Any examples that you care to defend?

Having been involved in 4A, 5A, and 6A both as a competitor and a coach I can honestly say all 6 placers in all classes are studs but 4A is tougher to qualify to state.

Why not just have two 16 team regionals for 5A and 6A and only an eight man bracket at state? 4A only qualifies 25% of their wrestlers for state so why should 5A and 6A qualify 50% for state? Then they should only place the top 4 which would be 12.5% just like 4A. I agree that the top 2-4 in 5A and 6A are usually better than the top 2-4 in 4A and especially 321A but the remainder of placers in 5A and 6A are suspect. Our state needs to be working on a single site venue. This means that we might have to reduce the size of our brackets. We are one of only three states that doesn't use a single site format for our state championships. Therefore we are in the top 3 states not attended by college wrestling coaches.

Will, the theory is that the bigger schools represent far more students than the smaller schools. If you compare student body size, the disparity is sometimes 10 to 1 or greater, meaning that it might take 10 1A schools to comprise one 6A school statistically. I don't really agree with this, but that is why the KSHSAA does it that way.

Will, the idea of having a sigle site for college recruiting is not a worthy arguement. I dont ever remember Jack Spates, Bobby Douglas or even John Smith at a Kansas State Tournament. Yet there are still Kansas kids in those programs. Recruiting takes place @ Fargo, Senior nationals and through coaching contacts. Even if they were in one site, JUCO's cant attend because it is the same weekend as their national tournamnet. I wont disagree that it may make for a more exciting venue although I dont personally agree due to watching a 123A state tournament. It may be more cost efficient but I have never ran the numbers. The best reason for consolidation is it may be best for kids for the HS experience. If a college wants a Kansas athlete they dont have to see them at the state tournament to recruit them.

Where is Wellsville anyway?

Wellsville is approximately 15 miles NE of Ottawa and just off I-35.

The head coaches are not the coaches that normally attend the state tournaments to recruit. You are correct, you can get recruited by doing well at Fargo, Sr. Nationals, etc. but wouldn't it be nice if our tournament permitted our kids to get recruited there? Recruiting is a tangent to the other reasons you have mentioned. To me it should be about the fans. We are being deprived of the experience offered by our neighboring states and the majority of others.

I keep hearing that 321A is steadfastly opposed to merging. Not sure why.

Tom,
I would bet the average number of wrestlers out for the sport is the same or greater in 4A than it is in 5A and 6A. I guess KSHSAA is oblivious to the fact the larger schools offer lots of other extracurricular options that smaller schools cannot offer. Not to mention how many kids in metro areas elect to work instead of play.

Just watched Omaha Burke at Gardner invite.

Nebraska has four classes
Class A top 32 largest schools
Class B Next 48
Class C Next 64
Class D last 72

If we followed this plan 6A stays the same. We combine 5A with the top of 4A The bottom size 4A would mix with top of 321 the smallest schools would make the last class.

Then we storm the field house at KU and have our state tournament at one place with all classes represented.

just some thoughts.

Someone's going to have to build a facitlity large enough to hold the entire state, before you can even begin asking to have all 6 classes in one house!

The facility just does not exist!
FHSU couldn't hold it.
Salina couldn't hold it.
Bramblidge couldn't hold it.
Allen FH couldn't hold it.
The Expo might be able to (but you'd have to move the date seeing how the Shriner's have it locked up for their circus), but I still don't know how you'd get 16 mats down (4 for each class A level.
The KS collisium might be able hold it (but we all know how cruddy their customer service was), could possibly get 16 mats down, but it would require dismantling the hockey rink.
And the "Downtown arena" that's being build in Wichita, sure isn't going to be able to hold it.

So all this talk of having all of Kansas in one venue for state wrestling needed to be halted, until someone gets the dough and builds a facility that would hold the 16 mats comfortably, the 56 16-man brackets that would bring 896 wrestlers and all their coaches, families, friends, cheerleaders and school personel into its frame!!!

Shane,

We don't need to have four different state tournaments but even if we stay with the present weak configuration, then you can fit all four in one house if you do 8 man brackets for 5A and 6A and 16 for 321A and 4A. You split your sessions and then wrestle the finals all together so you really don't have everyone in the building at the same time. They do this in Missouri. It might mean that we wrestle on Thursday but that is no big deal. Think outside the box and you can come up with many solutions instead of just saying "halt the talk". that is the easy way out.

You guys are missing the point and ignoring the other state formats. You do all classes in one location, from 8 in the morning until whenever at night, running 2 or 3 sessions per day, and it takes 3 or 4 days to finish. You could conceivably do this in Topeka or Wichita but probably should divide into 2 separate sites. The point is moot, however, since we are never going to do it anyway.

Tom Williams

Does making weight for 3 or 4 days outweigh the benefits of having a tournament in one location? In my opinion, no I don't think so. I loved state in Wichita for the wrestling but it was a terrible arena to hold it in and did not suit the needs of the participants, coaches, parents and fans. If you build it Cokeley, they will come!

All classes could be held at one sit Colorado does it. You would need to have a place that could hold 8 mats.
Start on Thursday
2:00 321A and 4A first round four mats each class.
6:30 5A and 6A First round four mats each class.
Friday
9:00 321A and 4A second round 4 mats
11:00 321A and 4A first round consolation
1:00 5A and 6A second round 4 mats each class
3:00 5A and 6A first round consolation
5:00 321A and 4A second round consolation
7:00 All Class semifinals 2 mats per class
9:00 5A and 6A second round consolation
Saturday
321A and 4A
9:00 Consolation Quarter finals
10:00 Consolation Semifinals
11:00 Fifth place matches
12:00 3rd place matches
5A and 6A
1:00 Consolation Quarter finals
2:00 Consolation Semifinals
3:00 Fifth place matches
4:00 3rd Place matches

All Classes 4-mats
6:30 Finals one mat per class

Just a rough idea some little kinks need to be worked out but it could be done. I don't think it will change I have heard Bowden say he will never go to a three day state tournament because of taking kids out of the classroom an extra day.

Wrestling isn't dieing, administrators like Bowden are killing it! If kids from Colorado and Missouri can miss two days of school why can't kids from Kansas? If all of us who read this forum, who seemingly would be passionate wrestling fans, don't ban together and come up with some ideas to increase popularity and participation then they will succeed in killing off our sport. So, that being said, the majority of wrestling fans and parents agree that a single site state tournament would be more popular and draw more attention for our sport, agreed?

I agree with many of the posts before, I have been to State Tournaments at Salina and Wichita. To me I liked the overall feel of Wichita but it didn't have the best service. I think a question could come up that as big as Kansas Wrestling is, and it is big, why not have it in Kansas City at the Sprint Center, maybe were not that big, but you could definitely hold everything.

There are 2 or 3 facilities in Kansas City, Missouri that could hold all classes together, but that is the problem. I can't see Kansas ever holding a tournament in MIssouri.

week 1
regionals = 123a
= 4A
= 5A
= 6a

week 2
State of Kansas 123456a all together

week 3
Kansas Dual State

That would be awesome. Not team state trophy in week 2 and only the top two from the regionals in week 3. Small issues: 32, 32, 64, and whatever 321A number is makes for some GIANT regionals. I like the way you think though!

Logistics, politics and any other considerations aside - just who, among our wrestling fans, wouldn't really want to watch the top wrestlers in the state of Kansas, from all classes, compete in the same venue, at the end of the year?

Where there is a will, there is a way. Come on, Let's find a way ... and venue.