Brett:

I think you make some very good points, including your 15 & U suggestion. I agree with you and I believe a lot of Kansas wrestling people do. I know at one time a few years ago the Kansas high school coaches association came to our Kansas Kids State board with basically that same suggestion of ending the Kids season earlier for the reasons you have stated.

I think we do have too long of a season for kids folkstyle and it would be good if it ended before high school regionals started. That way they could more conveniently attend the high school state tournament series and even the NCAA's if their families wanted to go to that. Also it would allow for an earlier start to freestyle/greco for both kids and high school wrestlers. My son just graduated from high school and he only ended up wrestling freestyle/greco the last two years after his junior and senior year. I wish Kansas had the system you are describing in place when he was a kid because I think he would have gotten involved in FS/Greco earlier in his career and it would have helped him. He is just starting to get to the point that he is liking freestyle. I think it is good to be involved in the olympic styles because it gets you more mat time, improves your skills on your feet and is a nice change of pace from just wrestling folkstyle.

I think making the changes that you are suggesting would definitely be a significant change of emphasis in wrestling in Kansas. I think it would be an improvement. I think there would need to be some other changes that need to happen at the same time. Like allowing middle school wrestlers to wrestle kids wrestling at the same time of their middle school season and allowing high school coaches to get involved in kids wrestling programs during their seasons and off season high school wrestling programs even before school is done for the year.