Here is a preseason look at the Team 4A State Rankings for the 2007-2008 season. This only accounts for teams that return points from last year's state tournament. Listed is the preseason ranking (RK), team name, returning state placers (SP), returning state qualifiers (SQ), returning state points (RTP) & WCS Score (Score). The WCS Score is analogous to the BCS score in that it uses a computer generated logarithm of some kind using the previous year's results to remove any bias, but unlike the junkie BCS, we get to settle all of this on the mat, so really, none of this means squat! But here you go...


RK Team SP SQ RTP Score
1 Clay Center 4 4 69 127.6
2 Colby 3 5 59 124.3
3 Andale 4 0 66 94.6
4 Baldwin 3 3 56.5 86.1
5 Santa Fe Trail 3 1 61 81.4
6 Goodland 2 4 39 78.1
7 Labette County 2 4 38.5 70.4
8 Chanute 3 1 54 69.9
9 Augusta 2 2 29 62.7
10 Prairie View 2 3 31 60.2
11 Andover Central 2 0 41.5 57.8
12 Pratt 1 7 18 55
13 Paola 1 2 29.5 46.8
14 Abilene 0 4 7 42.9
15 Ulysses 1 1 30 40.7
16 Columbus 1 2 25 37.4
17 Royal Valley 2 1 19 35.5
18 Clearwater 1 1 19 34.7
19 Anderson County 1 1 14 30.5
20 Concordia 0 4 6 29.7
21 Douglass 1 2 9.5 24.8
22 Kc-Piper 1 0 21 24.2
23 Rose Hill 1 0 18 24.2
24 Holton 1 1 15 23.7
25 Hiawatha 1 1 9 20
26 Chapman 0 3 4 19.4
27 Smokey Valley 0 1 5 17.9
28 Eudora 0 3 4 16.1
29 Jeff West 0 3 4 13.7
30 Circle 0 2 3.5 13.1
31 Spring Hill 0 4 1 12.9
32 Wellington 0 1 6 11.8
33 Russell 0 3 5 11.6
34 Tonganoxie 0 2 3 10.8
35 Buhler 0 2 3 10.5
36 Wamego 0 1 3 8.6
37 Basehor-Linwood 0 2 3 7.4
38 Marysville 0 2 2 6.5
39 Osawatomie 0 2 2 6.3
40 Mulvane 0 1 3 5.4

Individual preseason rankings will come later...

Clearwater has 2 returning qualifiers from last years team.

Hilley..and??? I may have gotten their grade wrong?

Is not Ethan Bates - 112 lb'er last year a returning state qualifier?

WARNING: Richard does not play well with others!


At what grade did your teachers add that notation onto your report card? (In the spirit of the Okie truce, of course.) ;>

So what grade is Bates in? I wrote down that he had graduated, which I guess is wrong.
Richard, do not answer unless your answer is going to be one of the following replies:

"No, you are correct, Ethan did graduate."
"Yes, you were wrong, Ethan is in the 10th grade this year."
"Yes, you were wrong, Ethan is in the 11th grade this year."
or
"Yes, you were wrong, Ethan is in the 12th grade this year."

Coach:

I have far too much respect for you to say you were wrong.

A slight oversight is more than acceptable for the very commendable job you have done.

Ethan Bates is in the 12th grade this year."

Was it ever confirmed where Furches was planning to attend? I realize this was written about on a different thread, but it does have implications here and I wasn't sure if Mike had ever confirmed where they would be wrestling.

OK, thank you Richard
I have gone in and edited Clearwater.

Not that it really matters, but I believe Colby has 3 returning placers and 6 returning state qualifiers.

Returning from last year and current grade.

103 Reed SQ Soph.
112 Wark SQ Senior
125 Luedke SP Senior
130 Olsen SP Senior
140 Zweygardt SQ Junior
160 Arnberger SQ Junior
171 T. Kriss SQ Junior
215 N. Kriss SP Senior
285 Brown SQ Senior

watch for jeff west, if reeb has transferred there, that could make a good team, reeb, and the 2 mumaws. Nice. Well they would probably break the top 10

do you guys have no respect for abilene come on they are going to be stacked this year and they come in the pre-season and no. 14 i thinks its a crock and they should get more recognition.

As stated in the original post. The rankings were based on pure math. Abilene has no returning state placers and 4 returning state qualifiers. I also agree they will finish higher than 14th. Most likely in the top 10 if all stay healthy. With no subjectivity in the rankings, they avoid the "crock" label.

The competition in 4A will be awesome this year & NW Kansas teams will come ready to show the best wrestlers come from here.

Yes, Clearwater High School!

