10. The instrumental National Anthem.
9. Seeing a wrestler saying "I'm a state placer, I'm a state placer" after winning a match.
8. The way the Brawler's coaches conducted themselves.
7. Mrs. Grater shooing the adults off the mat when introducing the wrestlers during the parade.
6. Team of Hard Knox chanting "T-O-H-K" when they came into the arena during opening ceremonies and hearing them chant "T-O-H-K" when the mats were being rolled up.
5. Randy Hinderliter's shirt
4. Letting us know early when the Saturday matches would end.
3. Starting the finals early.
2. Keeping us posted on the High School Nationals.

and the number one thing I liked at State:

1. No dance team performing before the finals.

Great job!!!

I will add a few things of my own to this list some are good and others are sarcastic.

1. Watching the security officials try and keep the wrestlers from going on the floor until 4 matches before when most of them just lied and said they were up.

2. seeing how many different ways people sneak food and drinks into the Expo (in their shoes, singlets, babies’ dippers, yes I saw this happen)

3. *********Deleted due to objections from a certain persons mother becuase she thinks its okay to be unsportsmanlike when you lose *******

4. Watching Jacob Marrs throw a fit after watching his brother lose in the finals to Elijah Madison.

5. Pretty much watching all the wrestlers throw fits after they lost

6. Seeing a kid doing "the worm" during the finals introductions.

7. Seeing half the kids sucking wind after running in for the introductions.

8. Watching Billy Gaskill officiate, because he is the most animated official I've seen and he is fun to watch.

9. Having the announcer have to tell just about every age and weight class to bring their bout sheets to the head table, come and get pictures taken, and so on and so forth.

10. Watching 16U 125lbs which I believe was the toughest division in the entire state tournament.

11. Knowing that there were very few injuries this year.

12. And last but not least, knowing that as a coach I could always go to the hospitality room and get all of the nasty popcorn and muffins I want, or pay $3 for 1 slice of pizza!

Overall I loved the tournament and I can't wait to go back next year, my list is just a few things I experienced throughout the weekend and it’s not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings if they were mentioned.

I'll admit, Bryne Donaldson from Ark City sounded superb at the state tournament. When he finished performing, I called my wife on my cell and ;told her point blank, "you just missed one of the best renditions of the National Anthem that I've ever heard."

By the way, I noticed you don't have the Governor on the list. She was the first governor that the tournament ever had at opening cerimonies. Granted, she talked about the round ball, but at least she had the presence of mind to be there. None of the other governors have, and they have lived literally 15 minutes away. I should know, Cedar Crest is two miles from my house.

coach gibson

My vote is for Randy Hinderliter's wardrobe!!!!!!!
:p

COACH NISOM
if you did not intent to hurt anyone than why single out individuals in 3 and 4, yet post a 5
including all wrestlers who lost.
both wrestlers in both the matches that you are talking about are good, and a shame that one had to lose.
but you call yourself a coach, someone kids look up to, by singling out and than not listing all
that were frustated, regardless of who they displayed it.
i thought the tournament was great, and i don't blame people for sneaking in food, or drinks. there was not much varity as far as i was concerned.

Nigel-
I'm sorry we're not all perfect like you
I'm sorry I showed some emotion when my brother lost a close match in his first state finals appearence
I'm sorry that you are out of high school because if were still wrestling, and I met you, I'd destroy you

Marrs

I was angery when Kale Newell beet Nick Swager. He knows how to do a back hand spring. I thought the coolist performence was the WORMdude.

This is the post to put things you liked about State. To see the one about things you disliked at State go to http://WWW.Nigelhastoomanyopinions.com

I'm with you candy man, I would like a piece of him to.

