The new weigh-in requirements are a pretty major change for KS wrestling. I know there are a lot of strong feelings on all sides of this. But it got me thinking about a proposal I was trying to push last season, and I just wanted to throw it out there for discussion, see what everyone's thoughts were....pro and con.

I want to see us allow "Extra Entries" at Regionals (and the State tourney too, if an "extra" were to qualify), and yes, all scoring team points. Why not? They earned them.

My primary reason is I think it would reduce a lot of unwanted/unnecessary weight-cutting. We all have two kinds of kids who "cut weight"...those that just want to for whatever their reasons are (they are very dedicated and serious about what they want to achieve), and these kids will always cut regardless of what the rules are. Then we have kids who aren't necessarily up for it, but "do it for the team" or because they can't crack the lineup otherwise. Lot of times, their parents hate it. A couple times I have had a state placer who was a wt class below what he should have been. I (and them and their parents) would have much rather seen them eating more all season and wrestling up. We've also all had situations where a parent would not allow a kid to compete at a certain weight.

If we allowed two kids at a weight, the only kids left cutting weight, would be those who want to. Those who aren't up for it (and their parents) would much more enjoy the sport.

This would be a good thing for our sport, I think. More kids/parents would appreciate the sport.

Another plus....we can bulk up our Regional brackets, make it more competitive, more wins needed to advance. Less opens.

Another plus....it grows our sport. More kids get to be involved at the varsity level. More kids competing for the right to be a State Qualifier.

My Regional voted in strong favor it, maybe because I tried to talk it up before the vote. But quite a few other regionals voted the opposite. One concern I saw was that it would skew team points. Honestly, I don't think it would make as much a difference in team scoring as some might think, especially at the state level, how often is it that a team will have two state medal caliber wrestlers at the same weight. Sure, it will happen, and if it does, then great, that team deserves those points.

Track & Field does it, a team can enter up to 3 in an event. If a team goes 1-2-3 at the state meet in an event, they get those points and should.

Another concern I heard was it would cause different sized Regional brackets, with the possibility of some being too big. Again, I think our Regional schedule and bracketing can handle it. It's worth a try anyway. If this is a concern, we can always tweak the system to make it work once we see what it might look like.

I originally proposed 18 entries per team at Regional, any weight. But I liked Coach Mann from Blue Valley's reply, which was to allow 18 entries, but in only 4 weight classes, a team could enter a second entry. This still forces teams to try to fill all weight classes, but also allowing a few extras.

I really am less concerned with the details of the proposal, mostly interested in a set-up that allows us to get our Varsity-caliber back-ups a chance to compete for State and not have to cut unwanted weight to do so. Also, would love to see us get more kids involved!

Personally, I think it would be a great bonus for our sport.

What does everyone think?