best place for the question. All aspects are being considered, as I do know that as important as wrestling is to the world, it won't pay all your bills in life.

"Throwback"?

As a parent of a 9th grader that had the choice to attend either North or Northwest, we chose North for him. To be honest it was mainly for football, but there were other factors also.
Going through the kids program in Olathe for 5 years, the Olathe North coach was always around and showing interest in the younger kids. Not once in the last 4 years of Northwest's existance have we seen the coach from Northwest. But I did hear that there may be a new coach this year? I am not 100% on that, but I think someone told me that.
I believe Northwest has a good program they are building on, but North's program is established and has produced some great wrestlers like Josh Carroll, Adam Venegas, Calen Born...ect.
Coach Ulmer has a long tradition with North and it is in his heart.

I echo 'wrestlingparents' thoughts and observations. All schools in Olathe have some good wrestlers/coaches...and GREAT kids, families, teachers, staff, and programs.

Between N and NW, each school has complimented the other by offering kids a choice of curricula with two slightly differing targets (visit their websites). Garret wanted to go to North for the Football, Wrestling, Art, and Biology programs...as well as the traditions set by his brothers and others.

Specifically speaking to a kid's wrestling opportunity at North...

Coach TJ Ulmer is the second generation of great leadership, his father was the previous Coach Gary Ulmer (KS Hall of Famer). The seed fell close to the tree. His staff is also worthy.

Most importantly for a teenager, there are some potentially strong leaders in this group of kids...who will emphasize "team". Some are also quality upcomers who will help their team mates raise each other's game.

Though North has always been competetive, this year's team may catch a few people by surprise (unless I talk too much). Adam Almauger will be a returning senior, along with numerous other mentionable Juniors and Seniors (but of lesser noteriety), and some promising young wrestlers.

The tie-breaker for me: Any kid's Freshman year is tough enough, but Garret had an extremely difficult year 05-06, overwhelmed by too many personal obstacles. TJ was there for him. That alone was invaluable...and more than worth the price of admission!

Their are 2 other teams in olathe and as of late both pretty good. And i know south has used justin dyer for camps as well as Beltran and josh carroll 1 year and on breaks shows up at south. Good Luck

Northwest and North are both headed in a good direction on academics. North has almost everything that NW has to offer on that end. The building isn't as nice, but who cares if you have a pretty locker to call home. Demographic is quite different between the schools as well. I graduated from South and have had a lot of interaction with all of the coaches in the district. If you can't go to south and get coached by Mesa and have access to the 'kids' that come back on their breaks, then your next best bet for wrestling would be North. Although, Meyers is 110% dedicated to his team and is doing everything in his power to make them a powerhouse (clinics, kids club, camps, getting good assistants on board, etc...). I can't really say much negative for the NW program other than it is extremely young (which may or may not be a negative factor depending on the coach). NW also throws all of its weight behind all of their programs and they have a stellar group of parents to work with.

Choosing a school is a tough decision. Definitely visit any that you are considering; they all have their advantages and disadvantages...stay away from East (that's the OS grad in me speaking).