Toughest Kansas HS schedule?

SJA Thunder

12/1 - Trailblazer Invitational - Gardner HS (Toughest 1 day tournament in KS!)

12/7-12/8 - Mid America Nationals - Tulsa Union HS

12/14-12/15 - KC Classic Hale Arena - KC, MO (Toughest individual tournament in the U.S., within the KSHSAA travel restrictions )

1/5 - Lepic Duals - Iowa City West HS

1/12 - Bobcat Classic - Basehor Linwood HS

1/18 - 1/19 - Platte County Pirate Invitational - Platte County HS

1/25 - 1/26 - Rocky Welton Invitational - Garden City's new palace on the plains!

2/2 - Silver Lake Invitational - Silver Lake HS

2/15 - 2/16 KSHSAA 4A or 5A Regional

2/22 - 2/23 KSHSAA 4A or 5A State

See you dropped the JoCo Classic.

That is one tough schedule!!

Yes indeed, that is one bona fide big time schedule.
Best wishes to SJA wrestlers and coaches this 2012-2013 season.
Enjoy fans and family.

SJA has a tough super tough schedule!! If you want to push your kids to the next level you have to wrestle the best kids in the state/nation to see where you stand! Kuddos to SJA

I'll throw in the Lansing schedule as maybe the all-in-state toughest schedule. Everyone of those tournaments are tough.

Does SJA not wrestle duals? are they in a league?

Off the top of my head for Andale:
Pratt
Clay Center
Tulsa Union
Bobcat
Garden City
Rose Hill
Bishop Carroll
4A Regional (which X man will point out isn't as tough as 5a or 6a)
4A State (which X man will point out isn't as tough as 5a or 6a)

Oh, wait, if Goddard is 4a this year, 4a will be the toughest........

Doug
ps been a while since I posted, figured I might try to get Coach X's blood pressure up.........

I think they have a dual with Mill Valley right before the lepic duals the old man forgot about. They aren't in a league.

The "old man" didn't forget... The 3 AD's they use over at USD 232 couldn't keep things straight so they are not returning to SJA this year for a dual. SJA is looking for a team to dual.

How many other teams in the state of kansas aren't in a league?

For 3A this is not bad...
Pratt
Hesston
Derby
Clearwater
Garden City
Circle

Norton Schedule:

Hoxie Invitational
MCL Dual Tour
Goodland Dual Tour
Clay Center Invitational
Norton J.R. Durham Invitational
Newton Tournament of Champions
MCL-NWKL: NW KS Tournament of Champions
Phillipsburg Panther Classic

The KSHSAA lists the following member schools as being Independent in 2011-12 (the new school directory is not yet available):

Hamilton,
Junction City-Saint Xavier,
Lawrence-Bishop Seabury Academy,
Lenexa-St. James Academy,
Olathe-Kansas School for the Deaf,
Powhattan-Kickapoo Nation,
Salina-St. John's Military Academy,
Shawnee-Marantha Academy,
Wichita-North East Magnet

If I have any input SJA will never belong to a league for wrestling. With the post season series in place what do we really need a league in any sport for? You can win regional, sub state, state? Who cares if you are "League Champion"? It is an antiquated and obsolete concept. A league does make the AD's job much easier, however...

Back in the day, given the competitive restrictions that were in place, leagues for wrestling made sense; whether or not it "made the AD's job easier" is strictly based on one's definition of "easier." I do agree that in today's LESS restrictive scheduling environment, league wrestling is certainly not necessary from the stand point of developing a competitive schedule; however, IMO being a league champion is still a worthy accomplishment.

When I was in school we did not wrestle in a league, mostly because there were only a handful of schools with wrestling in our league at that time. But I do know that when we would wrestle the schools that were in our league from Football, basketball, etc.... it got the competitive juices running a bit. I agree that leagues for wrestling are somewhat useless, but on the other hand I also think it keeps that rivalry juices in the schools going, and even sometimes gets more fans to come out and watch a duel if it is against a league foe.

