Congrats to those who attended and did well.

Obviously, the more entries the better the teams will be. The purpose of this post was to figure out why the numbers are declining.

The date needs changed. This tough of a tournament doesn't need to be in-between districts and state. The district leaders and middle school state championship leaders need to communicate and work together if they want this to be a priority for the body as a whole. Right now, the priority is the kids state series and will continue to be until many things change. That starts with changing the date of the tournament.

We chose not to attend because of the following timeline of events. Got done paying for state entries around 7pm. That is 12hrs in a gym. Then take a 3.5 hour trip to Hutch. Get settled around midnight and waking up around 6am to warm up at 7am. Then wrestle 5-6 tough matches. No way a 14 year old will be at his/her best after that time line. Then in 5 days they do state!!!!! That's a lot for a 14 year old boy. Changing the date fixes this.

The trip they are qualifying for is great and worth the effort for many, just not for many district 1 kids this year. I may be wrong, but District 1 only had 2 Champion and that was at 95 and 220lbs. (Congrats Brody and PJ) 2 out of 17 doesn't seem like they got the best from the state. Especially after seeing district entry numbers being D-1 937, D-2 805, D-3 729, D-4 660.

If the goal is to bring the best Kansas teams to the Heartland Duals then keep the wrestler list open to the public, onsite weigh ins, and change the date.