Top 10 Kansas wrestling towns....

No surprise....most are in NW Kansas. Here's my list. What do you think? Feel free to make your own.

1. Hoxie: hands down #1. EVERYONE in that town can talk wrestling. EVERYONE. Amazing

2. St. Francis: lots of knowledge from fans that have watched the sport for years.

3. Norton: a ton of excitement for a team that has a great opportunity to win back-to-back state titles

4. Clay Center: an Eastern Kansas school? Yep...from what I know and have seen, their fans are good, great school colors and fricken tough wrestlers.

5. Abilene: See #4 only not as cool school colors

6. Scott City: ugly blue, they still wear tights and a coach that makes Mark Mangino look like a Kenyan runner. You see a Scott City wrestler and you know he's from Scott City.

7. Ark City: a slew of fans every year in the 90's and still a great fan base and very good wrestlers.

8. Goodland: lots of great fans and terrific, young wrestlers whose best days are ahead of them

9. Oakley: where else could a long time well respected coach like Dale Samuelson leave and still tons of optimism for the new coach and program remain: Answer: Oakley

10. Columbus: is there a stronger 4A tradition over the last 30 years? Not than Columbus.

Honorable mention: Concordia, Emporia, Shawnee Heights, Colby, Santa Fe Trail, Goddard, Effingham

What about Mulvane? They have some pretty good wrestlers (although they have had a few down years) and they always bring A TON of fans to the regional and state tournaments no matter where they are!

Shame on you Mike, are you saying the Clay Center's colors are better than Abilene, when they are seperated by just the smallest amount of blue pigment? You lose.

My humble opinion, based on my limited travels:

1) Ark City: Can't argue with tradition, and nobody has more than the boys in purple.

2) Hoxie: Has any team been as dominant over the last 5 years?

3) Wichita: Home to the State Tournament (for now) and Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mt. Carmel, perennial powerhouses in 5a.

4) Emporia: Nation's longest home winning dual streak ought to be good for something, right?

5) Hays: Home of the state's premier college program, the 321a State Tournament, Hays High and TMP (both of which have produced some high caliber competitors). Hay's Prairie Senior Classic is one of the most fun tournaments to wrestle in, the atmosphere is a blast.

6&7 tie) Abilene and Clay Center: See Mike Holliday's post.

8) Goodland: It seems like these guys are loaded with talent year in and year out.

9) Norton: So hot right now...

10) Colby: I've never seen a town taken over like Colby during the Eagle Invite. I think they used 4 different venues my senior year. Not to mention, a very strong Colby CC program.

Honorable Mention: Manhattan, Columbus, Saint Francis, Topeka/Shawnee County, Effingham, Derby

What are the criteria for top wrestling towns?

Tradition over the years?
Recent History?
Number of people wrestling?

There are numerous towns I would put in there but believe I would include Derby in there some place.

Tradition over the years, certainly deserve to be there.

Recent History, while down, they are coming back up and are getting stronger with a lot of young wrestlers on the high school squad this year. Middle school in the last 3 years has lost 1 dual, pretty good and gives a lot of hope if you ask me.

Number of people wrestling, Among the highest number of people wrestling in both kids wrestling, over 120 total, I believe the largest club in the state, and huge numbers in the high school practice room.

Mulvane does bring a lot of fans on Friday, but where are they Saturday?

1. St. Francis: not just for now, but since 1938, 69 years of always placing wrestlers at state.
2. Hoxie: almost always tough, not overpowering no's of kids out but who could forget a couple of years ago when they won a title with 13 at state and only 18 out for wrestling?
3. Ark City: 11 in a row can instill pride in almost anyone, and they desrerve their pride, having repeated success does not come without community dedication.
4. Goodland: years of tradition, continued success thoughout the "between coaches" period after Rocky left, and lots of mental toughness.
5. wichita. host of the big wrestling blowout at the Colinauseum, home of a whale of a bunch of very tough individuals over the years, and a few series of good teams like the only Grand State champs, the Kapaun Crusaders!
6. Emporia. long history of success, besmirched somewhat by the weight class cheating scandal, but with a dual longevity record that is impressive.
7. columbus: in recent and not so recent history, has exhibited an ability to remain at a respectable level.
8. Colby: Great high school tradition, and the most long term nationally respected juco program in Ks.
9. Abeline: Great team this year, last year, every year recently, with more to come.
10 Clay center: equal to abeline this year, but in my opinion a little short on tradition.

