As we headed out to Rossville at 5am this morning, the two biggest questions in my mind were: 1) could we get my Camry out of the neighborhood to get to some halfway cleared roads, and 2) should we take 24 Hwy out of Topeka or catch NW Carlson road off of 70? The answers were: 1) barely made it out of the neighborhood, and 2) glad we took 24 Hwy.

We pulled into the parking lot at Rossville High School at 6:10am. There weren't many vehicles there so we got a great parking space. As we walked through the doors, we were greeted with a round of applause by approximately 20-25 Rossville supporters. Apparently we were the first ones to show up for the 6am-8am weigh-ins. My son and I had a good chuckle about that and will probably tell stories about it for years to come. Thank you Rossville.

As for me, I got to meet a number of very good people that I had not met in the past, got to speak with other people I already knew, and got to see some very exciting wrestling. On many occasions, I would go out to the brackets after a really good match to see who the participants were based on the bout number. I have been around for quite a while and seen my share of matches, but I always get to see kids wrestle that I haven't seen before.

At the end of the day, after making it back home safe (I hope everyone did as well), I was able to reflect on what was a hectic, stressful, exciting, unique, fun and exhausting day. I have come to the conclusion that my son and I love this sport, that there are many devoted parents/coaches/fans involved, and a lot of really good kids that come out to do their best at one of the most difficult sports that they can compete in.

Wrestling is sure something special!