It is once again time for Beeson to complain about the Clubs in District 2 not supporting their Schools.

Every year we hear how weak Middle School season is and that is the reason clubs do not support their schools. Earlier today I looked at the results for Salina. Competition in the 12U and 14U division was okay at best. I looked at the competition at Middle School; Goddard(Young Guns), Maize, Hutch, El Dorado, Winfield, Ark City, Derby, Andover Central, Haysville, Mulvane, and Augusta just to name a few. There are some really good kids out for Middle School. There are some really good kids that should be out for Middle School that are not.

My Point is, if all of the kids that were elegible for Middle School wrestling went out for Middle School, Middle School(at least in D2) would be more competitive than the weekend tournaments. Right now, NEITHER is that impressive.

I commend the kids and parents of those that support their schools. The Schools support the Clubs by allowing them a place to practice. Maybe the clubs should show some gratitude and support the schools. The key is not to seek out competition away from Middle School, but go out for Middle School and make it tougher.

Get the whole state on the same time line you would get more kids out for middle school.My son gose to school where we have the late middle school.We go to a club that has there middle school early.Cole will miss middle school next year.

Charles Bradford

Charles, I appreciate your post and understand your dilema. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I understand it. BUT This Topic is for the District 2 Clubs. All of the clubs and schools I mentioned are on the same schedule. All of the clubs I mentioned are super tough. There is no reason, why the middle school season should not be tougher than Kids. The kids can still go to Tulsa Nationals, wrestle what would be a very tough Middle School season and then come back for Kids State. District 2 is what the Topic is about. Add in the other 3 Districts and my thread will get hi-jacked.

Kansas needs to get on board and let them do BOTH. Most middle school meets are during the week, with a couple weekend tourneys. Then they could wrestle for club on weekends. Doing middle school would make the later tourneys smaller in the older divisions. Clubs depend on numbers of entries to for support. Ark City tourney is before middle school starts. What about the clubs that have theirs during middle school season? Should they suffer, due to, not being able to do both?

14U does not usually have a bunch of numbers anyway, and you will still have all of the 6th graders at those tournaments for 12U. I do not think the numbers would hurt as much as you think. I agree, it would be nice to be able to do both, but that is not an option right now. I don't understand why clubs are not in it to make their High School teams better. Getting the kids to be a team in Middle School is the way to do that. The competition is not strong in either, Kids club or Middle School. I just think the right thing to do is support your School. They support the clubs. Where do most of the Clubs Practice?

It is also a coaching issue also. Several of the MS coaches are teacher that may have or have not wrestled. That is where parents have problem for those programs.

I also looked at that a little different this year, and let my boy do MS. It was mainly for soem leadership development. He is the one that the coaches call on for help, he leads the running, stretching..etc. He pushes other kids that will be his teamates in high school to get better by practicing harder.

To me that was a good trade off than going to 14U and wretling alot of the same 2-3 kids all year long, eventhough those 2-3 are tough kids it gets stale seeing the same one all the time.

I also think it is a time for some kids that have been pushed for so long to enjoy some wrestling before entering High scool and having a rough couple of year (for some).

I would welcome being able to do both at the same time but that will never change.

I would also more than anything like the Pioneer league change to the earlier schedule and then I think you could get every sinlge one of the out.

YES if all the district 2 public schools went out for middle school it would be great competition. But, where does that leave the private school and home school kids SOL.

They are still recruiting at that point.....

MS wrestling is good for conditioning a HWT. There I said something positive.

really tracy i will try not to ask how many kids from hutch are really from hutch if you want to talk about recruiting hahaha.

I like the freedom you have in club wrestling, you can go anywhere you want from local to national tournaments. You can practice w/ other clubs and attend open rooms(Andale). Coaches can work w/ thier kids anytime they choose! Guess I have a little problem with authority.

I am fine with that, I am a Buhler High School guy so we know that all too well.

Is that one of the problems? Daddy's not willing to let go?

Maybe the High School Head Coaches and AD's need to get on the same page and not let the clubs use the practice rooms if the clubs don't contribute to the Middle School progams. It has got to go both ways.

As far as Private and Home Schooling...well there are advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes your the windshield, sometimes your the bug.

