The NCKL (Abilene, Clay Center, Chapman, Concordia, Marysville, Wamego) wrestles before Christmas with basketball afterwards. We have been doing it this way for approximately 6-7 years. I feel, and some may disagree, that it was a change for the better. When we changed, we actually gained a week on our season as well as picking up another tournament. Previously, we had two tournaments, now we have three and next year we will have four. The reason for the change was many-fold. After the long basketball season which extended past X-mas break, kids were saying they wanted to take a season off, now we are first. Next, it totally eliminated the overlap between junior high and kid's fed. The obvious advantage is that a young man can wrestle junior high before X-mas and continue on with as many tournaments as they want after. There was also a huge benefit to basketball because it frees up gym space. Before the change there were 8 teams practicing at the same time. We have 4 gyms, which is more than many schools have. By moving two teams to after X-mas this allowed for less sharing of gym time and early morning or late practices. I definitely think it is the way to go.

Doug Moore