As wrong as this decision was and is, please don't compare us to okies.

Tue Mar 17 17:20:51 2009 205.153.56.10
Jerry Scott <>


....from the Oklahoma boards .....just makes you grin and giggle.

Anyone got the links to the Oklahoma board?

Thanks

birddog, you are just scared that it will take your championship place away from you cause they have a boy in your boys weight. who will pretty much win that weight class...

2coach (rodriguez - is that you?)- "scared" you are right!. But IMO the Kansas State tournie is still for state residents only. By the way who is the Hugoton Kid in my son's weight class 10/79.

Please let me preface this with telling you I understand and respect your opinion. To answer the questions that have come up....

1. The Guymon, OK kids did not participate in their state series, as for any other Oklahoma tournaments..I am unsure. Does this change the facts on the biggest complaint I have heard (residency)? Probably not...I am only answering the question posed.

2. All 7 of the Guymon kids were in the 8 and Under division. There are three moving on to districts. Most of the Guymon kids are beginners.

If you have other questions..........

Thea Schnittker

This is where I figured out my thoughts on this subject. All of our kids start out as beginners, many of which are U6 or U8. Some of them will eventually become very good or great wrestlers. Even though these young wrestlers may not impact the State Championship results much this year, they could down the road. I do think that this needs to be ruled on now, because in the future, it may very well make a big difference.

Okay you got me, you know I was only kidding, tell Chuckie to go get it and wrestle hard. I do not know the kid from Hugoton at his weight...

If we would want to wrestle in a national bracket we would transport to them. Living in western Ks. we travel all over the State looking for the competition. We have placed at state ever since 5u, we are now at the top of 10u, going to State again. When we have been at the top of the age bracket, "he" has had a3rd place finish. At the bottom of the age bracket, a 5th place finish. It is to our child and ourselves to get ahead of this record. All children have dreams and one step at a time goals. Why let someone from another State in, to fullfil their dreams before our own. We have one boy in our bracket that has placed at State at least the last 2 years. He lives in Ks. The only place we see that he wrestles most of the year, is in Oklahoma,until the qualifing tourneys begin. Then he is back in Ks. We have not surched enough to know how the OK tourneys go.

Will -
Not to stir the pot because this isn't my battle but I am a little confused with your position. At the high school level you appear to favor less restrictive rules with an eye towards increasing competition. Your attitude reflects in the performance of your son. Steel sharpens steel so to speak.

But on this issue you seem to take a position that would hurt these kids and their wrestling. Do you think banning these kids from the Ks series will make them go to a Oklhoma club? My guess is it would frustrate the family and they would move on to another sport. They are just kids. The more competition the better. It will pay off in the end.

Barry,

My problem is not with this club or these kids but yet with the precedence that it sets. Where do you draw the line? This decision opens the flood gates, from my perspective, for any small clubs who feel like our organization is more attractive than their home state's. I have NEVER stated that KSHSAA should open up the borders and invite HS teams from bordering states to compete in the Kansas Regional and State tournament. A state tournament, to me, is black and white for the state residents only.

What is your position Barry? If you read everything that I wrote on this post there should be no confusion on your part. I am confused how this would hurt these kids. I think the story is a bit skewed. We all travel to wrestle in Kansas. It is MUCH closer for them to drive to Oklahoma City for state than to Topeka.

Will,

I'm with you on this! This is one of them no brainer... It called Kansas Kid State!!!
I know in the past kids from Missouri I think the Walker at STA, The Stroms at Bishop Mieg
have been in the kids qualifying tourments... And a lot more that we may not know of!

There have been kids who lived 2 miles into CO and attended a Kansas school wrestle in the KS kids state wrestling tourney in the past. I also know of some out of state kids that wrestled and placed in KS High School state tournaments.

I think if a kid signs up with a Kansas kids club at the beginning of the year and practices with that club the entire year and goes to the Kansas tournaments - the majority of the ones available - then that individual should be able to wrestle in the state series. If the individual signs up with a Missouri Club and practices all year with a Missouri Club and travels to Missouri tournaments all year - then they should wrestle in the Missouri state tournament. If someone wants to sign up just for subdistricts, districts, and state and they belong to an out of state club (or they got their card with a club in a different state) they should not be allowed in the Kansas state series. There is a form that must be filled out with USAWKS if you have a kid or kids in your club with an out of state address
that must be filled out every year and sent in. Why would an athlete that practiced all year with Kansas kids, paid his or her dues to USAWKS and competed mainly against Kansas kids all year - not be allowed in this state series. Some people can not help it if they live right on a state border. All in all I do not think it is that big of a deal. But if a RULE is made it must be made so everyone knows at the very beginning of the season. So we as clubs can tell an out of state kid that they can not participate in the Kansas state series. It would be real easy for the National USA organization to make a national rule for every state. The rule could read: You can only particpate in only one folkstyle state series and that is the state of your primary residence. Or the rule could read: You can only participate in only one folkstyle state series and that state is the state that is the state of the club that issued your card. If the rule is violated and found out - then what is the disciplinary action?????

I say we make it simple if you wrestle in ks state you must live & reside in kansas. I aqree with Will this opens up a can of worms. This does not stop kids from wrestling in kansas regular season tournaments.

If changed it needs to be rule. For the kids sake they should have been told NO you can not particpate because you are an Oklahoma, Missouri, New York resident before subdistricts - not when they pull in to Topeka for weigh-ins. If everyone wants the rule change get it on the state agenda for the next meeting in October or November in 2009 so it can be voted on and changed or stays the same. I think that is the process that needs to take place. Participation numbers will go down. I do not know by home many - I do not have a list of all the kids with out of state addresses that signed up for USAWKS.

What is my position?

I think when Atticus was younger I would not have liked the idea. Who wasn't happy at State when the bracket looked easy? Doing well at Kids state was pretty important.

But now I beleive that for our wrestlers to do well in high school and on the national level they need as strong of competition as they can get. We are in a small state population wise. I hate to see a kid be the toughest kid in south central Kansas but get destroyed the first time he faces someone who is pretty good. I think the "take on all comers" attitude is one we should encourage in our wrestlers. They may take a few losses but will be better for it.

I also think the existing rule is pretty good. The number of cases are few. They have to come in front of the board and it is not a rubber stamp.

I realize that this is coming from someone whose Kids State days are over and my views may be a little Polly Anna but they are what they are.

Barry,

You get that competition outside of the three weeks we set aside for the KANSAS Kids State Tournament Series. The rule has always been flexible to allow kids who live out of state but attend school in state. These kids ALWAYS belonged to a Kansas Kids club. This is a town, not a suburb, that exists in another state that decided that it was more convenient to wrestle in Kansas. You are an attorney, would you want a rule that said you didn't have to pass the Kansas bar if you have passed the Oklahoma bar and you live close to Kansas? To me this is a situation where the line has to be drawn and the gray has to be made black and white or we will have small towns from Colorado and Nebraska wanting to do the same thing.

This isn't about getting better or improving competition. If were about that I would say bring them all in but then it wouldn't be a STATE tournament.