I was told that the Topeka area middle school season was over sometime in early December and is it true that the Wichita area middle school season is going on right now? Do Shawnee Mission schools (kansas city area) even have middle school sports? I saw a plan a few years back to cut out middle school sports in Shawnee Mission district and make everything club only. Tough to have any decent middle school wrestling (or good kids tournament numbers) in 12 and under or 14 and under if there is such non-uniformity.

Ok Chad,
Ponder this you have a stud wrestler, he goes to middle school room, now for what I have seen, by going to some duals, he IMOP, WILL NOT GET BETTER. Not all but most kids have never wrestled before, hence novice. Some have but finding that special partner close to your own weight would be tough. Or your studs will beat the hell out of the new kids and discourage them from continuing the sport. Pros and cons on both sides of the fence.

Now not using a school facility? Really? Derby, Maize, Brawlers, (no middle school offered), Young Guns, Andover, etc. feed into the High Schools and the High School coaches know it.

Until Kansas allows us to do BOTH. Then let middle school be what it is and let club be what it is. Go where it is best for the kid, not the school. I have seen kids quit club, go to middle school and thrive, but you don't see many of them at Subs. Some go to middle school due to lack of wrestlers in their bracket in club, especially in the upper weights.

Jeff Smith did lots of research on this topic 1 1/2yrs ago. KASSHA had no problem with doing both. It was up to each individual schools A.D. To allow it. Now who is holding the sport back? The kids or the school? Example:: Oklahoma can do both and they thrive. We are still on the PRARIE in Kansas.

My soap box!

Re: District 2 season
Begin/End?

Conflicts in January/February for District 2 7th & 8th graders: Bigger KS Tournaments with BLING, USJOC, Tulsa Nationals, Liberty Nationals & Gopher Nationals (this weekend in WI).

Potential resolutions lie within D2 league season amendments or KSHSAA?

As one of the Middle School Caoches in this district I see Beeson's point. I (luckily) do have support from our local club the Young Guns and my son(8) is in the club as a wrestler. At this point I only have 1 kid in my middle school who does not wrestle for me but wrestles for the club. His father and I have had a conversation and if he could do both he would, however, he is in a point race for being ranked #1 in the nation and I understand his desire to accomplish this goal and I wish him well. The biggest thing any middle school coach can do is to get with their club coaches and see what they are doing. I run a version of our club practices using the same terminology as the club and I try to get my wrestlers who have not wrestled club to go to the club for the State series. I currently will have 6-8 kids who will go to the club after junior high season who did not wrestle for the club before season and I appreciate all the help our local club has done for me as a coach and for the kids in my room. I wish our season was before Christmas but I do not see that changing in the near future. The best solution would be wrestling both or the movement of the Pioneer league season until one of these happens you are always going to have the same debate.

Brian Means
Eisenhower Middle School Coach

As a parent of a Middle Schooler who does not wrestle for his Middle School, our choice is about mat time, choosing the more structured environment and competition/training partners. Not every Middle School is lucky enough to have coaches who condition and drill. It's not about NOT supporting our school but about choosing the option which is a better avenue to success.

It's laughable to suggest that kids that wrestle club in Middle School are NOT supporting their schools yet those same parents who bag on our decision will send their kids off to a high school that recruits wrestlers in order to have a more successful high school team! In two years, when other high schools are poaching my son's teammates, he'll be wrestling for his hometown high school, still supporting his school.

I don't think there are that many wrestlers in D2 who are currently wrestling middle school that will eventually qualify for state. There are some obvious examples, but not that many.

It is easy to prove Beeson right or wrong. 12U and 14U have 43 weight classes, and thus 172 wrestlers that could qualify. In the end, I bet the number is pretty small.

Middle school may be weak, but I disagree with Beeson's contention that kids is not very tough.

Kids is not as tough as it could be, and Middle School is not nearly as tough as it should be. The competition for both is weaker during this time. So my statement that Kids is not as tough is true. Kids will get tougher when the Middle School comes back.

Yes Spexy, I think if the clubs are going to use the school for a practice room, they should support the school system, or not be allowed to use the room. I understand why some of you wrestle for a club that is not affiliated with your school. You want the competition. At sometime your going to have to split up, go your seperate ways and support your school. I do not understand the lack of school spirit and pride. Maybe that is why Jake and every other kid in Ark City that is eligible for Middle School is wrestling for the Middle School, we teach school spirit and school pride. I bet there are alot of High School and Middle School coaches that wished other clubs did the same.