I still think it is a question with no answer that is right for everyone. As I said before, we elected to do middle school wrestling. If our son was a potential trinity award winner, with opportunities to earn D 1 Scholarships and had dedicated his life to becoming one of the best wrestlers in the nation, I would have to consider long and hard whether or not I would encourage him to give all this up for the 9 duals and a league championship. Even though our son is not a national caliber wrestler, this year he again will forego the opportunity to wrestle at the Salina TOC and the Classic. I understand the need to support our middle school programs. Good things happen in middle school wrestling. It is nice to help future teammates improve and to learn team scoring and transition to high school wrestling. In general, I think this is the route to take, but I don't think it is the perfect answer for 2000 different kids from 500 different middle schools.

Lastly, individual advancement is not necessarily a bad thing. Local wrestlers competing at the national level brings interest to the sport and personal reward to some of the hardest working, most dedicated and deserving athletes in the state.