ABC Television will once again be airing live coverage of the 3-2-1A State Wrestling Championships. I believe this will be the 8th consecutive year of coverage.

Colby's KLBY will again carry the coverage and, in the past, Garden City's KUPK, Norton's cable tv network and Wichita's channel 51 have also aired the coverage. I assume KUPK and channel 51 will once again carry the coverage, but doubt that Norton will since they moved up to 4A.

During the past three season's we have provided live tv coverage of the quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals. But ABC Kansas has cut us back to the semifinals and finals this year.

Rich Epp with host the coverage for his 8th season and I (Les Brown) will provide color commentary for the 3rd consecutive year.

This has been a huge success for NW Kansas and could be equally successful for the three other quadrants of the state. But ABC-Wichita has changed ownership a few times in recent years. The corporation that now owns the station is located on the east coast of the U.S. and, unfortunately, they are less than enthusiastic about pre-empting nationally syndicated ABC programming for a regional event like the Kansas H.S. State Wrestling Tournaments.

Of course, viewer input and advertising dollars play a role in this decision making process. So....if you are serious about wanting to see live coverage of Wichita's tournament, I would encourage you to unite and document prospective viewer support and, more importantly, potential advertiser support for the coverage. Once this is documented you could approach your local ABC Kansas affiliate and ask them to join the cause.

Tape delayed is nice, but live coverage gives our great sport the attention and support it deserves.

Good luck.