Oh Jacob don't kid yourself, you wouldn't have had a chance of beating me when I was in high school and defiantly not now, Of course if you really want to find that out im sure we can meet up at a tournament this summer, that is if you know how to wrestle freestyle. Second this wasn't the first time you've been upset after your brother lost, I saw it at District too. I just think its funny that’s all cause I was sitting there watching you and I looked over at another coach and said "Watch what this guy does in about 30 seconds". And sure enough there you went. You should have seen the look on his face when he asked me how I knew that was going to happen. I myself get very angry when 1 of my kids loses a match but I have to keep it under control. wrfan, as far as singling out people they were just a few of the events that I witnessed and they came to mind when writing the post. Its not like I was making fun of them, I was mentioning special cases that stuck out. With 1500 kids wrestling and only 105 of them becoming Champions you can imagine that all of the other 1395 kids were disappointed when they lost but that doesn't mean they threw a fit. Let me ask you this question? Did anyone see an Abilene kid throw a leg band?, a headgear?, not shake the officials hand?, shake the opponents hand?, shake the opponents coaches hand?, Cry on the mat?, Hit the mat? Stomp off the mat? Now is all of this because of me? No it’s all of the coaches in the Abilene club, it’s the way the kids are taught, emotion is fine but negative emotion should not be displayed in front of others. The best example I could give is Tanner Dawson 16&U 125 lbs. He placed second last year and had hopes of winning it this year. However he was beat twice in the tournament both times by a point or too and both times the official missed a call that would have won him the match, but at no time after losing those matches did he do any of the aforementioned actions. I never said im perfect, I never said I was a good coach, or a role model for that matter, what I do is make wrestlers good, and I make sure that they are sportsmanlike at all times. The sad part about some of the events that happened last weekend is that some of those kids would never get that upset if their parents wouldn't push them so hard. Some parents have a bad habit of not letting their son/daughter live down their defeats. I know I personally saw at least 5 separate occasions where a parent was literally screaming at their kid when they lost. And most of the time it is these parents that object to any names being mentioned because they don’t want to have to exonerate their kids for their behavior, which they couldn't anyway. And amazingly there was a club at the state tournament which has been notorious for bad sportsmanship in the past, and they were absolutely flawless this weekend I was very very impressed. Anyway bottom line, these are my opinions and this is a forum and im speaking my mind.

OU812 please tell me who you are and maybe I'll give ya a chance to have a piece of me. Im not really into wrestling people without names.

You know it is pretty sad to hear all of you guys arguing over situations with kids. Obviously you guys forgot what it was like to be on the mat and lose a match. how do you think these kids feel. It was my sons first time ti state and you know i was **** proud of him for making it there. Even though he won 2 and lost 2. That is a big accomplishment I think. There was quite a few coaches and parents screaming and yelling at their kids after the match was over. That's nonsense. No wonder there is more kids not wanting to participate in sports anymore.

I'm not kidding myself, and as for the rest of what you posted it's not even worth wasting my energy to write anything else.

I wish there was more positive motovation towards the wrestlers from the parents an coaches it is sad to see them come down so hard on a kid when he loses. Everyone loses they should tell them the good thing they did instead of the bad an yellin at them. Tell your son that i congradulate him on his 2 wins at state. later

Cody Bell

On a different note. We have been to tournaments all over the state and had really good hospitality rooms for coaches. We as coaches pay $30.00 for our coaches cards and another $60.00 for our Bronze cards. Thats $90.00 per coach and there were probably 1000 coaches there. Thats $90,000.00 . You would think for that much money that our state govering body could at least spring for some pizza or at least a pot of chili for all of those hard working coaches!!

I agree with you guys on the coaches. We saw one coach/dad from Wichita just about rip the wrestler's head off when he took 2nd. It was very upsetting to us in the stands, I can not imagine what that poor boy was feeling.
This is where I want to say a big THANK YOU to all the Olathe North coaches. They are some of the most positive coaches I have seen out there. Even in a loss, they do tell the wrestler what they did wrong, but then hug them and let them know it is alright.
I feel like this was a good tournament, but long. Thanks to everyone who put in their time and effort to make this a memorable tournament for eveyone.

i dont know if this was already said, but ill tell u what i hated. how the governor i belive, spoke about the hardwork and determination and what not of nick collison from KU, Basketball. whats with that???

i hear ya marrs

Not only were the coach's not fed but afternoon tableworkers weren't either. By the time we got to the floor on both days all the muffins, or whatever were on those trays were gone, we got a box of popcorn on Saturday, ice water and unsweetened tea. On Sunday we got water or tea - not even our box of popcorn. When I made it to the head table late Saturday I noticed basketfuls of candy. I took some for our table.

Will the ExpoCenter not allow Kansas Wrestling to bring in food for hospitality?

No, by contract USAWKS is not allowed to bring in many types of food. I think were lucky just to get what we do.

Chewbaca, you know what I have to say to you, nothing cuase its not worth my time