To be honest i dont really see what difference it makes were the tournoment is held. We as the wrestlers dont work hard and cut weight and stay awake at night thinking about the kansas colosium, we are thinking about the state WRESLING tournoment. the atmosphere will always be good. Because it will always be about wresling. So were ever it ends up is fine with me. But here are my Thoughts on it. When i think about wresling i always think about the kansas expocenter. That building was were i went when i was a kid. the whole open rafter concrete drab of the colosuim riminds me of the book"1984". ive never wrestled there, but i get the idea that it would be hard to get up for a match. I also think it would be cool to have the 4a state wresling tournoment away from the 5a/6a tournoment. But it seems like as many 4a teams as there are close to witchita that it needs to stay there. So how bout the 4a tournoment in century 2? for all of you who remember the witchita classic when it used to be there, im sure you can agree that having the state tournoment there would be alot better than the collosuim. and there is room for the 4a tournoment there. and it would also make it easier to agru over witch class is " by far the toughest" witch i think would ad alot of fun to this site

I think Christian D. Orr of the Salina Journal stated the thoughts of having the State tournament elsewhere such as Salin pretty well at the following link:

http://www.saljournal.com/stories/020703/prep_orr.html

A great article and a very inviting offer--- SALINA IS HERE WITH OPEN ARMS. As a 4a separate tourney fan, I would welcome salina's open arms to wichita's closed fist any day of the century. After speaking with Randy beech of KSHAA, It would appear that the idea will have to be pumped into them by an overwhelming vote of coaches, as for some reason that is totally strange to me, they seem to be really reluctant to let 4a secede from the union. I would really like to see it, though.

There is no Randy Beech who works for the KSHSAA; do you mean Rick Bowden?

As has been stated numerous times before, if one of the three classes breaks away from the others, that tournament will not be held in an arena, it will be held at a school. I'm sure the reason KSHAA is reluctant to discuss it is because they know the numbers don't add up for allowing one class to go to an arena. For those of you old enough to remember when holding a one class state tournament at a school was the norm, it was terrible. I was at, what I believe, was the last year this was done in Abilene and the experience caused me to come home and write a letter of protest to the KSHAA. While schools have more gyms today than then, none that I am aware of could do it without using more than one gym which would deny the fans the opportunity to view all the wrestling from one location, if at all. The finals would in my opinion still be over crowded and dangerous for the fans if they are moved back to a school. You can cuss and discuss KSHAA all you want but sometimes there are reasons for their madness.

You appear pretty certain where one class tournament may or may not be held. Since no decision has been made to do it, it certainly has not been determined that it would have to be at a school and not an arena.
Hays is very succesful with one tournament for lots of reasons but right at the top of the list is because the public turnout for the event is simply overwhelming. Frankly, I think 4A could do the same thing quite easily. As for the ability to do it a high school, I have little doubt that a facility like Basehor-Linwood could easily host a 4A state tournament. Not that it would be a top contender because of the extreme location.

Keep the faith fanatic!

I also believe that Basehor-Linwood could host a state tournament, only because Joe Keeler and Scott Neil run a class operation and because both would work their butts off to make sure it would...However, the problem with Basehor-Linwood (and most high schools for that matter) is size of the gym...BLHS seats 2,800 which is really a tad small when it comes to their Bobcat Classic...So could you imagine what it would be like for state???

I think GorillaHawk hit the biggest problem of the high school hosting state dilema...and that would be seating....at regionals 4A schools have to host 2 day tournaments anywaysome just have to utilize an extra gym which would screw you out of the true team atmosphere You also get into a whole different level of security...for those of us that have been to a Kids tournament in a high school setting for the most part know it is pure chaos no matter how well it is ran due in part to crazed parents trying to live vicariously through their children, and carrying on like blubbering idiots when a call doesn't go their way or their kid loses and they cuss out their children saying "QUIT YOUR !#%* crying ...multiply that by a few extra years to get crazed parents of teenagers in a security scarce tournament ...and I reply NO THANKS!...Keep it in a stadium like the collesium...the expocenter or at a 4 year college that is able to hold the tournament of the State Championship calliber.

My apologies for confusing the name of the KSHAA official------yes, it was Rick Bowden that I spoke to. I think that 4a could sustain itself at a separate venue, and I believe that Salina would have a lot to offer. The biggest problem that KSHAA has, I believe, is that without the 1/3 of the crowd that 4a brings into the colisseum, possibly the cost of the facility is not feasible. It may well be that 4a is locked to 5a-6a due to the crowd support factor. Getting out of the Christians and lions atmosphere of the colisseum would really be great but not likely to happen. 321 is very wise to hold onto their hays deal,as it is a very pleasant environment that makes the participant feel appreciated.

One of the things that I wish everyone could understand is the fact that KSHSAA really doesn't have a hidden agenda in this matter. Sure, because of the crappy way the management at Wichita has treated fans and wrestlers over the years, they would just as soon move out of there. And, there have been enough complaints over the years to put the wirting on the wall.

But KSHSAA is about accomidating what the coaches in and member schools. Why do all of the classes in basketball have their own sites for the state tournament? Because that's what they wanted. Why has Hays become the private playground of the 3-2-1As? Because that's what they wanted.

If the 4A coaches and administrators in the state voted unamously to move the state wrestling tournament to Goodland, I don't doubt a bit that KSHSAA would work to move it there. If the 6As wanted theirs at Century II in Wichita, KSHSAA would probably look into it.

KSHSAA has no hidden agendas, no axes to grind. It exists to serve the schools, coaches and athletes of Kansas. That's all they're there for.

in some cases that is true. in some cases it is not. were we to take a coaches poll I am absolutely certain there would be a rather convincing majority-- 80% or better-- to bring back the grand state competition. Do you think that is ever going to happen? I think that KSHAA is attuned to the opinion of the majority in most cases, I simply stated that if all three classes are required to compete to make the cash flow positive at Wichita, then 4a may be tied there (minority group) to make it work for 5-6A (majority group)

I think the bigger question is when. The Girls State Wrestling Championship for Kansas has been on the same day as 6A Wresting state the past two years, that seems unfair. It is true that many girls may not make it to highschool state tournament, but those that do don't get to go to the state tournament agaianst girls, one of the tournaments that actually counts in the career of a female wrestler.

Who knew there was a Girls State? Maybe the KSHAA doesn't know either.

Because of some places having apathy to any other forms of wrestling that might be a good reason why some of us never even knew there was a Greco or Freestyle state competition, let alone a Girl's State...Do we have a Junior High state if not then maybe we should add that and have it in Salina!