RJW- you don't see the finals because you're coaching, and you're in charge of a team. Keep in mind, there are 7,000 people who ARENT in charge of a team, and are fully capable of watching all the matches mentioned. Also, many wrestlers have friends from different classes that they would like to watch wrestle. Just because you can't see the excitement doesn't mean you should spoil it for the other 6,999 of us.

And forget all this prestige stuff. You name me one state champ that didn't deserve it. Tell me one person in ANY class who won state, yet is a fish. You can't do it. Just because there are less teams does not make it dishonorable.

And finally, to whoever said Wichita and Topeka are the only places big enough to hold the tournament is nuts! Salina has the Bicentennial Center, Lawrence has Allen Fieldhouse, and Manhattan has Bramlage Collesium. I don't know about the other sites, but Bramlage holds 13,000, which is almost twice that of Wichita. I also believe all three cities have more than enough hotel room.

However, it would indeed be hard to find a place that would do the so-called "thankless jobs." I think that that aspect of the Wichita state tournament is covered beautifully, and we should all thank the parents and fans who help run the tournament. The Collesium staff may be full of jerks, but those who run the tournament do an outstanding job.