Greg,

I do not know of any schools in the great Kansas City area, Leavenworth/Lansing area, Lawrence, etc that have a middle school season in Jan. Everyone has their season from the end of OCT to Christmas break.

This is ok (IMO) because it allows the kids to wrestle with the school and then still participate in the bulk of the kids club season. Another advantage is that it allows 7th and 8th graders to do both wrestling and basketball for their schools. As much as it pains me to say this, I think that is good for the kids because it allows kids to try b-ball, realize they are not one of the "chosen 10" and then make an informed decision when they are freshmen in hs. I have seen wrestling teams pick up some very good athletes because of this. Again, these are not the future 3-4 time state champs or the Fargo all-americans....they are the kids that are going to work hard, score some points for your team and potentially qualify for state and maybe place. That is the kind of depth you need to finish top 3 as a team at state. To be honest....I am not sure what I would do personally if the middle school season was in the Jan-Feb time frame.

In Lansing, Coach Averill coaches the middle school kids. He is also the high school coach. I think this helps him build depth or numbers in the high school program because he and his staff establish relationships with the kids early on. Does it affect the kids that are year round wrestlers/committed....no but it seems to really help getting those athletes that aren't committed to a winter sport. I know that Jay Johnston (Leavenworth coach) is also going to start coaching his middle school team this year too.

Shawn