I agree with one point in your post, there was some exceptional wrestling. As for the rest, I was dumbfounded after reading it. As a MO fan I feel the kids we had represented our state just fine. As far as how a kid reacts after losing a close match (especially one he feels he should have one) I try to give them a LITTLE slack in how they react immediately following the match. The same goes for the KS wrestler that won when he made the obscene gesture to the MO fans after getting his hand raised in a match that he got thoroughly dominated in. That was a sad display which I’m sure the KS fans didn’t see since his back was to them.

But to suggest that we not pick our best wrestlers and spend time training our refs, I have some suggestions for you. Its not the refs that have dominated this event for the last three years and I know the MO coaches spent a lot of time picking the wrestlers because many of the weights, there were as many as 4 or 5 other wrestlers in the METRO that were just as capable of winning as the ones that were picked and I don’t see this changing the next couple of years with kids like Grahams and Bailey following.

But as long as you’re taking a collection for ref training, I think many fans would gladly accept it after what we see every year at our state tournament.

I would like to congratulate all wrestlers on both sides of the state line. Just being selected to this team is a great accomplishment, win or lose.