our wrestlers left before the memo on what they could take in. That was crap that they could only bring water considering a gatorade was $4. I understand not letting spectators bring food and drinks but limiting the wrestlers is just crazy. I think there needs some negotiation before we book for next year. At one door I was told my kids could not bring their bags with blankets and games in. Didn't let that one go till I got them in. Will say very nice facility. Great day of wrestling

So what is the general consensus on the new arena as a wrestling venue?

Nice venue, isle greeter got a little touchy if you stopped to watch a match any where near the "premier seating". Parking gets a little scarey. Park in the wrong lot and you may be towed.
I did not get towed - but I did move to the car to a safe zone. It was very nice to be able to walk out and get some fresh air and re-enter. I was glad they ran semi's one match at a time for the viewers/fans. It makes the day a little longer then necessary for the wrestlers. The facility looked big enough to handle all classes over a 3 day period with different sessions.
You might need more than reading glasses if you got stuck in the upper deck or trying to film matches. Overall facility was great.
The food - I will have to wait for today to rate the meat products. My wife was watching me like a hawk all day since it was lent and I was unable to stay up past midnight.

sounds like growing pains, some times you have to hit people over the head to make them see straight. give them another chance and if they don't make the adjustments, get rid of them. how did we end up making the deal for this arena?

The arena did provide free parking in their lots today which was nice. But I did have to be the psycho mom at the door with bag checks. I bought my kids the large bag of cotton candy ($6) let them have 1/2 on Friday and when they checked my bag Sat. said I could not bring it in. I stuffed it in my bag and said I was taking it in and kept walking. Food was good papa John's pizza, Carlos O'kelly's, Sandwich place, plus regular concessions. They even had free small ice waters! I do think the workers need to have some training in dealing with people! (I'm not talking about the ones I let have it about the cotton candy) The ones chasing down people that already went through bag check yelling no food in here then rechecking their bags. (they didn't have any food)

Anyone know what the luxury boxes for the finals cost? We sit there both days and got the boot when the finals got ready to start.

All of this nonsense is exactly why the 4As and 3-2-1As do it right! It's nice to be welcome, appreciated, and the center of attention. And Will, if you were only the ruler of the world, everything would be fine!

Oh and by the way, if you want to complain about tickets, pricing, etc., try this for size: Iowa's tournament goes Wednesday through Saturday. Each of the three classes wrestles one session a day Wednesday through Friday and there are two sessions Saturday. You have to buy a separate ticket for each session and each ticket is $8. But the wrestlers are allowed to bring in whatever they want at least.

In my opinion, the rules that were put in place were not that bad. I believe this tournament, for being in a brand new facility where anything could happen ran very well. It was very clean, plenty of room and I don't believe there is a bad seat in that place to watch wrestling. My kids loved the place and were very excited to be showcased in the Intrust Bank Arena. I believe we all get caught up in the wrestler mentality of "everybody owes me something" instead of appreciating what we already have.

There probably was some wrinkles to iron out but all in all... If I had to give the tournament a letter grade on a report card....
"A"

Coach Church
on twitter @CoachChurch

I wasn't complaining because I thought the place was great. Just want to know if anyone knows how much those luxury boxes cost for the finals. Heck we had planned on leaving to get a bite to eat Saturday but with the good food and wrestling we stayed from start to finish.

Don:
Was there anyone in the boxes during the finals? The only reason I ask that usually those luxury boxes in all of the new arenas are pre-sold and the finals might have been part of the package the box owners got. That would be the only thing I could think of as to why you could sit there the rest of the tourney but not the finals.

I understand all of that I was just wondering if anyone purchased one for the finals so I could get an idea of what they cost. Those where great seats and it might be worth it next year.

We were in the boxes, we paid a price of $22.00 per ticket for them. As long as you had a ticket purchased for them you could sit in them.


Mel

I paid 11 bucks for one ticket - general seating. I'm about 6 foot and boy were my long legs cramp. However, the seats were soft and cushioned, not the hard plastic stuff to sit your butt on.

The staff at the facility was the most abnoxious I have ever been around at a tournament. They were like the gestapo. You couldn't tape up any banners, the concessions were closing during the 135pound semi's on Friday and the 125 pound finals on Saturday. They would not let the teams bring in any gatorade. They were only allowed to bring in water. Our team bought the tear open gatorade mix to put in the water bottles and were told if the kids used them they would be disqualified. We could not get into take pictures of our kids on the podium and the security guard lady at the gate was a total &$^#*(@*. They even told people they could not use the electrical outlets to recharge camcorders. IT WAS A TOTAL JOKE FROM THAT POINT. Whoever negotiated the contract for that place needed to grow some nads and get a some terms for everyone involved. The facility was nice but the seating was cramped, and I would have rather had it in the old "Wichita Classic barn" that put up with such a load of nasty people as the entire staff of the Intrust Center. Rick Bowden needs to step up and get something done before next year period!!!!!

Competition was awesome!!!!

yeah the staff was a joke and i really didnt like it there...would anyone be open to switching the venue like go east one year then back to the west side...the topeka expo center is a great place and if they can hold all those kid clubs then they could surely have high school state there

I liked the "old barn" A great venue and atmosphere when they had 4, 5 and 6A there under one roof.

Would like to see them rotate the tournaments--especially the 5A and 6A. The vast majority of schools in these two classes come from either Metro KC, Metro Wichita, Metro Topeks, and most of the rest are along the I-70 and I-135 corridors.

Anyone have an idea on the highest attendance at the Intrust Arena for this tournament. Numbers would be nice to know if someone was to go looking for a facility. Don't think Topeka ExPo is large enough. Perhaps there is a big college facility that could be used (KU, Bramblage at KSU). What's at Washburn U. Too bad Kemper is in KCMO. Don't think there is anything large enough in the KCKS area!!

yeah in the KC area there is nothing big enough...and i go to washburn and there is nothing there big enough either but i still think the Expo Center would be big enough because they have kids state there and there is more kids wrestling at kids state than high school state

And no one has EVER complained about Topeka or the Expo Center, have they?

im not saying Topeka is perfect...i would just like to see schools that live in the Wichita area who dont have to travel to state travel and move the state meet out East every other year