I do not believe that any one with any wrestling sense has ever doubted the smaller schools. I know that I did not. One most only check the records to see that. But more likely, many people are probably tired of hearing them blow their horns all the time proclaiming how much better they are than everyone else. I know that I am.
With regard to dominance, this is the type of stuff that people get tired of hearing about.
Norton won state last year but were forth at Newton so no one could say they were absolutely the best. This year they did when Newton...barely. You cannot however say that they are the best team in the state, although they just might be. They have already lost to Clay Center even though they beat them at Newton, so how could that be dominance. Carroll beat Clay Center in a dual and at Newton but they barely lost to Norton at Newton, so once again were is this dominance that is spoke of.
To say that Hoxie was the dominator prior to that is as equally ludicrous. They lost several times throughout their "dominance", like to Manhattan so one could just as equally say that Manhattan dominated the alledged time period.
What about Turner, Abilene, Hutch, Emporia, Ark City, Columbus, Goddard, Goodland, Colby, etc. even other smaller schools like Effingham and St. Francis.