other towns that I wanted to list and didn't get around to were Scott City because of their community support and good performance record,
Douglass because they have maintained a quality state level program most years since the 30's, winfield for the same reason and because they produced Myron Roderick, and Beliot . Too bad I can't assign a town to Turner High school because they should sure be on the list! Also I neglect to list Norton, who should be in the top 3 or so. (DUH)

Great topic! I think you have to consider Salina as well. Outstanding kids program and many successful high school kids from there.

You're forgetting Belleville...

My list, My criteria is based on tradition, success at both the dual level, and the state tournament. Also crowd support.

1. Ark City - for all that they encompass even though I personally believe 5A to be weak, they still have an impressive streak of state titles and when you really get down to it thats all that matter.

2. Hoxie - If you want to talk about pure tradition plus dominance both this team and #3 both now and in the past they have it., these two team are very close to each other, and both coach Gable and Baker demand complete respect from me for their accomplishments.

3. St Francis (see above) Bye they way the only reason SF is third is because they come later in the alphabet than Hoxie, I'd almost call it a tie

4. Abilene. Boy I could go on forever here and of course I have a slight bias as well. How can you argue against my former team. 3 state titles in the last 8 years, plus top 4 finishes in all but 1 of the remaining years. They have finished out of first place by less than 12 pts in 3 out of the 5 years they didn't win state. a 6 year undefeated dual streak, 7 league championships out of 9 years I believe. Most of this under the guidance of a Coach (Bill Christner) who if I remember right, only wrestled for 2 years in high school, neither with a winning record. You can't hardly argue with sucess.

5. Norton - With the success they have had recently and in the past they deserve to be right where they are if not even higher on my list.

6. Goodland - has been the same as Columbus, the difference being Goodland has won a couple, Columbus has 1.

7. Columbus - Although not so much recently Columbus has been toe-to-toe up there in the 4a ranks for some time.

8. Kapaun Mt Carmel - How could I possibly leave out a Wichita area school in my list of greatness, particually one who has so many multiple time state champions.

9. Clay Center - One of our biggest rivals and frankly a team that has just come on in the last 4 years, evey year they have had at least one state champion and Coach C up there has those kids doing wonderful things. All of this back up by a fairly large kids program. They will do some major damage for many years to come.

10. Emporia - I have a ton of respect for former Coach Simmons, they had a great program down there, although I still think their league schedule was very week for many of those years, but they faired well at the state level and for that reason they deserve to be on my list.

Oh and a few honorable mentions only because Im not old enough to remmeber them but I have seen their accomplishments. They inlcude Beloit, Concordia, Goddard, Turner ( Very Recently), and though im shamed to admit it Manhattan
Take em as they are.

Belleville has to be a top 10 *L*- With the great assisant coach they have now it is only time to get that changed from what I hear. It is also heard that next year they are putting the Kids Program back to the way it shouold be- High School coaches involved

Clay Center I think has to be very high on the list- great fans- great numbers-- and they had Winter Ceremonies on a wrestling night this year

Mr. Fairleigh I just wanted to tell you in case you didn't know. It's common knowledge that Turner High School is located in the heart of Steveville. So if you believe that Turner should be on your list, just put it as Steveville and we'll all know who you're talking about. Good Game.

While talking about top wrestling teams, I would suggest that you remember Ulysses and Leoti as teams with regular and post season success. These two schools have won some state championships and some of the schools mentioned have not achieved that goal. Another program with a great state championship history is Wichita East. A great topic, the first I have felt the urge to post a reply to, after watching the forum for a couple of years w/o replying. Good job!

Being from a small town and not getting out much my list will be from the smaller schools-

1. Abilene
2. Clay Center
3. Concordia
4. Beloit
5. Hoxie
6. St Francis
7. Norton
8. Colby
9. Stockton
10. Osborne- out of respect for the Grieve Boys-

I always look at the best wrestling towns as being the ones that empty out the most when state comes as well as the ones that have the most history.

