Since I started watching HS wrestling in 1994/5 when my son started HS and wrestling (4A), I have listened to the continuing discussion and cussing, biting, complaining, math comparisons, etc. on the unfairness of the Kansas post season system. Easy to see that the Kansas high school wrestling community does not like the current system, especially the 4A and 321A communities.

There are two recurring proposal on this forum to change the system, �to even the field.� (1) is to combine 5A and 6A into one classification; and (2) is to have just two sixteen team regional tournaments in both 5A and 6A. Of the two proposals, I think the second proposal, two regionals for each 5A and 6A is the more realistic.

As an alternative I would offer a third proposal: split each 321A and 4A regional into two sub-region, eight team, one day tournaments�with the top 4 placers in each bracket advancing to the true �REGIONAL.� Off the bat this will require an additional weekend to hold the subs. But, each regional in all classes would then be an eight team, one day tournament. Other benefits: (1) no lost academic days for long travel to two day tournaments; (2) shorter travel distances�at least to the sub-region; (3) hopefully no over-nights and fewer team meals, (4) possible increase in spectators and interest at localized subs regions-- and easier travel for gramps and grandma. Note: this proposal will not solve the problem of short roster teams in 5A and 6A--we cannot solve every problem. Must be other benefits, and disadvantages but I will let the reader present them.

Added: do not 321A and 4A football, basketball and volleyball (??) have an extra week or two of playoffs? Also, I think some of the bigger wrestling states have at least an extra week for the large number of smaller schools.

Comments: good, bad, indifferent, ideas.

One difficulty with this proposal is that 321A currently has about 96 schools/teams. Splitting to eight subs would put 11 or 12 teams in each sub. The problem: how place 11 or 12 wrestlers into an eight man bracket: pig tail everything over 8, do either 4 or 6 team pools and advance the top how many without violating the 5 match rule. How to bracket or pool might not be a big problem--think you will see a lot of short and very short rosters that will off set those extra 3 or 4 team (9 through 11 or 12). Must be a workable solution, 321A curently brackets 23 or 24 teams into a 16 bracket tournament.

Now as a former coach in 4A, I can say I had many of the same complaints. But to answer your questions about the 5 match rule, in a 12 man bracket the only people that would have to worry about the 5 match rule would be those that are going for 5&6. The only people that this would affect would be those that lost in the first round. My thought is if you give the top 4 seeded wrestlers the bye, then the chance of that happening slims quite a bit.

How best to place 12 wrestlers in an 8 bracket tournament?

Why not pig tail the #9, #10, #11, and #12 wrestlers: (9 vs 8, 10 vs 7, 11 vs 6, 12 vs 5). Winners advance to a normal 8 man bracket: 1 vs 8 or 9, 2 vs 7 or 10, 3 vs 6 or 11, and 4 vs 5 or 12. Pig tail loses go home early.

Another pro for splitting to subs and 8 bracket regional in 321A and 4A is that there will be no byes in a region, unless someone drops out after the subs. The subs will wash out the byes and the weaker wrestlers. There will continue to be opens/byes in 5A and 6A.

This mabe a little off what your talking about but in 4a with the schools having money troubles do we have to go clear to concordia or clay center or abilene or chapman for regionals 5 out of every 6 years and take schools like santa fe trails and hiawatha and send them clear out there when holton has a 4a regionals very close to them and lets face it looking over the last 20 years the old saying is if you can go to that regionals and place in the top four you will place at state. Now I know that some people that read this will disagree but go back and look at the records and then you will see what I am talking about. I do not know who makes the regionals up but there are people that think that they must be from that area, this I do not know but its time to rethink where regional should be held to not only help the kids that wrestle but the schools that keep making the long trip west each year and then have to go to state again the next week down the same road the runs though where they were for regionals the week before.
I am not saying that these schools should not have regionals but the other school should be included once in a while.

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