Here's a couple of proposals. Feel free to pick it apart.

1) Eliminate HS division in state series. The experiment to create a grand state has failed. Time to either eliminate HS division all together or bring back the 16 & Under division. I always thought the 16 & Unders were needed to give extra mat time to those from HS that needed it, but I'm not opposed to eliminating it altogether either. HS wrestlers can start focusing on Freestyle/Greco right after HS State, which gives them an extra month of preparation. They can throw in a another month of the regional training centers or have some clinics on the weekends if they don't want to have tournaments because of the low numbers with this extra month.

2) Change the weight classes in the age divisions to every 5 lbs. instead of every 3 or 4, along with the weight jumps as they are now in the bigger weight classes. This should increase the competition level in the brackets. This is the whole steel sharpens steel analogy, which should help when it comes to how we fair against other states at national/regional tournaments in the long run.

3) Add 6 & Unders to state series. If we were to implement the second part, it would eliminate 11 weight classes from the state tournament by my count. With the reduction in weight classes we could add the 6 & Unders division in 5 lb increments even if we decided to keep the HS division or bring back the 16 & Unders.

4) Have districts the week after HS State, and State the following weekend. We'd eliminate a couple weeks off the season, allow those who would like to go to the NCAA's the ability to do so, give every family in the state their spring break back, and not eliminate half of the current season as the current proposal being floated does. This does create an issue for MS kids wrestling the late season. I guess they would have to decide which is more important that last week of the MS
season; their conference tournament or the state tournament.

5) Take a good hard look at a proposal offered by Wichita when it comes to the state tournament. I know that it's been said it would cost the state more to host the tournament in Wichita than Topeka when it last came up for bid. Since it's already been proposed to increase the cost of the entry fee for state, could
the additional expense of the Wichita location be offset by the increase in entry fee for the tournament? The state would make the same amount of money, and it might be cheaper for a family if the entry fee to state is double but they end up saving $50 to $80 or whatever on hotel costs.