Congratulations to Dacota Motter and Chuckie Schmidt for placing 1st at Brute. The following El Dorado Wrestlers also placed.
Dacota Motter Champion 3rd Grade 70
Chuckie Schmidt Champion 4th Grade 75
Reno Hughey 4th place 4th grade 65
Daniel Thomas 5th place 6th Grade 80
Austin Hughey 3rd Place 7th Grade 92
Caleb Wallsmith 6th place 7th grade 104
Jesse Brown 5th place 10th grade 106
Josh Brown 5th place 12th Grade 128
Cameron Motter 7th place 12th grade 133

Congratulations to all the Kansas wrestlers that placed this weekend

So for those of you that have been to the one in iowa and brute which do you prefer and which one has the better competition. looks like the brute is an up and coming tournament. too bad they are at the same time or they might get a lot more wrestlers at both. at least i was told they ran the same weekend. pardon me if i am wrong. look forward to going to brute in the future.

This is the first year that Brute and USAW Nationals in Iowa have been on the same weekend. It did not seem to affect the overall numbers in Iowa although I'm sure a lot of KS wrestlers would have liked to go to both. Last year we went to both and I would say Iowa had better competition and was better run. Iowa always seems to come up with some snafu that makes it less than perfect but Brute last year was a NIGHTMARE. Sounds like it was better this year. Once again, Iowa had a few poor planning issues that caused some upset folks. The competition at USAW Iowa was once again excellent though.

Jim Brute last year, for that matter last 2 years, and this year was night and day. This year, one of the better run tournaments of the year, and great comp. Everything including the fan funzone was a blast, great clinics, fun for the kids, parents and no biggie about bringing in snacks, coolers that type of thing. Very much appreciated, and we got to have church on Sunday.

I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU ON HAVING THE "POOL" FOR AN 8-MAN BRACKET. ON OUR SIDE OF THE 4-MAN ROUND ROBIN WE ENDED UP WITH A 3 WAY TIE AND AFTER MUCH ARGUMENT ABOUT THE RULES WE WERE FINALLY INFORMED THEY WENT BY COLLEGE RULES WHICH THEN THE QUICKEST PIN WAS THE DECIDING FACTOR OF WHO GOT TO GO FOR 1ST, 2ND OR 3RD. MY SON WRESTLED AN EXCELLENT TOURNAMENT ON FRI. AND ENDED UP ONLY GETTING TO GO FOR 5TH AND 6TH...HIS WHOLE BRACKET AND THE WAY THE FINALS FELL WAS CLEARLY AN UPSET NOT TO MENTION HEARTBREAK AND FRUSTRATION ON OUR COACHES PART. JUST MY 2 CENTS WORTH!!

Numbers in Iowa were WAY up! The Cadets and Juniors put the Brute Brackets to shame! I can't believe any parent can put a supportive post on here when a tournament does this to wrestling families:

Thursday night only weigh in ONE NIGHT IN A HOTEL
Friday wrestling (most kids brackets had less than 8 wrestlers. They pooled them but with six wrestlers they should have used round robins. Kids wrestled half of day. They don't wreste again until Sunday. TWO MORE NIGHTS IN A HOTEL
$20 to watch, $45 or $60 to wrestle, $85 to coach. That plus travel to get there. A family could go broke!

I got a coaches band in Iowa for FREE! Entry fee was only $25 or $35 for each wrestler. Kansas is a USA Wrestling State and this is a USA Talk Forum and we should have been sending more wrestlers to Iowa. One coaches band would have paid for the gas! They didn't use Trackwrestling but I heard they started really late on Sunday too! Check out the brackets (there were 2,318 wrestlers there) for both tournaments and then post which tournament was better. Hands down, USA NATIONALS.

Renee,

I understand the frustration and empathisize with your example and what happened to your son. What happened in that bracket is the risk with running "pools" vise brackets. Having said that, the majority of the 4 man pools didn't have that issue and it allowed the kids to get more matches.

Will,

I will not disagree with your analysis of the number of kids competing at the different tournaments. I think both tournaments are great opportunities and wonderful experiences for the kids. Hopefully in the future they can work out the schedules so they do not conflict and therefore kids can attend both.

I do have to disagree with your believe parents cannot put on a supportive post for the Brute tournament. From your perspective I understand where you are coming from. You did however forget to add what people got for their money....

Coaches received very nice jackets.

