Kansas Wrestling Community,

I would like to propose a rule and need help in the proper way to go about it.

I think it is necessary to have a standard skin check time at tournaments. 10 minutes before competition, for example. There is nothing more frustrating as a coach and as an athlete then to be half way through your warm-up and skin checks be called. I have asked refs and tournament directors to tell us when skin checks are going to be multiple times and all they can tell me is "when we feel it's time; we will call them." Most states do their skin checks at weigh-ins, but obviously most teams do home-site weigh ins in Kansas.

I have asked refs multiple times to do this at tournaments and have gotten nowhere. What would be the best means to get this going and to propose this as a rule in our state; seeing we don't do skin checks at weigh-ins?

Any direction is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Lars Lueders
Dodge City HS
Head Wrestling Coach

I would say that the 1st rule that needs to be in place is what time the referees must be at the site....? Just thinking out loud. It is suggested 1 hr. prior, but it is not a rule. Could also have 1 or 2 skin ref's assigned to each tournament??

I have had this same frustration many times! What we try to do is if there is no set time for skin-checks and the referees are not ready when we get dressed, i ask them to wait on us to finish warming up. (we always have at least 15 minutes between warming up and the start of the competition.) Most of the time they have no problems waiting.

This drives me nuts! We actually go threatened that they were going to DQ our whole team at a tourney last year because we were in the middle of warm-up and they announced all teams to the wrestling room for skin checks and we figured the line would be long and went ahead and finished our warm-up. I wish tournament directors would set a skin check time and then we would know. Maybe if we all do this at our home tourney's, it will become a standard practice everywhere?? I'm gonna tell our AD to do it for the Eagle Invite next year!

These are good points. In football, it is in the rulebook that officials take the field 30 minutes prior to game time. Rule 1, section 1, article 7. Since Kansas does not follow national federation rules regarding weigh ins, perhaps it could go into the kansas wrestling handbook that skin checks will begin 30 minutes prior to competition. I feel that Kansas officials do an excellent, although sometimes over zealous job, of enforcing the skin checks. I know at Pratt we had a wrestler that was unable to participate this year because one official "thought" he might have a skin infection. He did not. If you wait until ten minutes prior to competition, it does not enable a kid to get checked by a local doctor if an official "thought" there may be a problem.

I've never known officials to be too concerned about when the checks take place. But I've also never heard a complaint. So I'd suggest asking the host school administration, or coach to handle it, or visit with the officials, about your concern. If the host school says skin checks will happen at 8:45 I don't think you'll get any grief from the officials.

Mr. Cue makes a good point too. If you do checks earlier a kid can run down to a local clinic and perhaps find a doctor that will examine the condition. But here's my take on skin conditions. Its not fair to other wrestlers to let an infected wrestler spread his crud to others. The coach sees the kid every day, and should know whether the kid or team has health issues. Take care of them before Saturday morning so the official isn't put in the position of being a dermatologist. My pet peeve is when I raise a kid's hand and I can tell he's got a fever--but he wants to wrestle so he risks infecting 100 other kids...and me.

There is a set time in the rule book to do skin checks. It is 2 hours before a tournament or 1 hour before a dual. These are the set weigh-in times for these events. But since Kansas doesn't do weigh-ins they do not abide by these times. Personally I think Kansas should get on the ball and do weigh-ins. Then you know everyone is at the correct weight, there IS a set time for weigh-ins in the rule book for both tournaments and duals and then skin checks would be done there. Everyone would know when and where they are taking place. I don't buy this garbage of no weigh-ins because schools out west have to travel a long ways on mornings of tournaments. I grew up in western Nebraska and we would leave at 5 am or earlier a lot of days to make weigh ins at 7 am and it didn't bother anything. Every other state in the NFHS does weigh-ins but Kansas.

A LOT of teams in western Kansas would have to leave at 3 am for a 7 am weigh in. Two hours out here is a short trip.

+1 This isn't an issue if the NFHS weigh-in process is followed.