The 2004 State Tournament information packets were mailed several weeks ago to all clubs who were chartered as of the date of the mailing. Please read over the information carefully; it is also posted on the web.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be only one weigh-in this year - Friday evening 4:00 - 7:00 pm.

ADS: If you are wanting to place an ad in the State Program Book, the deadline is fast approaching. I must have the ad in my hands no later than Thursday, March 4th.

TABLE WORKERS: Contact your District Director if you are interested in working a table as they are the ones getting the workers. You do not need to purchase a ticket the day that you work a table.

QUESTIONS: If you have questions, check with your Club Directors and then your District Director to see if they can help you. If not, please contact one of the tournament directors to get an accurate answer. Their names, phone numbers and email addresses are posted on the State Tournament Information.

Best of luck to all wrestlers as they will soon begin the 2004 qualifying tournaments.


Leanna Grater
State Tournament Committee Member

Leanna,
I'll be the first to raise the question about the weigh-in. I can picture parents from the farthest away regions having to work Friday and not being able to get there in time.

What about those that live 1 - 2 hours away who don't want (or can't) spend the extra money on Friday nite hotel room and who plan to drive down in the morning?

Even if you wanted a hotel room now, you wouldn't be able to get one. From what I understand they are all sold out.

wrestlingparents,
Unless there is something else going on in Topeka that weekend that I'm not aware of there will be plenty of rooms available after districts when clubs start canceling reservations. They may be priced at a high rate but they'll be available. Many times clubs will post available rooms here on the forum.

I don't see the problem in driving 1 to 2 hrs for weigh in and then going home to come back early the next day for wrestling.

My mom has an hour and a half commute to KC every day for work. She doesn't seem to mind and she's 50.

Where's the problem of driving for the weekend in order to save money on hotels?

Lets let Coach Gibsons Mom drive some kids back and forth,,just kidding,,had to inject some humor,,,

I do not think the tournament committee made a unilateral decision on this issue. This was a discussion topic at the State Body Meeting last fall. I am not sure if it was voted on, but I do remember the floor discussion. One of the persons responsible for weigh-ins stated that over the past couple of years the Saturday morning weigh-in option was underutilized (I think they said they could count the individuals on two hands that weighed in on Saturday morning last year). Because the weigh-in area is also used for setting up the opening ceremonies, it was suggested that eliminating the Saturday morning weigh-in option all together may help things go smoother leading up to the tournament. I do not remember there being much objection on the floor concerning this suggestion.

I can see how this issue could cause a great deal of inconvenience for those who live two or three hours out. I was a bit surprised that there weren't more objections raised at the meeting. However, isn't the point of the State Body Meeting to hash out these issues, allowing those who "volunteer" to govern our organization the opportunity to plan the events of the year? It was indicated at the meeting that enough clubs were present to have a quorum.

Mark Stanley
Junior Viking Wrestling

My question really wasn't really concerning if there was a Saturday weigh-in or not. But rather why the Friday time was so short. I feel certain that exceptions are going to be made for some people that cannot make this time period. My belief is, that once you start making exceptions it only leads to problems. I would like to have seen the weigh-in time extend to at least 9:00pm. If this is a firm weigh-in time we need to let our parents know so if they can't make it we don't enter those kids.

One - Mr. Stanley is right. The reason they did away w/ the Saturday morning weigh-in is that hardly anyone used it. If there had been a demand then they would have keep it.

Second - Regarding the short length of time for weigh in. The State tournament is fairly long compared to most National Tournaments. USA Folkstyle tournament - weigh in period 2 hours. Southern Plains and FS/GR Nationals - weigh in period 20 minutes. The trend is towards having all wreslters together at the start of weigh in so that everyone is weighed in at the same time. With the emphasis on controlling weight cutting you are going to see shorter weigh in periods and weigh ins closer to wrestling time.

If they are going to have shorter weigh-in times then they should not have them on a week day. I work till 5:00 and Topeka is 3 hours away. Does this mean that that my kid cannot wrestle because nobody spoke up at a meeting.