Kids that make the finals get custom made singlets.

Coaches got very nice collared shirts for every kid they had make the finals.

Champions get a nice pullover jacket (grades 1-8) or a nice watch (grades 9-12).

As mentioned earlier, the additional stuff to attend for the kids, parents, and coaches was outstanding.

I am not trying to justify the cost or argue with you. The intent is to let people know what they got for their $$$$. Some will argue that this stuff isn't important or worth the cost....ok, got it; for some it is. Bottomline: The parent, coach, or kids can make that decision for themselves. All I am trying to do is give additional info so people can make an informed decision.

Here are some of the other improvements I noticed this year.....

1. The location and organization of the tournament was much better than the past 3 years. Last year weigh ins was a huge cluster, this year it was well organized. It took me less than 5 minutes to sign in my son, weigh him in and get my coaches band.

2. They assigned brackets to tables (no pit area) for the majority of the wrestling. This allowed the tournament to move very quickly and efficiently. On Fri and Sat wrestling was supposed to start at 0800 hrs....matches were starting at 0800 hrs both days. Sunday there was a delay because it seemed there was a debate about how to do the finals. They did it one way for the 1-8 graders (not very efficient). They changed it for the high schoolers and it ran very smooth.

If you attended Brute last year, and you didn't attend this year it is very hard to compare. The difference was night and day. You can tell that they are a learning organization and trying to do the right thing for the kids and all involved.

Bottomline: I think both are great events. In a perfect world they would not be at the same time. That way kids can attend both events.

Leavenworth County Spartans placed the following....

9th Grade:
Dillon Scanlon; 128 lbs; 2nd
Spencer Blew; 133 lbs; 4th
Tyler Terron; 143 lbs; 2nd
Zach Hammer; 288 lbs; 2nd

10th Grade:
Mike Beachem; 133 lbs; 6th
Josh Bush; 192 lbs; 8th

11th Grade:
Grant Hinckley; 174 lbs; 4th

12th Grade:
Ashton Cooper; 174 lbs; 6th
David Wilk; 174 lbs; 2nd

3rd Grade:
Brock Budke; 60 lbs; 4th
Dylan Gowin: 60 lbs; 5th
Daniel Butler: 70 lbs; 3rd

4th Grade:
Preston Judd; 70 lbs; 8th

7th Grade:
Jared Johnson; 111 lbs; 3rd
Nathan Butler; 135 lbs; 1st
Aaron Brown; 148 lbs; 1st

8th Grade:
Adam Thomas; 98 lbs; 7th
Derek Pike; 133 lbs; 5th
Jordan Bush; 138 lbs; 5th
Nick Pursel; 148 lbs; 1st

Congratulations guys!

I would like to say congradulations to all 15 All American placers from the Ottawa Mat Masters!!! You all did a great job and I am very proud of all of you!

Congratulations to the Atchison County Wrestlers

Zakk Hollands Effingham WC 6th Gr. 80# 3rd place
Tyler Harris Atchison WC 5th Gr. 80# 3rd place (2x All-American)
Nick Spilman Effingham WC 8th Gr. 168# 1st place
Willy Dieckmann Effingham WC 5th Gr. 75# 4th Pl (2x All American)

I think Brute was great! All of the fun stuff down stairs was awesome! In terms of cost we were allowed to bring in coolers which saved a fortune! Cool Clinics that were all included! Tons of extermely comfortable seating! Well worth the money! We will go back again just to see the improvements! It is definately night and day from last year! As for the olympic pool it is the same criteria for a tied round robin in kids.First place goes to the one who has the most pins. And if there is still a tie it goes to fastest! We have one little boy in our club who had three way ties 4 times this year! It is really no different than an 8 man! If one match was lost in a traditional 8 man then they are forced to the back where the best possible senerio is 3rd! Anyway I think the 3 way tie sucks too and wish there was a better way!:)

was a special guest at this tournament. i remember when i went to state and john smith was there for the parade.

Ben Askren.

Gave free clinics and autographs.

Ell, don't take this the wrong way...(don't you hate it when someone starts with that)...there is a way to stay out of a 3 way tie. WIN all of your matches.

