1. The label of High School and Middle School divisions are certainly not irrelevant. That is precisely why they compete against only themselves the entire season.
2. I do perceive that the high schoolers have a distinct advantage. However that's not the main reason for my position.
3. Undeniably, states that have recognized this reality have moved into the passing lane with their level of freestyle/greco competitiveness. Some of our high schoolers are spending an entire month chasing a kids division medal instead of competing in either a grand state scenario or jumping in on FS/GR.
4. Ask yourself these questions. Why have the top wrestling states in the nation changed from our current format to theirs? Has it contributed to their success? They place higher than us at national events and provide more DI opportunities for their wrestlers. Could it also help us?
We will never know until we try.
I still believe you are inferring to much influence this issue will have on “Putting Kansas on the National Stage!” By using evidence that I see with my own two eyes and not speculation, I do not see this changing freestyle participation! The vast majority of High school kids that continue into the folkstyle season do so to improve their skills for the next high school season and to compete.(which we can all agree is a worth while use of their time.) I think the phrase “Chasing kids medals” is unfair , I see nothing wrong with a kid wanting to compete and improve his skills, do you? However after the folkstyle series I only see a few of these high school kids continuing into freestyle. Is this lack of participation caused by the folkstyle series? I don’t think so. Lets not forget that kids state is at the end of March and the end of the freestyle season(Fargo) is the end of July. Just how long of a freestyle season do these kids need or more importantly how much will the majority of them want to handle!! I am almost certain there are no freestyle tournaments in Missouri during the time of our folkstyle series.(correct me if I’m wrong) Yes everyone wants to see Kansas do well nationally and a greater effort put into recruiting kids for the freestyle season would be a good start. I just can’t understand how you believe that not allowing kids that want to continue their folkstyle practicing and competing will hurt Kansas Wrestling.
Just because the school system makes a division between 8th grade and freshmen does not make the division of wrestlers by two year increments used by Kansas Wrestling inherently wrong or unfair. I know I’m repeating my shelf but the maturity level between an 8th grader and a freshmen is not nearly as great as the difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old. I will concede a freshmen may have an advantage over an 8th grader because he has been in a high school practice room. But hey that’s life its not always easy and sometimes we come out on the losing end, life lesson learned. But guess what next year I will be top dog! Beeson touched on the fact that the school system actually divides kids up into smaller divisions then Kansas wrestling! They have separate 7th, 8th, 9th, JV.and Varsity teams. Supposedly qualified coaches determine if a kid can move up and compete at a higher level. I realize this may not be a fair comparison to wrestling simply because of the low number of kids wrestling . but the fact remains even in wrestling there is a dividing line between JV and Varsity wrestlers that this proposal does not allow for. The Cadet, Junior division would for the most part ,resolve that problem but it would also prevent a true grand state scenario from taking place! It seems to me the lesser of two evils would be to give the freshmen the option of wrestling in the 14U division if they qualify.
I am still a little confused as to what you want to happen? Do you support this proposal or do you want to completely eliminate High school kids from Kansas folkstyle wrestling? I am reading both!