1 (Tie) Hoxie and St. Francis (there is no way to seperate the two)
3. Colby
4. Norton
5. Abilene
6. Clay Center
7. Effingham
8. Columbus
9. Goodland
10. Beloit

What about Plainville? I know that lately, they haven't been as consistent as they were in the 1980's and 1990's but the town still anxiously awaits all wrestling dual, tournaments and of course state. I would have to also say that I have never seen a town as dedicated to wrestling as Hoxie. That town is like a ghost town during state.

I don't know about towns, but here are my picks for teams with the best following:

1. Belleville
2. Rock Creek
3. Cuba
4. Wichita South East
5. Wichita North
6. Salina Central
7. Topeka High
8. Chapman
9. Washburn Rural
10. Smith Center

How about Garden City. Strong wrestling tradition. they should atleast be honorable mention on some of the lists.

Some honorable mention shoud also go to Newton .... 3 team titles ...... great tourney hosts ..... they may be down a bit now but they have produced some great champions.

It's an interesting topic. Here's how I came up with my Top 10. Hoxie is #1 basically because you can stop at say - the local convenience store - and say "How's your wrestling team doing?" and the person working can tell you EXACTLY how they are. You can go to Abilene or Norton and they may know...or they may not. People in Ark City would probably look at you funny and a convenience store worker in Wichita may call the cops. It's no disrespect to Ark City and Wichita (for example) but they're larger towns and quite frankly there's more to do. Same in my home town of Hays (not a strong wrestling town IMO). Sure fan support, wrestling success and tradition play a HUGE part, but how many of the locals know much specifically about the sport or season the wrestlers' are having. In Hoxie or Sainty almost everyone does.

What a great topic !!!!!!!!!!!

First, I can't believe nobody put Oberlin on thier list anywhere. Oberlin is # 3 in team state championships, and #2 on the list of individual state champion. i know they haven't won one for a long time but they have to be in thier some where.
My list would go like this.
Top 3
St. Francis, Hoxie, and Ark City.
Next.
Norton, Colby, Goodland, Oberlin
Next
Abielene Clay Center, Oakley, Atwood, Scott City,Garden City, Columbus,

As you can see to make by list a town must have a long term commitment to the sport.

Mulvane brings a ton of students on Friday because the school will bus them there and they are not considered truant. Hell not many kids would rather go to school than a field trip.

Oberlin has got to be in anyones top 10. 3rd @ state last year 5th year before plus the above mentioned stats. With the exception of Quinter ANY of the NWKL teams could be argued for a spot. Actually all the NWKL teams (except QT) have been mentioned. Easy to see why wrestling as a whole is so tough up there.

I know this! Don't you even think that's just a little bit cool and deserves an honerable mention? Besides, they always have the stands packed no matter where the tournament is held.

And they have hot cheerleaders (at least they did when I was in high school).

Gibby you took the words right out of my mouth

My choices would be
1. Hoxie
2. Manhattan
3. Norton
4. Clay Center
5. Abeline
6. Goodland
7. Bishop Carrol
8. Oberlin

What about the hardest league in the state. Definetly N.C.K.L. How many state champions and placers have came out of that league in the last 10 years. (Abilene, Clay Center, Concordia, Chapman, Marysville, and Wamego) I think this is the hardest league maybe for any sport in Kansas.

MCL NWKL Toughest Without a doubt
Norton Oakley
Smith Center St.Francis
Osborne Hoxie
Stockton Goodland
Ellis Colby
Trego Quinter
Plainville Atwood
Hill City Oberlin
P-Burg

Colby I think you might be going a little far there. As far as pure talent and champions the NCKL comes out looking great. The problem is many of the good kids are dispersed in two teams in recent years (Clay and Abilene), Concordia and Marysville were contenders several years back. But inter team duals in the NCKL have been somewhat lobsided over the past 6 years.

