Congratulations on wrestling your way onto one of the 6 Kansas Teams attending the 2018 Heartland USA Elementary National Duals.
IF THERE IS ANY QUALIFIED WRESTLER WHO IS NOT ATTENDING THIS EVENT, I NEED TO KNOW ASAP.
Sorry, but the singlet design has still not been finalized – hopefully it will be soon. We will post a link to them on the Kansas Wrestling Talk Forum site. If it takes too long we may only have time for the first couple teams to vote on which singlet they want to wear.
Our plan is to meet on April 13th between 9-10am at the Ramada Inn – 420 SE 6th - in downtown Topeka. There, we will hand out the Team Kansas singlets, shorts and t-shirts – get bus and rooming assignments and load up no later than 12 noon for the trip to Council Bluffs. We will check into our hotel before weigh-in. Weigh in starts at 5pm and I want us to be at the Mid America Center by 4:30 to get in line. After weigh-ins, there will be pizza at the hotel for all the Elementary wrestlers and coaches.
There is no weight allowance given at weigh-ins and you must weigh in with a singlet on.
If Topeka is out of your way, I have no problem with you and your wrestler meeting us in Council Bluffs. Just make sure you are at the event center ready to weigh in at 4:30. Please note that on your sign up form. I also need to know if any wrestler will be staying with their parents, and not the team. Don’t forget to put any roommate preferences on your sign up form – 4 wrestlers to a room. I’ll do my best to get your wrestler paired up with at least one of your requests.
On Saturday, each team will wrestle in pools. Each dual is wrestled like a high school dual. How your team finishes in the pool determines what bracket you go into on Sunday. Sunday brackets are 8 teams, wrestled like an 8 man bracket - except - if you lose in the semifinals you don’t cross bracket to the backside – you wrestle for 3rd/4th. We are normally finished wrestling Sunday by 4pm. We will have one bus available if any wrestler needs a ride back to Topeka. Most of the wrestlers ride back with their parents.
Saturday night we will have a hamburger feed for all wrestlers and their parents. We will need a few volunteers to help with that. For the wrestler’s lunch on Saturday and Sunday, we provide sandwiches, chips, fruit, snack bars, water etc. We also need volunteers to help make the sandwiches, etc. The hotel provides us with a good breakfast both Saturday and Sunday.
We can have 4 coaches per team on a volunteer basis. Each coach gets a Team Kansas t-shirt and coaches band that gets them into the event for free both days. Coaches are welcome to eat and drink just like the wrestlers. Unfortunately, coaches have to get their own rooms. I don’t care if you stay somewhere other than the Team hotel. We will select the coaches once the teams are set after the changes that always take place. I will be checking with each district to make sure our coaches have not been reprimanded before the final decisions are made. Thanks in advance to the coaches.
If your wrestler finished 7th, they are able to go on this trip as an alternate. Alternates get the same singlet, shorts and t-shirt to keep as all the other qualifiers. Keep an eye on the Kansas Wrestling talk forum as I guarantee there will be changes to the teams and the 7th place finisher may move up to Team 6.
The 8th place finisher will move up to an alternate if we have any change in the 6 teams.
The Best Western Plus Omaha Airport Inn and Suites, 2510 Abbott Plaza, is where all the Elementary wrestlers will be staying. Some of the Middle School wrestlers will be staying there as well - with the rest across the street at the Candlewood Suites, 2601 Abbott Plaza.
I will provide updates etc via email and on the Kansas Wrestling talk forum site. If you have any questions, please email me or call 316-641-4913
