I was bummed to hear about the schedule change. Bummed for the finalists. That was one of my favorite parts of the State tournament. Team rolls into Hays on Thursday, practice in the Colosseum. Next day, wrestle your butt off through the semi-finals on Friday night. Yes, night. This is the State Championships. These are the best wrestlers in the state. By the time they get to this tournament, many wrestlers will have 20-30 wins. Many of those matches were won on the road and at all hours of the morning, afternoon, day or night. Ever wrestled in the finals at the Garden City Invitational?

So after wrestling through the semi-finals on Friday night, the finalists have all day Saturday to prepare for the ***EXCLUSIVE*** championship match. I realize the changes this year were most likely an anomaly, but the State Championship Finals match should be the ***ONLY MAT*** on the floor for the finals. The wrestlers who earn a spot in the finals deserve no less. And with recent developments in the Olympics community, we should all be more careful about debasing or devaluing the achievement of wrestling in the State Finals.