VS Vike Coach, I think you're missing the point.

As stated by someone else, if you look at D1 wrestlers in Iowa, many are from somewhere other than Iowa. Iowa State was mentioned.

Now look at college wrestling in general in Iowa. Take DIII. Because DIII doesn't give scholarships, you have a high number of in state wrestlers. Coincidentally, most DIII schools in Iowa have in state wrestlers (no out of state tuition). Another coincidence is that PA, IL, OH, and IA are four states that have close to 1/2 of all DIII wrestling schools. I'm guessing each of those states have high percentages of in state participants. Why?

Couple of reasons. 1st off, financial necessity. Why travel to another state to wrestle when in state tuition may be cheaper. Do people in Iowa love the state so much that they don't leave to pay out of state tuition? Of course not and I'm perfectly fine with that. 2nd reason has to deal with the college experience. Is the reason that the DIII athletes from Iowa are that much inferior that they can't cut it on the DI level or is it because they just want to get an education, enjoy college life, and wrestle because of their passion for the sport? I'm guessing both apply. I'm betting there are a few standouts in the DIII level that would have some sort of success at the DI level.

So, if that's true, why can't it be true for Kansas as well?

DI is the pinacle we all strive for when we're young, but when the time comes to make the decision, DI is not always the best option for us.

Prime example of a kid that is going to beat the odds - Lamar. Dad wrestled at Ft. Hays so you know where he's leaning. But Brady is a genius. I know. He was taking high school math classes while still in grade school (I student taught at Silver Lake). Now I'm not trying to slam on Lamar, but as it stands right now, I don't see him having an impact at the DI level immediately. Even if he doesn't at all, his academic performance will get him through no problem. He may never crack varsity, but he knows Nebraska is where he needs to be for his education. Brady is going places and I look forward to seeing him succeed.

Brady has aspirations beyond wrestling and Kansas and Nebraska will take him there. Trust me, I know that wrestling was SECOND in his thoughts.

And why can't it be the same for the other gentleman? Why can't it be that they have partials offered to them from the DI ranks and they opt to stay in Kansas because they can't afford the costs of a partial somewhere else?

There are some athletes that are out there that were similar to my situation. Mom and dad were flat broke. If it weren't for some of the parents in the Topeka Tornado club, I don't think I would have wrestled at all. When it came time to sign with a college, I chose Labette over a few other schools because it was close to home and if I was legitimately cut out for college wrestling, I wouldn't be losing a huge sum of money in the process. Plus if I did decide to wrestle on and it was going to cost me, I was only going to be paying for two years.

I'm betting that was the thought process of some of the kids that are DI talentwise, but just weren't sure if that was for them. The wrestlers mentioned weren't offered a DI scholarship? I don't know many, no lets say any, All Americans that were passed upon by DI schools. Are you saying those listed are the first? Please.....

By using your analogy of DI is the best, everything else is 2nd rate, that would mean that the DIII schools in Iowa are loaded with 2nd rate wrestlers from Iowa that couldn't cut it in the DI ranks. I refuse to believe it.

Wrestling is a vehicle for some to get where they want to go. Not everyone's destination is DI.