Am I the only one that was bothered by the announcers at 4A state? No offense to the illiterate, but we really should have announcers that are able to pronounce names correctly. Examples: Strauss, was Struss all weekend. Meredith was Merdith, Tyler was Taylor, Taylor was Tyler, Hughey was Hugey, Hattabaugh was Haterberg, and these are only a small sampling of the beauties that they came up with from who knows where.

At first it was humorous, but I figured that eventually, they would get their reading glasses on, and get it right. But no, it continued. You would think that by the time the finals came around, they would know the finalists names and how to pronounce them. Nope, couldn't do it.

We should also have announcers that announce the correct winners. I'd say 10% of the time, an incorrect winner's name was announced, followed by, "scratch that, the winner was........"

Pretty cute when they announced the winner of the one finals match after only 2 periods had been wrestled. You'd think the announcer might think "why are the wrestlers and referees still standing around on the mat?"

Announcing the entirely wrong match in the finals. Missing it by one weight class I can understand, but missing it by two weight classes?

I know it is a small thing, but I think these kids deserve better. Anyone that has followed wrestling at all, knows these kids' names, and after an entire weekend of wrestling, you should darn sure know 'em.

Announcing incorrect records during the finals. One kid that 30-6 coming into the tourney, was announced as a career record of 99-3.

Announcing incorrect team scores. At one time Andale was announced as having 183 points on Saturday. Before you said that, would you not think "wait a minute, they had 120.5 before that last round, and only 3 of their kids wrestled that round on the back side,, how did they get 60 pts?"

that would have been tough to sit through. especially after listening to beeson do such a great job at the ark city regional!

only complaint i have is that its not with 5 and 6a where it would be alot more interesting adding them back to the venue. does it get crowded why hell yes it does. isnt every tournament you go to crowded since kids wrestling. im mean come on kansas state tournament was a ton more fun to watch with all 3 of those groups than it is now with just 1 in salina and 2 here in wichita. its too quiet. going to a state tournament is about the electricity the kids and parents get by the large crowd. i went to the 5a and 6a and just didnt seem the same as it used to be. it was actually quite boring at times. im sure there were some exciting matches but for some reason it just didnt have the feel like it did back when they were all together.

im pretty sure that announcer that added those 60 points graduated from andale highschool and was just trying to help them out lol. as if they needed any help. nice job andale. andale must have a damn good kids program huh.

Doug:

I've had the opportunity to attend championships in Michigan and Pennsylvania also. The folks in Salina did an outstanding job from setup through execution. HOWEVER, you make an excellent point. Like most folks, the never ending announcing bumbling got old. As you've aptly pointed out, it was so apparent one would assume this will be cleaned up by next year.

Excellent overall event. Congratulations to all the participants.

I think the worst was when Skyler Hittle from Concordia was pronounced Hitler; not once, but twice.

I would have to agree that the announcers at 4a State were not professional at all . These kids work their asses off and to not get their name pronounced right is a sign of disrespect in my eyes.

The 5a 6a venue is a joke. Didn't think things could get worse than the old coliseum but they did. What happened to intrust arena? Might as well just move it back to high schools or cockley's barn.

The 5a 6a venue is a joke. Didn't think things could get worse than the old coliseum but they did. What happened to intrust arena? Might as well just move it back to high schools or cockley's barn.

I knew there would be a topic on here about the folly that was the 4A announcing. The workers also had a heck of a time getting the bleachers back in before the finals. That was actually entertaining to watch.I thought announcing names wrong all weekend was bad enough, but saying SCHOOL names wrong was unacceptable. (KC)SumNer was pronounced SumMer all day.Also I am curious, is it Colby, or is it pronounced Coby?

5/6A announcers I thought did a good job. But I heard Shawnee "Mission" Heights more than once!

You left off some of the best ones! How do you get "Erk" from Eck and not know what year it is?

I thought that the 5A/6A venue was just fine. You could pretty much take in all eight mats with a very good view and it wasn't nearly as congested as a lot of places that I have been. The parking was free (they kind of made it up at the gate) and very spacious with easy access to the building. Although not a spectacular looking building from the outside, it was nice inside. I have no complaints and I thought the announcer did a good job. One more thing, they seemed to be diligent about staying on schedule throughout the tournament.

The announcer for 4A indefinitely should retire. My favorite of the tournament was Sam Son and Ryne Cokeley's 152 semifinals rematch from finals last year at 152.

I've attended 100's of wrestling tournaments over the last few years and this announcer was by far, the worst i have ever listened too. I can't remeber ONE thing he got right. After the Hattabaugh match, Andale was Andrew! Come on, you have to be mentally challenged to be that far off after 2 days. Surely, someone will listen to the entire tape and get someone qualified for next year. Otherwise, this was a well run tournament and provided GREAT entertainment. Great sportsmanship was generally the rule. Can't find fault with a few isolated incidents and the excitement of the moment. A big thanks to all the young students who worked their "buns" off to make this such a special sport.

I could not agree more with Doug 747. The MC was horrible. The trivial pursuit question about KS wrestling between each of the championship matches was embarrassing. The music that was played for each of the championship marches to the medal stand was from the dark ages. I mean the theme from Star Wars. This was my first visit to a KS 4 – A championship the whole event was like a step back in time. I have been to many other states wrestling championship and it was clear the commitment that was made through the use of technology to make it an event for the athletes and their parents. One can only hope that the powers that be can learn from this less than impressive performance. Those athletes gave all they had to give on those two days. Not sure they can say the same about the adults.

The 5A announcing was fine except Koehn was pronounced "ko-en", and Haake was pronounced "hawk-ee" & "hake". These 2 names may be difficult to pronounce for some, but it'd be nice if the announcers confirmed the correct pronunciations. Small issue with a really great tournament.

Would you care to elaborate on this? Other than a "few" flubs by the announcers I don't think I have heard any other negative comments. Certainly not to the level of calling it a joke.

Hartman comments

Hartman arena was a nice venue, you could see all eight mats from anywhere in the arena, the staff was courteous, i walked in with water and coffee all weekend and was never stopped at the door

5a/6a Bouchet and Kmiec mispronounced wrong. Maybe I'm mistaken but Jake Gentzler # of state championships was wrong.

I brought in a bag and was not searched:) Overall best experience from the last 4 I've attended.