The split tournaments that we have attended had 6U, 8U and 10U in the morning. 12U, 14U and 16U were in the afternoon. You still were done at around the same time as an open tournament so if you had sons in both you would get home at about the same time. In Fairbury NE, the same age kids wrestle at the same time. They have 4 to 6 mats and all the 6U wrestle and then all the 8U ect. The kids are split up according to weight. In fact, what they do is call all kids in the same age group to go upstairs where parents arrange them in rows based on weight. You sit next to the kids in your bracket and wait your turn when they call you down to the mats. Now, that is just one tournament but it is run very smoothly.

Again, there is nothing to prevent you from staying to watch the older kids. You actually can then sit back and enjoy the show without worry about mat numbers.

I have heard people say that it makes a coaches job harder because they have to stay the whole day. Well, how many open tournaments did you go to last year that were done by 2:00? Exactly. I know that my husband looked forward to the Fairbury tournament because it was easier for the coaches to keep up with the kids and they didn't have to worry so much about not being there for a match (or two kids at the same time). Also, he wasn't jumping from a 6U match to a 14U in a few minutes. It was less crowded and less confusion.
I feel that the strong oppositions to the split-format is that it just isn't done at Kansas. We get stuck in "well we have always done it this way" mentality and are scared to try something new. Also, we are thinking about what it was like when we are kids without thinking about everybody else. Just because you liked to sit in the gym and play with your friends does not mean everyone else did too. If everyone thought the same way as you, we wouldn't have so many people dropping out when they get older.