Mike,

Noticed the following are not actually broken down by age groups:

As of February 16, 2008 there have been 6,941 competitor memberships purchased in Kansas. The folkstyle age group breakdown is as follows:
( Can they actually be broken down by age group? Or are they and is just listed wrong)

6,941 total competitors

6 & Under 1,904
8 & 9 1,675
10 & 11 1,429
12 & 13 1,170
14 & 15 606
15 & 16 113
over 16 44

As compared to a couple years ago...

As of March 11, 2005 we have the following numbers:

7763 Total Competitors

6-under 1673
8-under 1581
10-under 1471
12-under 1302
14-under 1092
16-under 644

Just interested to see where the actual growth is, and where we are declining.



Jeff Broadbent - Mill Valley Wrestling Club

wow the biggest growth is in the 6&u. The group that really doesn't exist in Kansas. Lets get it in the series next year coaches.

You cannot and should not add 6U to the present state series. The tournament is TOO BIG now. There are not enough hotel rooms in Topeka and the host site treats the wrestling community disrespectfully. I don't really embrace the idea of 6U state but I understand the demand for it. If so, have it sanctioned by Kids Wrestling but as a stand alone event in Salina or rotate it around Hays, Salina, Topeka, and Wichita. Make it a one day event on a Sunday with qualifiers on the Sunday before in 8 different regions. Bring all 32 kids and have plenty of mats to let them battle it out with the spotlight being on them. THEY CANNOT BE ADDED TO THE PRESENT FORMAT!! THAT IS A TERRIBLE IDEA AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THAT!

get rid of the 16&u very small # of participants compared to the rest and it would free up atleast 2 mats for the 6&u to be on. If Topeka is to small the MOVE the venue to bigger places. There are 2-3 other venues that are more centrally located that can hold bigger events.

The only city with enough hotel rooms to handle the event would be Wichita. If you get rid of 16U and add 6U you really hurt the cause to manage the size of the tournament. Far more parents, relatives, wrestlers, and spectators will be added for 6U than lost for 16U. There is another post on this forum that should be alarming all of you. The numbers are dropping in all age groups but 6U. Overzealous parents are running their kids out of the sport by starting them too early and burning them out. 16U is more important in terms of sustaining the most important level of wrestling, HIGH SCHOOL. Instead of focusing on 6U we should be figuring out how to keep more kids interested enough to fill ALL of the high school teams. At the end of the day NO ONE cares if you won state when you were six years old.

Now that the school seasons are over 12, 14, and 16 will get back to their normal numbers. I agree, if we want to get 6U sanctioned, we need to make it stand alone. That is the only way some of these knuckleheads will vote for it.

its not just wrestling that kids drop out of sports. When kids get to be middle school and esp high school interests change. I do not believe in the burn-out theory at that age. Kids quit cause they had are not as good as they really are or they decide to get jobs and things. Possibly parents have kids quit due to insufficiant grades. There are way to many unknowns to say that burn-out is the decline of wrestling at older ages.

Eighty percent of the posters on this forum are die hard wrestling fans that are very passionate about this sport. Schroeder, I know your little guy. I don't think he will burn out. He and many of the other kids who have dad's that post are the exception to the rule. I agree that 6U should have a shortened season. The ten or twenty percent that are ready to go on can continue to wrestle 8U, but for the most part 6U should be done by now. I don't believe getting rid of 16U is the answer. Crap, Jake will be there in 8 years, and I want him to wrestle as long as he wants to. The 16U have put in their time let them wrestle, I was able to wrestle kids as a Jr. in high school and loved it. We need to come together as a whole and figure out a way to make 6U work. Personally I like Will's ideas on how to shorten the season and give the kids the recognition they deserve.

i agree we dont need to get rid of it. Lets move the venue an add to the sport as a whole.

I agree with 90% of Will’s suggestions. However, he and I agree to disagree when he starts “ranting” about Topeka. I believe the Topeka community has done allot for our sport, our organization and our kids. I also know that they will continue to support us in the future. They have had the only viable combination of venue, adequate hotel rooms, and volunteer base to host our State tournament for many years. Even with these advantages they have continually offered fair contracts from which to operate. With the addition of large arenas in other areas, some of these advantages may be diminished in the years to come. However, I know firsthand that Topeka is working very hard to stay our number one choice of venue for the State tournament and any other events we choose to bring to town.

Shortening the folkstyle season may help increase the draw into the international wrestling styles and it would allow those kids participating in spring soccer or summer baseball a break. This we can agree on. I know my son has a full slate of baseball tournaments on his schedule for the month of April without a break in between.

On the 6U issue one thing to keep in mind is that if and/or when the State Body adopts the notion that “6 and under” is a division of their own, you will no longer have the option of wrestling “up” in the 8U division. There is a rule that does not allow you to wrestle “up”. The only reason we see the “6 and under” competitors in the “8 and under” brackets at State now is that they are technically a part of that division. That will not be the case if and/or when they get their own status.

I would say that statement is a little over the top.

The 6u kids would not need to wrestle up if they had their own division. We allow our kids to wrestle up to be a part of the big dance with their teammates!

