These always get brought up as opposing forces, as if we can only have one and not the other. I want to challenge that thought here and focus on being inclusive.

Do we need to eliminate High School? I don't think so if we think about "State" differently.

Why is this even a concern?
I've heard many mention removing the HS divsion mostly in the same breath of adding 6U. We all know the current size of the state tournament is at it's limit unless we add a day or get a bigger facility. In an ideal facility we would be able to have 6U-HS & Girls all under one roof on the same days on bigger surfaces than we wrestle on today! Until we adjust the format of state or get a bigger building we have to look for compromises. As an alternative, how many would be willing to wrestle a 3rd day at state if it were required?

My Proposal:
Have the High School Kids State as a tournament on it's own and include the 6U in our normal state series. The HS tournament could be done along side the Middle School & Elementary Qualifier if needed where big brackets are the norm.

Why do it this way?
Membership
The 6U group has been our largest membership across the state. It seems we send an odd message to those members they are good enough to wrestle through the year in their own age but for state they must move up. I know they have the 6U state tournament in Salina but again the message seems odd; telling our youngest competitors they must wrestle through the largest brackets to become a champ. It's quite inconsistent.

The 6U have been wrestling through the entire season whereas the High School wrestlers are with us for a few weeks.

Bracket Sizes
The "6U State" bracket sizes are large enough (64 Man and below) it seems a qualifier makes sense. Having the HS wrestle small brackets (even at districts) and 6U wrestle large, seems opposite traditional thinking. Removing 6U from the 8U during state series will level bracket sizes in 8U to some extent.

I've always said I operate under the basic boundaries:

-Does it hurt kids?
-Does is improve current opportunities?
-Does is create new opportunities?

With the above, I don't see why we'd need to consider removing the HS division and why we couldn't add the 6U. I know HS has a large amount of scratches however I think of the HS as a continued development division for those that want it and not a grand state that some envisioned. I think the coaches/parents want the grand state more than the kids do.

I personally wish there were more "Open" tournaments that allowed for college, retired or otherwise to compete. If you've been to the Sunflower State Games and seen those guys go at it; it's quite the sight.