will they ever add a 6 and under division to the state tournement in topeka

I hope not. Would the 6 and under be for the kids or for the parents of the kids?

The answer is no they won't! But when they move State to Wichita hopefully to the new sports arena (if we get it) they will. Plus the Dodge City people will be happy.

Cody Calvin won the 8 and under when he was either 6 or 7 and I can assure you it was as equally rewarding for him as it was his parents. Not all parents are morons in it for themselves though I have met some that were in it for themselves even when their kids were much older.

1654 registered 6 & under
101 registered 16 & under
who deserves it more.

Glad to hear that it was rewarding for Cody. I just don't want to see parents burn their kids out on wrestling.

Most of the 16 & unders don't register until they are eligible to wrestle, when their high school season is over. I would imagine most of the 16 & unders already registered were either registered at the same time as their younger siblings, or they had to get their card early to participate in fall brawl.

Most 16 & unders who come back to club wrestling have spent years in the kids system and really enjoy the chance to come back. Those who haven't are oftentimes newer wrestlers who would really like an opportunity for more mat time to better prepare them for their next high school season. Many of them enjoy the chance to compete against current and former rivals whose schools are in different classes. You may see a 4A state champ wrestle a state champ from another class, or any number of similar scenarios.

These wrestlers have earned this opportunity, they comprehend it and they appreciate it. I think the 6 & Under Championships are a great idea. It gives them their own facililty, it's all about them, and it doesn't take so long, which benefits the little ones. They have lots of years to grow and learn in wrestling, and at the end of those years, many of those wrestlers will truly value that chance to come back.

even through ottawa throws a great tournement for the 6 and under kids it doesnt have the same excitment that the big state tournement has

No, it doesn't, but it is still exciting for the wrestlers. If they continue wrestling, they will have ten more chances for that big excitement. Today's 6 & Unders will be one day's 16 & Unders and there will be a lot of them that don't want to miss out on their last two chances to compete at Kids' State. It would be great if they could add everyone, it's just probably not feasible logistically. If you added them, somebody would be wrestling out in the exhibition hall, which also takes away from the big show. If it doesn't happen, it's okay. They'll age a year or two, and they'll be there.

How about we add the 6 and under, and wrestle middle school and high school weight classes. That would give the young ones a true state and give the older boys the chance to wrestle without adding more wrestlers to an already big tourny.

Bingo

This would be great if it ever happened, and a formula I would easily support.

Sounds like a good idea.

As a parent and a coach. I say no to the 6 and under state tournament. A two month season and 20 matches is plenty for that age division. I personally would like to see these kids wrestle in high school and not raise their expectations at such an early age. I see enough tears from this age group daily at practice, regular tournaments, and their attention span is very short to begin with. That is just my two cents worth. I was against it 12 years ago and I am still against a 6 and under state tournament this year. This topic gets voted on every other year by the club representatives at the state meeting. I guess you know my vote.

Coach Sean

my son wrestled at ottawa 6 & u the past two years. he had 32 & 64 man brackets!! two years ago he got on the back side and wrestled 7 matches in one day!! It is a very popular and definitely a great tournament. I think the format could be better in regular two day state tounament scenario. If you look at many of the 8 & u brackets many of those kids are 6 & u kids anyway. If you put 6 & u in the State Tournaments you would allow more 8 & u to make it too. I recall this topic being brought for the last three years. No changes yet.

6U does not need to be at state. These are all novice kids I would rather give the oppurtunity to 16U kids that have worked for years to become good wrestlers. a lot of 6U quit within a couple of years.If they are good they can wrestle 8U at state.Let them learn the sport and lets give the oppurtunity to compete to the kids that really deserve it.

Wrestling 7 matches in one day? hmmmm

Well I think the 6 and under is to young to put that kindof pressure on a child but that is only my opinion. I would like to see them learning more then competing. I really don't even like the idea of 6 and under wrestling against 8 and under at state because 6 is very young.

I know there is a lot of interest and probably should be put into State but I just can't see why we need to. Let the learning become the important issue.

I agree. I think that kids this young don't need the extra pressure to win. Even in regular tournaments, I have seen parents get so upset when their young son loses a match or a kid start crying when they lose because they have "disappointed" their parents. What happens to wrestler burnout? Are we pushing kids to young too hard? Is it really that important that a 6 year old is a state champion? What other sport starts this young with a state championship?

There have been several posts on this subject and thought that BOS made a decent point here. Let me explain, here is the numbers of registered USA Wrestlers in Kansas:

6 & Under - 1,654
7 & 8 - 1,555
9 & 10 - 1,433
11 & 12 - 1,194
13 & 14 - 626
15 & 16 - 101
over 16 - 29

It is certain that the numbers for 15 & 16 and over 16 will go up with the conclusion of the High School Season and the beginning of the Freestyle / Greco Season.

That said, it is obvious that the largest membership of USA Wrestlers in Kansas does not receive all of the full benefits if considering that the State Tournament is one of the benefits, which I believe it is. I support the incorporation of a 6 & Under state for one primary reason; BOS is absolutely correct, when polls in the past have been put out, the overwhelming majority of individual members of Kansas USA Wrestling supports 6 and under being involved in the state tournament.

I believe that the additional volunteer base will help make up for additional volunteers that are needed, and provide additional revenues to take care of the additional costs. I also believe that if done correctly that you can include 6 & Under as well as keep the 16 and under, especially if using one of the proposals presented above, a single Jr. High Age division, and a single High School Division, in some ways this would also provide a sort of Grand State format for Kansas. The room that is currently used for weigh in's in Topeka could be used for additional mat space if needed. I know there is a cost to this, but remember more kids, more parents, more wrestlers, more fans, equals more revenues to pay for the additional costs.

A couple of other points and I'll let the debate continue. By the way, I really don't want to offend anyone here. I have a concern as to who should be making these decisions and that those making the decisions vote the way the majority in their districts choose as opposed to their own concerns. That is a part of the responsibility of representative representation. I would hope that individuals would seek appropriate information from those in their districts before placing a vote. The process is again pretty easy. The forums for example allow polls to take place and again, if one is placed here I believe we will see that easily over 60% of persons voting in that poll support the incorporation of 6 & under at the state tournament. Lastly, it should be clear that I don't have a child in this age group, my son is quite a bit older now and I will likely never have a son in this age group, hopefully someday a grandchild but never again a son. I have been involved in the sport for some time now and believe that the getting “burned-out” argument just don’t hold much water to me. For some kids, when pressure is placed on them by the coach and parents, that is certainly so, but that “burned-out” feeling can happen for a 1st year wrestler starting in Jr. High. Kids are actually pretty resilient and the truth of it is that, for many, to have one chance to wrestle at the big show, is better than never having the chance at all.

By the way, there are those that I have a great deal of respect for like Coach Lemon that obviously disagree with me, I am okay with that and won't loose any respect, we just disagree.