flowrestling is getting those numbers from the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS)participation statistics. The 5,008 is from the 2015-16 year, also showing 218 teams or an average of 22.97 wrestlers per team, the 5,020 comes from the 06-07 year which shows 199 teams for an average of 25.23 wrestlers per team so there was about a 9% drop in the wrestlers per team between the two years. Also if you go to the next reporting year 2016-2017 the most current one showing by NFHS it shows for Kansas only 4,749 wrestlers at 216 schools or 21.99 wrestlers per team which is almost a 13% drop in per team members from the 06-07 year. In the 1999-2000 year it was showing 5,143 wrestlers in Kansas on 179 teams or 28.73 wrestlers per team.

I think this gradual dropping of the wrestlers per team in Kansas is a concerning number and reflective of a gradually declining per team participation trend. But maybe I am incorrect in this assessment. I would say some long time Kansas high school coaches could say whether they are noticing a gradual decline in the number of high school wrestlers per team. I know it would not hold true for all teams but if these numbers from NFHS are correct I would think our long time state coaches would be noticing this trend.