wrestlingmom,

I agree that Jacob accomplished a lot in placing at State as an 8th grader. I also agree that just qualifying as an 8th grader is quite an accomplishment. In fact we were very much concerned about that at Districts. I was surprised to read that Phillip did not place last year. I thought he had placed every year at State.

To be honest I believe it was better for Jacob's wrestling future to wrestle the tough 9th graders including EJ Walter this year. There is no doubt that it will make him more prepared for what he will face next. But just because this was better for Jacob doesn't mean I think it is better for the majority of the kids overall.

From the very first year that Jacob went to State six years ago, I could not understand why high school wrestlers came back to wrestle at the grade school tournament. I guess I just never experienced anything like that from my main high school sport of football back when I played in prehistoric times. I started posting my ideas on it about four years ago, but I have never found too many people who seemed to agree with me. I wouldn't mind it if we had big enough facilities so that everyone could have full mats and reasonable waits between matches. Actually the waits between matches have not been to bad the last couple of years at State except maybe if you lose your first match then I think it can be a long wait.

I also really would like to see this Open Post Season High School tournament where freshman thru seniors and all classes could come to meet to see who the best is. This could be a close version of a Grand State event.