BELIEVE ME MY SON WRESTLED HIS HEART OUT ON FRI. AND TRIED TO STAY AWAY FROM THE TIE FACTOR. AND IN KIDS WRESTLING IF THERE IS A TIE IT THEN GOES TO THE POINT SYSTEM WHICH IS BASED ON PINS AND SUCH AND I UNDERSTAND THAT BUT ONCE AGAIN WHEN WE EVEN DID THAT ALL 3 KIDS GOT 4 POINTS FOR A MAJ. DECISION AND 1 POINT FOR A PIN EACH SO THEY WERE ALL TIED UP AGAIN WHICH THEN IN KIDS WRESTLING GOES TO A WRESTLE OFF. I JUST DIDN'T AGREE WITH THE WAY THE BRACKETS WERE BROKE UP ON SOME AND LEFT AS 8-MAN'S ON OTHERS...WHAT WAS THEIR CRITERIA OF WHO THEY DECIDED TO SPLIT INTO THE 4-MAN ROUND ROBINS? AND WHY COULDN'T THEY HAVE LET THE KIDS HAVE THE WRESTLE OFF WHEN THE COACHES ALL AGREED BUT THEN THEY THREW IN THE QUICKEST PIN WHICH FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND IS COLLEGE RULE...THESE AREN'T COLLEGE KIDS, THEY'RE FIFTH GRADERS! ANYWAY, WE JUST HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH IT BUT IT SEEMED TO WORK WELL FOR OTHERS...MY SON KNOWS WHERE HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THAT PODIUM.

As our first year attending the BAN, I agree that overall it was well ran and it was a great experience for most wrestlers. We will definitely attend again next year. (Congratulations to Jonny for 3rd place!)

That being said, I am extremely disapponted in the manner that they treated their volunteers. We were promised donations to our clubs, gear for our wrestlers and refunds for our admission without any follow through.

I volunteered for two days primarily for the wrestlers and completely enjoyed doing so, but the additional promised incentives would have been nice.

I have indeed tried to follow-up via email, but no one seems to know who or how to contact the right person.

USAWMom

Our family likes this tournament. Cool coach's jacket, a coach's finalist shirt, a singlet for being in the finals, a cool athletic jacket for winning the finals. A great place to "play" if you didn't quite make it that far.

The Fan Fair area had a rock climb, a jousting game, XXXXXXball goals (can you write the real word on this forum???). This was a nice addition to the tournament.

Wrestling clinics throughout both days. Autographs by Ben Askren. Volunteer/Worker opportunities that got me in free. I got a cool volunteer jacket and they fed me for volunteering on Friday. And I got to see all of my sons' matches. Overall, a great weekend!

Was entry fee more than other tournaments? Yes. Did we get more for the fee? Yes. From there everybody has to make their own decision as to whether it is worth it or not.

It worked our pretty well for me....volunteered with weigh ins both nights...got a band to get in free for the 3 days and a pullover jacket. Was able to walk onto the floor at all times. I also helped out in the "fun" area for the kids for a couple of hours on Saturday...what a mad house! But the kids were having a blast! I just signed up to volunteer to get in free...was unaware of anything else being donated to clubs or otherwise. The tourney on a whole was 200% better ran than last year!! Our club took 2 mats, ran 3 tables, helped with set up and tear down. Barely got to see your own kids wrestle and dead tired at the end of the weekend! This year watched every match...had time to make sure the kids good to go thru out the day. My youngest took 1st for the 2nd year in a row (5th grade 85lbs) and my oldest placed 5th (9th 133lbs) after an awesome weekend of wrestling! My husband was a little upset that he pd the $85 for the coaches fee on line and could have pd $60 at the door the day of the tournament(he could care less about the pullover). I figure by working approx 6hrs I saved $60 dollars. This paid for the one night stay at the Super Eight! Could have pd the $114 +tax and stayed at the Marriot, but wanted saved the additional $60 by staying both nights at the Super 8. About a 15 minute drive each way...but better than the 2hr drive each way had we went home each night! The way gas prices are...it was cheaper just to stay in KC. So all in all worked out ok. Would like it to be less expensive but my youngest did get the better end of the deal...new singlet, plaque, medal, jacket, and shirt for dad. We'll be back next year!

I did not sign up to volunteer in advance, I responded when they announced that they needed additional volunteers. All I asked for was my admission fee to be refunded or credited toward gear purchase.
USAWMom

Beeson, in the smaller brackets they made 2 round robins and the winners of each wrestled each other in the finals and they did the same for 2nd & 3rd and so on. Not a true bracket but they filled thier finals matches.