State Wrestling in Salina

I came in not knowing what to expect with three classes in the same venue for three days.

I left enjoying watching all of it! The crowd was as big as I've ever seen it inside the Tony's Pizza Events Center on Saturday. The PA announcers were great, and I would bet for all the 3-2-1A fans, that had to have been a breath of fresh air.

The thing that needs to be tweaked is they need to use six mats on Saturday to speed things up. Saturday drug on too long. I don't know if Salina's TPEC is the right venue, but I liked watching all the classes at the same time.

Seating was not great, but I sat with some of my wrestlers and nephew by the trophy tables, so we had a nice view, but not comfortable for the finals. Parking was pretty difficult, but once 4a left, it did open things up. The 1st day it took me 1/2 hr to get in with my girl, because security was pretty intense and it seemed all the girls were there at the same time to get in. And yes, there was no reason for us to be there on Saturday for 14hrs. I would hate to think that they knew how long it was going to take when planning it out last year and did nothing to change it up. More mats or run another round on Friday, now they know. To be honest, it didn’t seem like a State tournament because you were there for 3 rounds and then gone. I didn’t really even watch very many 4a finals, because 3A is what interested me and a couple of the girls finals. It was extremely difficult to get on Track (no wi-fi) and switch from bracket to bracket. The hospitality room was not great in the am, but decent in the afternoon. I talked with some 4a coaches and they said the lunch was way better than years past. Me and my wrestlers spent most of our time in the camp area, so as long as the screen was on/correct, we were fine and could get into the arena without too much pushing. The PA announcers were doing a fantastic job of keeping everyone up to date on ranked vs ranked kids or a big match going on. My kids didn’t think the play by play was necessary. I do like that they finally seeded the regional champs, thanks to the 4a kids for that. Maybe it will be taken farther in the years to come. I thought that weight might have been picked out to be the final match. I know it’s supposed to be a random draw, but we are not that gullible.
I’m sure this was way easier on the NAIA/JUCO coaches that I visited with, but it shouldn’t be made easier just for college coaches.
I also have an issue with girls having a whole week off that the boys didn’t get. Unless they will rotate them next year so they each get that week to recover and also hold their weight.

I really thought it was going to be worse than it was, so I give KSHSAA a passing grade. I’m sure they are pleased to know that. lol

Oh, I was wanting to get in when they were doing the 2nd set of podium placers and a security guard wasn’t going to let me
in( I stepped out for a walk). I had my band/coach tag on. He kept asking if I was a medal presenter, which I wasn’t, I let my wrestlers mom do it. But I told him I was the head coach I just wanted to get a picture of my wrestler. Finally a guard that knew me, opened the gate and let me enter. Then when it was all over, #285 had their medals and pictures were done they weren’t letting people out. I explained to them that it was over, but they had to confer with people on the radio to open the gate and let us leave. I had been in and out of the arena for 3 days at my own leisure and at the end I couldn’t get in or out.

These are just my thoughts on how it was ran and what can be done different if we are in a similar situation in the upcoming years.

But, if you haven’t been to Hays, it really does have a lot of upside. Less security measures to deal with, a nice big track to camp on that’s very close to the mats, a very good hospitality room, better wi-fi, an overhead board that has matches/upcoming matches. If I didn’t have to deal with the silly roundabouts, Hays would be perfect every year.
Have a great “offseason”.

I agree. I was skeptical going in, because I love everything about the State tournament in Hays. If things stay in Salina, the only thing I would like to see changed would be Saturday's session. 6 mats instead of 3 through the Consolation semi's, 5th place and 3rd place matches, then tear down to three mats for the finals. It did seem to drag on. Other than that things ran smooth for the most part.

Lance Walker
Cimarron Wrestling

What do you guys think of having just placements on Saturday? Move consi-semis to Friday on 8 mats since that was the shortest day. Also, I think having one awards at the very end with mats rolled up so all parents/coaches can get a picture of their kid would be good. Would also maintain flow of wrestling for kids/coaches and fans the came to watch wrestling.

The biggest thing I missed about Hays was the jumbotron. It was difficult to see when kids were up and the mat numbers for spectators in the stands. I hope they can figure something out for that next year if they continue this path. That was very frustrating as a parent. The wifi was non existent inside so you couldn't keep up that way. We ended up heading home Friday evening because our kid was sick, but watching from home and seeing the last 285 match get over at I think around 7:30 was crazy. That would have been an extremely long day sitting around. I also get frustrated every single year with some tournaments and especially state. Quit doing awards until everyone is done wrestling. The last match of the day deserves the same recognition as the first finals match. It looked like the stands were about empty for the 285 Match. The last few weights on both the girls and boys always seem to get the short end of the stick. maybe i am just bias because my kids are always towards the end since kids club

I loved everything about it except the consolation semi final round lasting over 2.5 hours and Saturday lasting 14 hours! I 100% think an easy fix to this is run consolation Semi's on Friday on 8 mats. Other than that it was a great experience!

Hopefully they will split 4a girls from 321a girls and we will be back in Hays next year. Thursday and Friday was great. Saturday was awful. I would just rather wrestle in Hays. Better parking, better arena, jumbotron, room for the kids to have camps 20 feet from the mats, better hospitality room. Only down side is the announcing.

Do they have enough girls to split the classes?

These would be excellent implementations. Corrects almost all of the problems. Really can't believe how great the first 2 days where. The 3rd day was just long with no sense of urgency to hurry. Pictures for all after mats are rolled up is a great idea, allows coaches / athletes to stay locked in. Weigh in procedures and times need to be made public knowledge early in the year, so that athletes can practice making weight in the evening or morning depending on what class they are. #justletjoerunit

Surely I can't be the only one that didn't like the announcers babbling on, talking for 3 whole days? If you listened closely, they did mispronounce names also, and get the scores wrong on occasion. ( I know, 8 mats, blah, blah). The view from the sides sucked, couldn't see a third of the 4 mats that were closest to you or the 4 score clocks on your side. Concession lines were incredibly long on Saturday also. There were some positives also, I'm just here to even things out, as this thread seems to be leaning pretty heavily to the positive side.

I thought Thursday and Friday flew by, it was nice to get in and out. However, if I can give my thought... It would be to keep the rounds the same on Thursday and Friday with 8 mats but move all the semi's to a Friday evening session. Get all 3 groups together and run the semis on 6 mats, semis are a big round for everyone. Then keep the 6 mats going on Saturday, 2 mats per group and then break down to the 3 mats for finals.

I liked the announcements a lot. It was one way to keep track of who might be wrestling on a certain mat. A matter of fact they didn't do the announcements on Saturday morning during consolation semis and I felt lost. Great job to the announcers. It was the biggest improvement in going from 321A in Hays to 4-1A in Salina. All in all I still want it back in Hays. If it stays in Salina. I would like to keep consolations semis on Saturday, but run 6 mats all days Saturday (cons. semis, 5th place, and 4rd place) except for finals go to 3 mats.

In all honesty. I heard so much about getting more classes to one spot. As a 321A guy...All in all I only watched maybe 4 of the 4A boys matches. Maybe a handful of 4-1A girls.
Craig Amrein
Hill City