I just wanted to take a moment to publicly thank some of the people who were directly responsible for running a very good tournament at Washburn Rural High School today. This tournament was run jointly by Topeka Blue Thunder and the Jr. Vikings’ wrestling club, and I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize the tremendous efforts put forth by all who were involved.

To Mark Stanley and Barb Shields: your administrative expertise kept the tournament running flawlessly. The first match began at 8:59, the last match finished before 4 o’clock, and there wasn’t an empty mat from beginning to end. It was trackwrestling at its finest.

To Coach Kelly and the rest of the Jr. Vikings support staff: without your help with tech support, concessions, tables, and set-up/tear down, this tournament absolutely would not have been possible. There are too many people here to thank individually, but please know how much your contributions were appreciated, especially when the tournament was held outside of your home venue.

To Greg Murray: your work throughout the week did not go unnoticed, and your vision of hosting a first-class tournament at WRHS made this thing happen.

To the Blue Thunder wrestlers and parents: it is no easy task setting up and maintaining 9 full mats with 13 surfaces for a full day. You are to be commended for your efforts today!

To Derek Trammell: your boys wrestled smart and tough all day. Without your leadership we wouldn’t have put 23 wrestlers into the district tournament. You did a great job working with our high schoolers throughout the high school season, and you have done a great job of preparing our youth wrestlers for the next level!

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank Nathan and Suzie Carter. This was Nathan’s first year as club director. Last fall we were desperate for a director, and despite a hectic work schedule, Nathan stepped up to fill the role. Because of Nathan’s leadership and organizational skills we were not only able to field a very competitive team, but we were also able to host a qualifying tournament for the first time, and it ran without a hitch. Nathan, you are definitely the right man for the job and we are lucky to have you as the leader of our program! And Suzie, as a former club director, I know first-hand that not nearly enough credit goes to the wife of the director. Please know that we recognize everything you have done to make this year a successful one!

If you’ve made it this far through my soap box speech, perhaps I can persuade you to go a little further. As I previously mentioned, today we ran 13 surfaces on 9 full mats. Wrestling began just a little before 9 and ended before 4:00. We would love to host this tournament again next year. While I was very happy with the way the tournament was run this year, we are always looking for ways to improve. So here’s how you can help….What can we do to make next year’s tournament better? What are the things you liked vs. the things you would like to see changed? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to all,


Damon Parker
Head Coach, WRHS

I thought you guys did a great job! The only problem I saw was the room that had mat 9 the wifi didn't work as well and the computers froze several times towards the end.

On another note, my chair got left behind in the gym where the high schoolers wrestled. It has my name on the back rest, "Seaton". Who can I contact to see if it is in your lost and found?

Cheryle Seaton
913-940-0399

Unfortunately the internet issue in the mat room was and is still a mystery. I had our IT people come out and check it on Friday and there were no issues. We can't get wifi in that room because of the thickness of the concrete walls, so we have to be hardwired in, which you would think would have no issues. We'll get it ironed out for next year.

Also, I have your chair in my office. We'll figure out a way to get it to you.

Damon Parker
785-304-3083

HS room also had issues on mat 10 and 6...matches being skipped and having to go back and catch back up thru out the day.

I could be wrong, but I think that some matches had to be skipped in order to give wrestlers adequate rest time. I'll check into it and see if there's anything we can do differently in that respect next year. Thanks!

I thought the tourny was well run. My suggestion is to tell your table workers not to leave untill ALL the wrestling is finished. The table workers leaving kept you from moving matches to other mats. You asked for suggestions or I would have not said any thing. Again I thought you did a great job. Thanks to all that helped.