The Grater's do a fantastic job and they work within the system. It is time to give them a new system to help them out. Each club should be given a unique user id and password which permit them to vote once on critical issues such as the weigh in. Given the number of clubs and kids within each club the state body meeting doesn't fairly represent the massess. Issues could be posted with a predetermined vote deadline. The club director could review the issues with their club and vote accordingly. The state body meeting is too crowded, the accoustics are poor and directors have no idea what their club wants as it might be the first time they have heard about the topic being discussed. Online discussion would replace the need to meet in person.

It is 2004 so we should embrace the technology we have at our disposal.

Look forward to seeing everyone in Topeka.

When the state tournament was in Salina, our club would have parents volunteer to take kids to weigh-in and the other parents would show up after work. Usually it was someone with access to a van.

I see no reason why that same kind of volunteerism can't be utilized by those that can't or won't be able to get off of work in order to make weigh-in.

And it's true that very few people utilize the Saturday weigh in. I know I was mad when I volunteered to come in early to help out and very few people utilized the process.

Maybe I'm being selfish, but I need all the beauty sleep I can get.

Will,
"directors have no idea what their club wants as it might be the first time they have heard about the topic being discussed."

That's why we live in a republic and not a true democracy. I don't want the masses voting on issues. If they want to vote become a director of their own club or start a new one.

Jeremy,
What I want to know is, is the cut off time firm? I don't want parents making arrangements for transportation only to find out a select few got preferencial treatment. Myself personally there are few people I would trust with the care of my child. My guess is there will be tournament workers setting up long past the 7:00 weigh-in. If a family walks in from Elkhart after that time are we not going to allow them to weigh in?

Most the tournaments we go to have Friday night weigh-ins and many tournaments are using at home weigh ins. I don't see the problem.

Weigh in times are firm. There's all kinds of what ifs, but allowing the what ifs opens a can of worms. How are we suppose to know you got a flat or broke down? People could easily abuse the system.

The best case scenario would to allow time for problems and hope nothing happens. It may sound cold, but you have to be firm. After all, this is the state tournament, we have very few that are foreign to the way a weigh in is ran.

Coach Gibson:

Be careful what you post! I am tempted to post your comments regarding the rule breaking at the District I sub-district qualifying tournament last year in Pittsburg(?).

It appears you have changed your position!

Yeah, I learned the hard way that sometimes doing what's right is not always correct.

Darn the flat tires.

The logic is that for a tournament that has over 1000 wrestlers, to have only a handful (less than 30, I'm positive, I was there) of wrestlers dictate when our volunteer weigh-in people get up is wrong.

Don't mistake me, I'm in it for the kids, but our volunteer weigh-in people get pretty upset (and rightfully so) that they got up so early for a few kids. What's even worse is that we may have seen these kids before and they were outside running (the night before) to make weight.

So the argument of weighing in and a kid being hungry and what not is pretty thin. Yes kids are borderline but to have that extra day just in case is wrong.

Seriously, do you mean to tell me a kid that is borderline on weight is going to eat a full meal Friday night and weigh 1 pound or more less than the night before? That the weight will magically disappear?

Of course not. Most kids will go all day Friday without a meal and wait till after weighing in to eat. It wouldn't matter if it was Friday night or Saturday morning, the hunger would still be there for those on the borderline.

Dear Vince:

Yes, most all of us weigh less in the morning.

The last several years, for various reasons, I have been to the Expo Center early on Saturday morning, and it is eerily quiet. I have only seen Leanna and last year Leanna and her youngest son. I did not see anyone working the weigh in, however, since my children always made weight on Friday, I did not peek inside the curtains.

Remember, these are volunteers, not paid employees. The volunteers have a right to a relaxed early morning after a hectic Friday evening.

Tbaugh

Reread the first post. The first post says that the information regarding the state tournament were mailed weeks ago. Grater posted the message as a courtesy.

It is also noted that at the state body meeting in November, it was suggested that we switch the weigh in to Friday. With little (actually no) complaint from the body, the decision was made and I haven't seen one post from anyone in regards to the mailing sent.

All of the sudden, a kindly post reminding us about the state weigh-in after the clubs had been notified a few weeks prior, people are wondering what happened?

Do I have everything correct? Am I missing something here?