After letting Mr. Patton know some of our issues with attending this event, he replied with some interesting tidbits about rules from other schools and how they are trying hard to help schools participate:

Thank you for your reply Coach Sierant. It's amazing how hard state associations work to keep teams from competing, but we will certainly do everything we can to help you with the process.

First, the tournament is sanctioned by the National Federation of High Schools along with each of the states with participating teams. You can check the NFHS website to see the past sanctioning: http://www.nfhs.org/scriptcontent/Va_custom/SanctioningEvents/Index.cfm?EventID=2444 . About a month before the tournament, we get a list of restrictions from each of the participating states to which we have to comply. For example, Iowa teams may only receive paper awards individually and may not receive trophies. We work through all the restrictions and make sure that our tournament is in compliance. Technically the tournament is hosted by one of the participating schools, although a large group of volunteers (incorporated as a 503(b) non-profit organization) actually run the tournament. Excess proceeds from the tournament go to various charities. In fact, this week, we will be presenting a new laptop to a veteran of the war in Iraq who wrestled in the Clash in 2003. He was severely injured and is receiving the purple heart at his high school this Thursday.

Secondly, we move the tournament around periodically to help with the various restrictions states impose on traveling. Some states can only travel over the holidays and some are explicitly prohibited from traveling between Christmas and New Years. The dates for the next four Clash tournaments are:

2005/2006 - Clash IV, Dec 30-31, 2005
2006/2007 – Clash V, Dec 29-30, 2006
2007/2008 – Clash VI, Jan 4-5, 2008
2008/2009 – Clash VII, Jan 2-3, 2009

Regarding the mileage, that is another one that we run into each year. Strangely, there are some teams in Iowa that may participate while others, a few miles further away are prohibited from participating. Missouri also has a similar restriction. However, Oak Park High School came up two years ago from Missouri to watch and practice with some of the teams, but was not allowed to participate because of the distance. Seems strange to me. As you may have noticed, we have teams from California to New York so somehow teams are finding the time to get here. We had a team from Virginia come last year that chartered a bus. They took off one evening and arrived the next morning. Seemed to work out pretty good.

Another hurdle teams run into is fund-raising for the trip. I would not think that you would have airfare, so your main expense would be lodging. Hotels are very reasonable here ($69 for quadruple occupancy at a 4-star hotel) so expenses seem to be manageable. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help with the process. We'd love to see the state of Kansas represented at this fun tournament.

Steven B. Patton, Tournament Chairman
The Clash, National High school Duals
Rochester, MN Cell Phone Number: 507-261-5273