I was disappointed to see that they ran the 1st, 3rd and 5th place matches all at the same time, instead of wrestling the championship matches on their own. It takes away from the attention of being in the championship match. It almost felt like they were rushing everyone through again this year. Other than that, the tournament directors did a good job.

I agree about how the finals were done at the 4A tournament and there was several things throughout the whole tournament that looked poorly on KSHSAA's part. One of them being that they had the 138# pictures for the finals on the wrong wrestler. Parents who were waiting for podium pictures were kept in an area where they couldn't even continue to watch the tournament and when finally let in the crowd from the mat area over too the area that the parents who stood in line couldn't get in to get good pictures. I'm personally not a fan of Lifetouch Photography as the last two years its been late June before receiving my order and threatening because I called and raised a drink with them but then this year they didn't have near the selection as the past years and seemed very disorganized as usual when trying to order at the tournament. Lastly the Tony's Pizza Event Center is getting to be a horrible place to host that tournament because as a wrestling parent, especially under the new weigh in rule, I know how important it is to get a descent meal in my wrestler after weighing in and be able to have snacks available to him throughout the day. With the stipulations in that arena that's no longer possible and I witnessed the illegal search of numerous by the security at the event center as I was standing in line. I spent 10 years in law enforcement and when "checking" bags there is to be no manipulation of items in the bag because as soon as items start being manipulated it becomes a search. I think it's time KSHSAA takes a good look at the host sites and start looking for somewhere else to host the 4A tournament and start remembering the hard work the wrestlers put in to get there and make the championship match a bigger deal than they did this year!

Amen Brian! We have to find a new facility to host 4a state wrestling!

Reason number 1 is for the wrestlers! The teams are not allowed to bring in anything to warm up a meal. Why?? So tonys event center can charge $10 for crap? Thankfully the weather was nice this year unlike last year so our team went tailgaiting! But for the teams to not be allowed to get their wrestlers a descent meal is reason enough to move the event to a new facility in my opinion. All the money that comes in there because of these wrestlers i would think they could accommodate the kids by allowing them to bring in a microwave or toaster oven!

Reason number 2 is for the parents/fans. The illegal searches that happen everytime have gotten worse and worse. My wife and i were there early to feed our team “tailgate” and so there wasnt a line to get in after breakfast was served. After about 2 minutes of digging through my wifes backpack the guy found a container that had 2 servings of an energy drink that we were gonna mix with their $4 bottles of water. (I learned not to “smuggle” in water about 9 years ago!) After a 5 minute delay waiting on a different security guard to come inspect this we were told that energy drinks are not allowed in the facility! You have all been there. Enough said

Reason number 3 is because of how rude the staff is. Sure the concession stand people smile! I would too if i had that business! But im not ok with how, at least some of the “security guards”, talk to our kids. To name call a kid that goes down the stairs the wrong direction is just unprofessional. I understand there are rules but come on. Turns out the security guard was the same guy in both cases as i found out when i was walking out of the facility saturday afternoon!

All this said i know we can do better! This should be a fun weekend for everyone and when there is a ton of complaints and crap that wrestlers, fans, parents, and everyone that comes has to deal with because of the facility it is time to look at our options. We were in 321a one year. Hays was awesome and accommodating! So i know it can be done! Come on KSHSAA. Look into this! The same complaints have been happening long enough! Work out a better contract with tony’s or find a new facility!

As for the mix up on the pictures i know the boys had a good laugh about it!

Bring 4a to Hays with 321a. Sure it would be packed but how awesome would that be. Hays is super accommodating, because they know we bring millions into the town.

I would love to see all classifications under one roof!! Three-day event. It not only would be great for fans, but more wrestlers would be seen by college coaches. College coaches would be able to send more time recruiting in one location and not driving around the state. A lot of states already do this.

The rumor going around was that, the medal matches were run simultaneously so that they could get done earlier and setup for 6U and Elementary State the following day.

There are not enough motel rooms in Hays to handle that.

That makes sense. The only thing is they could have wrestled the consolation quarterfinals, consolation semis on four mats, and consolation finals on two mats, and then had time to break down for one mat for the finals. They would have gotten over at the same time. I know everything delayed because Lifetouch didn't show up early. They have their own issues.

It would be great in Hays, but I do agree that there aren't enough accomodations. I don't know how Russell, WaKeeney and Ellis are when it comes to accomodations when state wrestling is at its current situation.

I agree! I would love it if they were all together. Make it a three-day tournament. Nebraska and Colorado do it in their big venues. Why couldn't Kansas do this at the Intrust Bank arena, or even at the Expo Centre, whenever they get their upgrades done.

