I usually agree with most, if not all, that Mr. Beeson says. In fact, I agree with Ark City being the toughest regional and the 5A team champion potentially coming out of that regional. However, to insinuate that the wrestlers in our area are not working or trying hard is false and unjustified. The teams in the KC area are working very hard to build and establish credible and competitive teams. There are club, middle school and high school coaches that put in countless hours to try to build these programs into respectability. It is no secret that wrestling is not a mainstream sport in our area. Without doing the research I'd venture to say that wrestling is the 5th or 6th most popular sport (if you can call 5th or 6th popular) in the KC area. We are competing with sports that do not require athletes to work as hard as wrestlers do. I know for a fact that our numbers are low here at Leavenworth because of the reputation we have for how hard we work our wrestlers. The societal shift in mentality to laziness and wanting something for nothing is a constant struggle we face, as I'm sure it is everywhere.

Everyone in the wrestling community acknowledges that Ark City and the rest of the teams in that area are some of the the best programs in the state year-in and year-out. Those programs are well respected by teams in the KC area and we will continue to work very hard to build our programs to be the best possible so we might one day be able to compete with the premier teams in the state.

Good luck to ALL of the athletes that choose to participate in this great sport...no matter where you live in this state.