Thanks Richard. I knew you had stated that, but in Mike's response it sounded like the move to Clearwater could have changed based on job offers. Nathan will certainly help sharpen the skills of their ligher weights and make Div. 4 a lot more difficult at his weight.

that will obviously have some effects on the rankings

The rankings should not be affected until after January!

Yes Nathan is confimed at Clearwater!! Go Clearwater!!!

I have stayed out of a great deal of discussion for sometime on the issue of my son at Clearwater. As of Friday afternoon I can now clarify our situation as I hope to dispel, “rumors” from getting started, and those that have been going on as have been indicated to me via telephone calls, pm’s on message boards, emails and the like even in the last week.

Yes it is true that Nathan is at Clearwater, but until Friday afternoon it was possible that he would not remain there. Some time ago my family decided that our son needed a change and that change was more so for a smaller school. In the process of a number of things going on, I also realized the ministry I am a part of needed additional financial support, or we as a family needed additional finances. The ministry I am involved in does a lot of great work, but we receive very little money. In fact a very large percentage of what does come in, goes out in the form of ministry and helping others.

It has likely been noticed I am on here and other wrestling forums far less than in the past. The reason for is the lengthy requirements regarding my work, between 45-60 hours a week, with very little income. As a result of a number of things going on, I begin interviewing about two months ago at various places, including, Panama City Florida, Roswell New Mexico and others including the possibility of Clay Center. This last Thursday I conducted my third interview with a very well respected ministry in the Wichita area. I have been offered a position that will provide additional income to supplement my income and work with The Virtual Pew, plus allow the Virtual Pew to continue on fully in the capacity it has been going.

During this time, the first part of October, we obtained a home in the Clearwater area. We got a home 3X the size, on acreage on a small farm that we like for a few dollars more a month. This allowed us the option that if I accepted another job out of the area, my wife could finish her tenure year of teaching, allowing her some benefits that were fairly substantial, plus allow the transfer we felt our son needed. If something happened that we stayed in the area, it also gave us the option to consider purchase of the property.

I have heard some comment against Richard Salyer via pm’s and so forth regarding some of the comments on the forums. Let me make clear, I spoke specifically with Richard when this started being questioned, and Richard knew the facts prior to many people. Richard, I want to thank you openly and publicly for sharing the truth in limited fashion and out of respect for our family.

First to dispel rumors I was informed about twice last week. Nathan will be eligible to wrestle at Clearwater starting in January. We checked all of the rules on this, and assuming grades are in order, he don’t get beat out for a spot, injury, or something of that nature, he will be good to go. Anyone wanting information, contact me via phone, pm, or email and I will share the details with you if you need to know them.

Now let me make the second thing perfectly clear. My family will forever be grateful to Coach Ross and the rest of the Derby HS Wrestling Staff. I could name each coach by name, and specifically tell you things they have done for my son, and for my family. You will never hear me say anything negative about Coach Ross or his staff. I don’t want to wear any emotions on my sleeve, but I hope no one takes this the wrong way, I honestly can say our family loves and appreciates Coach Ross, and I can honestly say that I believe and know that Coach Ross loves our family. I won’t go into any more detail than that other than to say, that if Coach Ross ever considered coaching on a college level, I would hope that my son would be considered for the program he is coaching at. I have met few coaches that honestly care about their student wrestlers more than this man. I will forever, as will my family, be grateful for the work Coach Ross did with, and for, my son. He is one of the most above board, honest men, I have ever met. Our decision to move had nothing to do with Coach Ross, in fact, if it had not been for Coach Ross and our belief in him as a man of integrity and as a coach we would have moved Nathan out of Derby last summer.

The last thing I want to comment on, people are different, and sometimes need different things in their lives to help them move to the next level of life. Our family has struggled with that decision, more than most anyone will ever realize. We believe we have made the decision best for our family, not just our son. I have a wife I have been married to for 27 years now, a son I deeply love, and a 25 year old married daughter who lives in the area who will always be my baby girl. Each of us, including people from our church, very close friends from the area, and around the country have been a part of helping us make the decision we believe is best for “our family”. Prayer is an important part of our life and I can honestly say I am grateful for all of those, including some on these forums who knew of our situation and prayed for us in our decision. Thankfully, it looks like we will get to stay in the area. We will keep yelling for Derby in 6A, and now have a new team to be a part of and yell for in 4A. Hopefully things work out and this is the way things will be for at least a few more years, but I won’t limit, or expect anything more from God or my faith than what I have today, I have learned many things over the last year, there are no guarantees about tomorrow, and as for me and my house, we will do the best we can to fall in love with our God more and more each day, and hopefully in the process learning to love each other more, not trying to be perfect, just honest and real.