First Things First: My apologies for the incorrect post on Saturday. Jared Hensley from Coffeyville was indeed the Outstanding Wrestler in the 12 and under division, and not Adam Barnes from Pittsburg.

Clerical error on my part. That's what I get for being a smart-aleck and trying to get all the results posted two hours after the tournament was over. If anyone spots another error, please e-mail in the next few days to dslong@swbell.net so I can correct before sending final results to Juby.

Now, my 2 cents worth on outstanding wrestler to the gentleman who is complaining:

I know that this topic continues to be a controversial one on an annual basis. I also know that we will NEVER be able to please everyone. So please don't make the mistake of thinking that we're going to try.

There is no bullet-proof objective method for determining who wins this award. But we feel that the presence of the award DOES jack-up the level of competition, which is a good thing for everyone, IMHO. Not only do the kids compete more fiercely, but the entry level of the brackets is improved. Several years ago, we had an 8-man bracket in the 8 and under division...5 of the kids in that bracket were past champions/placers in national-level tournaments.

Tell me that those kids entered the Bulldog Classic because we serve the best biscuits and gravy in all the land.

As Mr. Kahler mentioned, we combined multiple weight brackets to up the level of competition, and split wrestlers into A, B, and even C brackets where applicable.

Although most parents probably don't know this, the coaches were advised at the coach's meeting that B and C bracket wrestlers would NOT be eligible for outstanding wrestler consideration.
This helps to eliminate the problem of someone winning through the advantage of a weak bracket.

Case in point: The 12 and under bracket that I mis-posted. There were 11 champions eligible for the award in this division. 4 of them had two pins, 5 had 1 pin, and two pinned none of their opponents. So how do you calculate that someone ran the table on "a bunch of fish" and walked away with an easy trophy?

In reviewing the results, I found this to be prevalent through all the divisions. If you can pin more A and B wrestlers in your division than anyone else, by my reckoning you showed DOMINANCE..which is as good a criteria for outstanding wrestler as any. Sorry if this bothers you to the point that you would consider not returning to our tourney.