The P-burg regional was run very good--those of you have never run a tournament of this magnitude have no concept of the time and attention it takes.

Also, many people seem to forget that three mats have been "in vogue" only since the early to mid '90's. My school hosted a regional in '95 and we used two mats; when we hosted again in '99 we went to three mats.

Another factor to consider--the P-Burg regional was composed of mostly full brackets. Of the two Western Regionals P-Burg had the most wrestlers, and therefore more matches to wrestle. Also, it was undoubtedly better balanced competitvely than the Lakin regional meaning there were fewer pins at P-Burg in the early rounds of the tournament .

Thirdly, the KSHSAA does not give tournament managers much latitude in adjusting starting times. The recommended start time on Friday is 2:00 p.m.--a manager can start later, but not earlier without special permission from the KSHSAA. My school requested such permission in '95 and was denied--we wrestled that year until 11:00 p.m.

I was in attendance at P-Burg tournaments when they used three mats, with the third being in the Aux gym which is right next to the main gym. The coaches and parents b****ed their butts off about having to go back and forth --so what do you do? Probably no one out West should be allowed to host a regional unless they can use three mats in ONE location.

However, the P-Burg tournament was NOT poorly run-- kudos should go their way for their hospitaltity and organization.