Its really too bad that the strong heritage in that nw ks. area causes them to basically have to beat each other to a pulp for the honor of having a comparatively easy go at state. Last years Kshaa regionals that split the teams there up and had a northwest and southwest site did a better job of giving everyone a chance. Hoxie and Norton were split apart, with oakly going with Hoxie and (I think) sainty , atwood, and oberlin going with Norton. I hesitate to say that the other regions are a joke this year but if there arent 75% of the placers (at state)coming out of the Norton region (one tournament) compared to the other three tournaments, I will be surprised. there are some quality guys in the rest of the state, but the teams up north, especially this year, seem to be a little better. That being said, it is really early in the season and a lot can happen between now and then. 4a is somewhat the same with the strength of the Abeline region, but there are some other teams (SFT, Columbus, Scott City, Ulysses, plus
many premium individuals outside of the Abeline regional, That will even out the numbers somewhat as far as state placers from each region. The 5a and 6a teams will be stacked to the east as there are so few schools that size in the west. AS nigel stated, Abeline was able to beat the odds last year, but if memory serves me correctly, they were not able to win the Goodland regional. In that case (state),a few quality wrestlers were able to do well. This year may not be so clear cut.