I agree with Nigel on this one. I would have a tournament after state with the top 2 from each weight and class. Or maybe a round robin between state champs. Or we could go back to the way it was in kids with subdistricts, then districts, then state. Oh well, wishful thinking.
Regarding classes and how hard each class is, it really varies from year to year. This year, I would say 4a has the overall edge, just by glancing at some of the names throughout the brackets. But the others are not far behind.