I agree being in a league and doing well in your league is a good thing for high school athletes. Something to be proud of. I am certainly proud of my runner-up finishes from back in the day.

Of those independent schools how many have a wrestling program?

Lazyman. . ."of the independent schools how many have a wrestling program?"

In 2011-12

St. James Academy
St. Johns Military

Olathe North has added the Mid America Nationals tournament to their schedule which already includes Gardner and Bobcat.

So, what's with this doug747?

Sorry for the belated response doug747. I have been reassigned at work and I have more responsibilities now which has caused me to become disconnected somewhat with good old usawks.com. I am now finally starting to get caught up so I thought I would get reconnected so to speak. So I got on and started looking around and look what I found. Came across your comment/dig and of course was a little tickled and excited. I do know the really belated nature of any response makes it almost pointless, but I didn't want to let you down by not responding. You definitely deserve some kind of response doug747 because you are V.I.P., so here it is.

As for getting my blood pressure up doug747, you can forget about that. That ain't happening. I am way to busy to worry about your tickie tack comment, or anyone else's for that matter.

Of course doug747 you know that I never said that 5A or 6A were tougher than 4A, just that they are as tough for sure. I will never conceed that 4A is tougher, that is really for sure. Maybe it used to be back in the day, but certainly not now. Anybody that still thinks that is clearly living in the past and needs to get out of denial. Chief's rankings verify that. They are equally tough and it really depends on the year and the weight. Of course a combined 5A/6A class would be much tougher than 4A and would be ridiculously unfair, even though life is not supposed to be fair right.

If Goddard were in 4A doug747 that would not necessarily make it the toughest, but it would certainly be tougher. Now if Goddard, Ark City and Andover Central all went to 4A, then it would be the toughest. But they are all in 5A, so you can figure that out. Plus with St. Thomas, St. James and Newton in 5A, it's pretty much a no brainer. And plus now with St. James in 5A, Will C. will probably conceed finally that 4A is not the toughest, but we'll see I guess.

Hey though doug747, have a great day and a great season! Best wishes to you and your family!

+1!!! I think most ADs understand this but would rather hit the easy button in terms of doing "what we've always done."

It's about time!!! 5A is ridiculous, to use one of your words......

4A overall not as tough as in years past, but team title will be wide open this year, as will 6A, IMO.

Yes doug747, good use of "my" word.

I hope that perhaps we can begin to put to rest the ridiculous notion of combining 5A and 6A because if 5A is ridiculous by itself, then a combined 5A/6A class would be more than ridiculous and any notions of that go beyond ridiculous and become completely asinine.
You can use that word as well.

I hope you're not saying that I was one of those that says to combine them, cause I don't believe I ever said that. I would like for them to (and I don't know if I ever publicly said this either) do two regionals, and take top 8, so that we didn't leave any of the tough guys at home........Or should I say tougher guys. ALL wrestlers are tough, or they wouldn't step on the mat.

No my good friend I was certainly not suggesting that you were one who said combine them. I know good and well that you are more connected than that because you are V.I.P. doug747. I just thought that was a great opportunity for me to throw that out again.

Agree we should do 2 regionals with 8 each qualifying. That would avoid the whole weak regional thing and ensure we would have a better chance of making sure the best get there and that a tough or tougher guy was not left home.

Agree also that all wrestlers are tough, that is those that stay out and actually compete/step on the mat.

Wichita Heights (Not toughest schedule in the state but pretty solid)

Valley Center Duals
Bishop Carroll Inv.
Derby Inv.
Newton Inv.
Junction City Inv.
GWAL Tourney
Regional Tourney
State Tourney

8 Mandatory League Duals

Ark City High School

-Ark City Tournament
-Perry Tournament of Champions
-Kansas City Classic- this tournament is super tough
-Derby Tournament
-Newton TOC
-Garden City Tournament