Community keeps wrestling competition
Posted: January 30, 2012 - 1:02pm

By Tim Hrenchir



THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL


Topeka has successfully resisted efforts by two other communities to wrestle away its status as host for a statewide wrestling competition.

Kansas Expocentre general manager H.R. Cook told Shawnee County Commissioners Ted Ensley, Mary Thomas and Shelly Buhler Monday that board members for the Kansas Kids Wrestling Championships on Sunday accepted this community’s five-year bid to host its annual statewide event at the Kansas Expocentre from 2013 to 2017.

Cook said a group that included himself, Thomas and officials from the Topeka Lodging Association and Visit Topeka Inc. asked the Kansas Kids Wrestling board Sunday in Salina to keep the competition in Topeka, which will host it in March for the 22nd straight year.

Board members also heard officials from Hays and Wichita ask that the event be moved to their communities.

Cook described Thomas as being “the closer” who gave an impassioned speech as members of the local group made their pitch.

Cook also gave credit to the citizens of Shawnee County, saying this community had an advantage over Hays and Wichita “because we care about our events that are here.”

The wrestling championships generate an annual economic impact of $3 million for this community, Cook said.

He said the wrestling championships are this community’s “second-largest event” behind the annual NHRA Summer Nationals held each May at Heartland Park Topeka.

Also at Monday’s meeting, commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a resolution allowing any person seeking to vote by advance ballot to use a county-owned photocopying device to make one copy of an identification document at no cost.

In response to a question from Ensley as to how much of a financial burden the move would place on the county, county counselor Rich Eckert replied, “I can’t imagine it’s going to be very big at all.”

Eckert said the new rule replaces a resolution that required such customers to be charged to use county-owned copiers to copy identification documents.

Eckert expressed the legal opinion that commissioners were required by law to take the action approved Monday.

The resolution commissioners approved noted that the Secure and Fair Elections Act passed by the 2011 Legislature requires voters to provide photo identification each time they vote, and state law calls for officers of any subdivision of the state to allow any person seeking to vote by advance ballot to copy an identification document at no cost.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @timhrenchir.