Things to consider...

First, Mike is right in regards to the voting of adding 6 and under. Time and time again, when brought to the floor at the state body, the state as a whole has voted it down.

Numbers can be deceiving. On the surface, it would appear that overwhelmingly 6 and under dominates our practice rooms, but we know this is not the case. In clubs I have coached, the younger kids come in early in the year and by the end of January, are tired of wrestling. Instead of burning their son/daughter out, the parents opt to end the season early.

A better indication of adding 6 and under would be the tourney in Ottawa. How many kids are at that tourney each year? Is it as high as those with cards? Just a question to ponder.

As for 16 and under, they have joined the ranks with the sole purpose of trying for a state title - sort of. With the addition of the national tourney in Nebraska, our elite are skipping the state tourney and heading to the Nebraska. Makes sense for them and I agree.

Second, Kanwrman makes a valid point, if all was perfect in the wrestling community. Why not add wrestling freestyle in March for the 16 and unders and get the national teams set early? Two problems - 1. I'm guessing he/she is referring to the dual teams, which are selected (sore sport with me) and are not wrestled off for. As for qualifying for Fargo, those tourneys are held in March/April/May in regards to regional qualifiers for Juniors. I won't touch on Cadets because their regional qualifier is in June. 2. In the metros, there is little problem in finding a club that has a freestyle technician/coach. It is difficult to find in Western Kansas. The intent by such modification would be to prepare Kansas Kids for the national level for such an age group. Because KSHSAA in their infinite wisdom see folk/free/greco as one in the same, our kids are left to practice with someone other than their high school coach. Remember, the Olympic styles has really gotten "hot" in Kansas in the past 10 years. Most coaches have not either wrestled or competed in these styles and they are at a loss. This is not a slam on them, but an admission that our kids coaches are ill prepared for the Olympic styles.

I would agree with Ned on the issue. The state tourney will be up for bid again and I would suggest to anyone that is working on bringing the tourney to somewhere other than Topeka to build two formats - one the same as we've always done and the second with the modifications sought by the 6 and under contengency.

When I was in federation, 16 and under was the hot commodity. This was our chance to see a sort of grand state if you will. That was long ago and with the Nebraska tourney, that illustriousness as diminished. I would suggest to all involved in putting together a proposal to not take out the 16 and unders, but modify it to the high school weight classes, the same ones that are used in Fargo by the way. This would drastically shrink the number of weights and would at the same time free up some time/space for the 6 and unders.