I started this project in 2014. My best friend, Scott Urban - head coach at Atwood High, asked me to double check all of the Atwood State Placers, which began in 1930. I looked up info in newspapers and yearbooks. I even called KSHSAA to see what they had. They had all the info, but it was in filing cabinets in the yearly KSHSAA yearbook that they had printed since the first state wrestling tournament in Kansas in 1930. After I completed the Atwood history, I thought since I had all the information I might as well compile it all the the entire state. I threw together a rough site and started typing. I went from 1930-1965 in a heartbeat. 1 tournament
only 10 weights - only 4 placers per weight. All that changed quick and all of sudden we had 4 tournaments, then 14 weights, then 6 placers in each weight. And to be honest, the last twenty years or so became a daunting task.
Believe it or not I actually typed every single letter on this site!! It was quite an undertaking. I visited several schools to find first names of state champs, etc. I remember snooping around at Wichita East one afternoon on an in-service day and got ran out by a janitor. But I found the names I was looking for!
I originally put it all on a very vanilla website which had all the info, but as you all probably know - it wasn't the easiest to navigate around. I called in professionals this year to clean the thing up. I am really excited about how it ended up. And I'd love to hear what you think.
I am also looking for sponsors to place ads on the site for a yearly fee. The new site does cost me money now to keep updated. Contact me if interested.
So wrestling friends...here is the link to the new and improved site.
The History of Kansas High School Wrestling
www.kansasHSwrestling.comEnjoy!!