Mark,

Not ranting, just stating the facts. There are NOT ENOUGH hotel rooms to adequately host the event as it stands today. (Mark, have you ever tried to get 20 rooms for your club for the state tournament?) If there were we would not be forced to pay cash in advance for rooms, pay higher rates than the rest of the weekends throughout the year, and be subjected to two night minimums across the city. Those are just facts. It is also a fact that the concession selection is inadequate and unhealthy for wrestlers and the populous doesn't like the bag search policy. If a city and venue wants an event bad enough those issues can be addressed. Short of building more hotels that one cannot. ONLY Wichita has enough rooms to adequately supply the wrestling population without being subjected to unfair practices.

I agree that the volunteer help is great. They do support the sport and I think Topeka should host events throughout the year. But don't you think it is a bit selfish to stick the event there permanently? Lets explore some options...

In addition, Topeka is no where near the geographic center of the state. This is TOTALLY unfair to the clubs in District 4.

I want to see some ideas to size the event to allow it to be held in Hays, Wichita, Salina, and Topeka. We could rotate it every year. 16U and 6U can be stand alone events. In Illinois the IKWF hosts several events throughout the year, not just a state tournament. It is time to be thinking outside of the box and make some changes that will promote the growth of the sport. Our state tournament is too big!

I see no problem for the 6 and under to have there own venue they do not belong in the BIG SHOW. The 6 and under season needs to be shorten, to many parents are forceing there kids to wrestle up just so they have something else to brag about this is suppose to be for the kids. I guess next we will have to have a state tour for the JV high school kids, since they work just as hard as the varisity

wow keeping 6&u out of state because of size of tourney an hotel rooms are you kidding me. we have 6&u kids that practice harder than jr high kids. an not cause there daddys are making them.

Sportsfan short of looking into a future ball tell me your ideas on what other viable options have been on the table the past 10-15 years? My statement was not over the top if you consider all of the issues as a whole. You might have found another venue that had one or two of the components, but of all those who have bid on this event in the past none of them were viable in all areas. The two bidders the last time it was presented were Topeka and Wichita. I am glad our leadership had the foresight to choose Topeka over Wichita or this year we might have been wrestling in a parking lot, as the Wichita venue is currently under construction. That is why 5A/6A had to be moved.

Mark,

That is not true! We would have been in the Kansas Coliseum. 5A and 6A were split up because Bowden took the bold stance of not signing the contract because he didn't think they would be able to fill it with another event. Wrong! They had some type of event that signed and left Rick twisting in the wind. The Wichita guys told us at the meeting that they couldn't promise which venue we would be in (the new or the old) this year. We would not have been left out in the cold. The truth is we are in Topeka because Steve Woody's group from District 4 voted in a partisan way against Wichita and two District 2 voters didn't show up that day causing a one vote loss to move to Wichita. I appreciate your passion and dedication to your city but lets not twist the facts, I was at the same meeting. Wichita blew away Topeka that day but some High School coaches blamed the Wichita group for the way the KSHSAA event was handled when that blame should have been squarely placed on Rick Bowden's shoulders. No parking lot wrestling would have been necessary but it would be interesting.

There are NOT ENOUGH hotel rooms in Topeka for the present size of the event!

OTHER COMMENTS:

I have a HS wrestler and a an eight year old. Believe me, you guys are crazy to put so much emphasis on 6U wrestling. You will burn the kids out by making the season too long and putting too much pressure on them to win. It should be FUN and losing should be embraced. If we make such a big deal out of 6U state what is there to look forward to when they have to wrestle in the Salt Hawk Arena for their state championship in High School?
Kansas doesn't have an adequate selection of venues for the present size of the Kids State Event. It needs to be turned into multiple events to all of them can grow.

Had it not been for an AWOL District 2 director, the contract before last, the tournament would have been in Wichita for at least one contract, if not since. I am of the firm belief that regardless of what area of Kansas the tournament is located that the volunteers will be about the same. Wichita has Topeka beat all around on lodging and dining. I don't know why the Coliseum couldn't be used, I believe they are still currently holding concerts and hockey in it and the 5-6A tournament is scheduled for there next February.

Will, I stand corrected. I'll take your word that the parking lot wouldn't have been necessary.

Wichita may have Topeka beat on the quantity of hotels, but when I go to events in Wichita I know that I will be competing for bed space with numerous other events. There have been a couple times I went to the Classic and found myself scrambling to find a room there too. Not because the lodging industry couldn't handle the number of people at the event, but because of all the other events taking place on the same weekend. There will be pros and cons no matter where the event is wrestled, as far as lodging and meals go. However, I have been to both venues and I would say that spending a weekend in the Expo beats the Coliseum any day. The new arena may change my mind...when or if it ever gets built.

Wichita INTRUST Bank Arena

On September 14, 2007, a bid for construction of the INTRUST Bank Arena was submitted by Dondlinger and Sons Construction and Hunt Construction and was accepted.

On December 4, 2007, construction officially got underway with a Ground Breaking Ceremony held at the future site of the INTRUST Bank Arena. The new facility is scheduled to open January, 2010.