I love the concept of an all class tournament. I don't love the idea of going to Wichita to do it. At the Hays State tournament, our team can get from our hotel to Gross in under 10 minutes. We can also bring in coolers and Crock pots to get our guys fed. Plus when we do go out to eat, we can walk to a restaurant across the street if we want to or drive 5 minutes to eat. Parking at Gross for our team is pretty easy, I don't think the same can be said for Intrust. I say keep 321a in Hays ( they love us coming there) and the rest of you can deal with Wichita.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed how they ran 1st, 3rd, and 5th place matches simultaneously. After last year's 4A state tournament and the inclement weather rolling in, KSHSAA made the decision to run all three matches at the same time and I personally enjoyed it. There was excitement all around, with entire sections cheering like crazy, regardless of it being a state championship being won or a 3rd or 5th place medal being won. I loved the atmosphere, and I was happy to see them try it again this year without the threat of horrible weather being behind the decision.

I know Chanute ran away with the title this year (congrats to Andy Albright and his program), but last year there was anticipation all through the finals round.

Dave Tappan (Louisburg assistant superintendent) and Jeff Hines (Paola head principal) did a great job announcing throughout the two days. The playing of music in the background was a very nice touch as well.

I totally understand that there may have been a feeling of being rushed out of there, but at the same time, I felt there was an excitement in the air that 4A has been missing for a few years. I remember two years ago, the state tournament lacked quite a bit of what makes it a special event. Several other 4A high school coaches and I contacted Mark Lentz at KSHSAA, and we were heard. For the last two years, KSHSAA has listened to the input of coaches and they've recruited volunteers to help enhance the experience. They've brought in guys like David Brown from Fort Scott to run things. Were there problems with this year's state tournament? Sure, but I bet with the right approach, we can get those problems corrected. The men and women who work their tails off to put on a great tournament have the same goals that we'd want them to have: putting on an awesome tournament.

The programs that move from 321A up to 4A or from 5A down to 4A each year can give some great insight as to what makes an awesome state tournament with the other classes. I definitely love hearing ideas for improvements!

I had 2 kids in the finals 2 years ago and I do not remember it being any quieter or louder than this year. I do remember being able sit down to watch the finals from the teams area without having to ask people to kneel down. That's a different issue though. Running all the medal matches at once is sad. If we are going to continue doing it this way there needs to be something to set apart that middle mat from the others. I love the idea of having a stage. In my conversations this weekend I found there to be many more coaches opposed to the 3 mat finals vs a single championship final. Those who were for it brought up some of the same reasons as Coach Bovaird. Time was also brought up. The length of an single mat finals may take a little longer. However, I feel some of that time could have been made up by running all 4 mats in semis. There was also at least one other time we only used 2 mats. I just dont feel the medal rounds are where we need to be cutting corners. Both of my finalist were dissapointed in how the medal rounds were ran this year. Tonganoxie had a new to 4A head coach this year and he was shocked at how different things operated in Salina vs Hays. I understand we don't have a venue like Nebraska, although I believe we can learn something by how they run their tournament. I just feel we can do better.

I felt like Bobby did until a coach changed my mind. He said, " I won't remember the 3 extra hours I get at home." "But if we put on a show the kids will dang sure remember their finals matches.
I propose Fog Machine, red and green walkways, Walk up music, music playing in the background, Bios read before the match starts. Anything we could do to make it a big deal. If they needed help setting it up there are no better workers than wrestlers.

First off I echo the complaints of Tony’s Pizza Event Center. It’s a sad day when you put profit of concessions over the nutrition of the wrestlers. Remember they are the reason everyone is there in the first place. They along with the coaches and even the media should be treated as royalty because if not for them the venue and the city would not make a dime. Next as far as the medal rounds being wrestled all at once it is absolutely wrong in my opinion. I wanted to watch the finals match in my sons weight class but was forced to choose between watching him or the championship match and of course I watched my son. Also had to stand to do so because of fans from the schools that were in the finals were rightfully standing and cheering. I hate to even see it done this way at any tournaments including regionals. I even think polls are taken at coaches meetings to make the decision to break down for finals or just get it done so they can get out early. We preach to these kids from the time they start that their hard work will be rewarded and when the powers that be decide that it’s more important to get home a couple hours earlier instead of making a big deal and a production out of the finals at any level is crap. And lastly something needs to be done at the 4a and 321a level as far as bracketing the wrestlers. Since there 4 regionals more often than not the top 2 kids meet in the semifinals. We have seeding meetings in every other tournament during the year but not the state tournament??? Either have a seeding meeting after the 16 qualifiers are determined or better yet have 2 regionals like 5a and 6a with 32 teams in each regional . And for everyone that says it would take to long or schools would have to travel to far talk to Newton they seem to have it figured out they start at 9 am Friday and 9am Saturday Have teams from 8 hours away in attendance and break down for the finals and make a huge deal out of it and have people standing in line to get in and we were still out of there by 7:30.

I also think it took something away from the finals match to have 3rd and 5th running at the same time. I know it would have gotten us out of there later, but so what? The kids in the finals deserve their moment to shine. Part of me is torn, because I also recognize it might be easier on those kids in the finals to have other matches going on to not all eyes are on them - stage fright is real.