This could possibly be an interesting thread?
As a ranker, there have been some posts on this forum about a perceived bias in my rankings toward large class or NE Kansas teams. Especially when St. James was shredding the state with their multiple individual champions. Interesting how I don't get that claim when Goddard is shredding the state.
I have not really attempted to entertain such a dogma so as to give it print that it doesn't deserve but the actual texts, emails, phone calls and conversations that I've had about the topic certainly tell another story.
By a large margin, I have been told that I over rank the smaller school wrestlers. That I have a bias to rank them over larger school wrestlers whom they have no criteria over. It is an obvious dilemma to contrast a wrestler that has no out of state matches or even any matches outside of a few counties, with a wrestler that has traveled 3 or 4 states and wrestled on national teams through July of a given year. I have said before and will say again, some of my favorite kids have been western Kansas kids with awesome families and tireless work ethics.
In the end, my goal is to solicit and consider any and all criteria to make the rankings as accurate as rankings can be. The input that I've gotten over the last dozen years from kids, families, coaches and fans is a great encouragement to me, that in some way my efforts have made a difference in the confidence and perseverance of young men across this state. I believe that every kid growing up, asks himself this question.... Do I have what it takes? Having an impact in these kids answering that question with a tenaciously confident, "Bring it on!" keeps me involved in the greatest sport on earth.
After all, they are JUST rankings. Lifetime memories are made in between WHISTLES!
It's regional week.... Doesn't get much better!
