Hello and first time poster here!
My name is David Barker and I am a co-director for the Super 32 Challenge "Battle for the Belt" wrestling tournament which will be held October 29 in Greensboro(NC). I have talked to Mike several times in efforts of starting a great tournament in KS that could hopefully become part of a series with our pre-season event.
I have read and understand the concerns posted here about the abundance of "national" tournaments that keep popping up. As Mike mentioned, we do not use the word National nor All-American in our event. We believe that the quality of a tournament is not necessarily determined by its name, but rather by its competitivenes.
For the last few years, our tournament has been within a week or two of another preseason "national" tournament also held in North Carolina. I believe the Super 32 has much greater depth and competition in the high school division than this "national" tournament. Wrestlers who place in the Super 32 are not named "All Americans", yet I believe that they are better off from the competition they get rather than a title which they didn't have to work very hard to earn.
Anyway, here is a little background on our tournament. The Super 32 Challenge: "Battle for the Belt" is a one-day tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina that attracts top wrestlers from across the country. 2005 will be the 7th year and we expect over 1000 entries. We are very excited to be moving to a new location - the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center will allow us to run the tournament on 20 mats in the same area. This year's tournament will be held on October 29. The Super 32 Challenge is quickly becoming one of the largest and most competitive pre-season tournaments for High School and Middle School wrestlers. The 2004 High School Division featured 77 State Champions, 36 State Runners-Up, 80 State Placers (3rd-6th), and 125 State Qualifiers, representing 15 states. Over the past 6 years, our tournament has increased from just over 100 entries to over 700
We differ from other events in that each year, the Super 32 Challenge will award scholarships to at least 2 seniors that compete in the Super 32 Challenge. Over the past 3 years, a total of $2500 has been awarded to 8 different seniors. We also pay table workers which school use as a fundraiser. And last but not least, we currently offer a custom championship belt to the winner in each high school division.
Our webpage is
http://www.super32.com We hope to work with Mike and others in the KS community to bring a top notch event to Kansas.
Yours in wrestling,
Dave