The post was originally about wrestling towns not leagues. However since this has come up I will give my opinion. NCKL is tough but not anywhere near as tough as the NWKL. The MCL would be a close 2nd, then maybe the NCKL.

Could you add Wellington in when Russ Decker was their coach early 90's, propably not now though.

Manhattan shouldn't count since K-State doesn't have a wrestling team...

Plus K-State has NEVER beat KU in their own gym in basketball.

i hear u on that one!

and why are we talking about basketball.

because we can

K-state has a club wrestling team if that counts. But go to Manhattan and ask some random person on the street how the wrestling team is doing, I doubt they could tell you.

Perhaps that's because there are more than 15 people in Manhattan...

That maybe so Prant, but I do believe the topic of this forum was Top Wrestling Towns, you could hardly make an arguement for Manhattan being a "wrestling" town if the people, no matter how numourous, are not interested. There is no doubt Man High has a good program, and a great coaching staff, but the town itself is more concerned with a losing KSU football team.

That's not the town's fault, that is Title IX's fault, and an era in which schools, even Universities, continually get less money to fund more programs.

Title IX may not have been the reason it was cut, but it has definitely played a role in keeping it dead. I do know that recently there was financial support for bringing back a wrestling program at K-State, but the issue was the # of scholarships that would be added to a men's sport when they were still not equal.

So therefore, it is certain that Manhattan is not a top wrestling town...

I'm not putting down the MHS wrestling team by any means, but this isn't about top wrestling high schools, it's about top towns, and Manhattan just isn't one of them.

rolfmao :rolleyes:

I agree with Pups, if this forum was about top wrestling programs in the state Manhattan would certainly be up there near the top, but this forum was about wrestling towns.

its no doubt that with the storied traditions of northwest kansas wrestling, ark city and others,they have some of the most knowledgeable and devoted fans. you also count effingham in this group. for a town of less then 750 and the surrounding area of atchison county they have more then shown how great and devoted the fans are.
wrestling on a high level is a tradition dating back to the mid 60s. they have dominated their league and area for long time and at times carried the mantle of eastern kansas wrestling.
the team goes where ever they can and the fans follow right along. alot of times driving 100+ miles away and competing against much larger schools. more often then not winning and/or holding their owm.
sure they only have 4 state team titles, but not many schools outside the prior mentioned schools can match that. there also numerous individual titles and placers.
with all that being said they do deserve the consideration of being one of the best wrestling towns/communities in the state.
this is not meant as an arguement, but just giving credit to a school and community that doesn't always receive the credit and respect it deserves.
for those that do not know its called
ACCHS-Atchison County Community High School
Effingham, Ks

Eff and Atch has some good kids go through there including the clouse and weishar boys, im sure no one has forgot about them.

BACK ON SUBJECT HERE...I really don't see why you guys have ranked Norton either 3 or below. Haven't they pretty much dominated everywhere they go?! And Hoxie?!?! Come on guys! I think it's pretty safe to say that Norton is the dominating team this year and was last year...and if you really want to go back...Norton dominated about 30 some years ago when they were coached by the ever famous Jake Durham.

Norton has been the dominating team THIS YEAR, but this topic isn't about this year, or even necesserally how good a team is. The whole community in Hoxie comes out IN FULL to support their wrestling team, and the Hoxie team has been a consistant placer at state for forever.

My favorite thing to see is in ANY town where the elderly, who have followed all sports, keep on coming to support the team. They may not have a relative playing but they keep showing up just the same. I think it is great so many are sticking up for their towns because that shows just how much the support is appreciated.

WAT ABOUT WAKEENEY?!?!?!?!
THEY ARE THE BEST TEAM OUT THERE!!!!
LOL

Michael Malay,
I could remember the time when Wakeeny was a good team Rob Stithem and company made them a pwerhouse,they were coached by a Norton graduate.....Dave Ward...he always had his team fired up to meet the challenge....
Wakeeny is getting some of that fire back but they need to turn it up to be compared to Ward's teams back then.

yes nobody should forget them and the clouse boys, they have a younger brother who is a freshman look for him in the next couple of years

Not one person on this topic has metioned Paola, they are a very good wrestling club and town.

I belive that wichita is one of the top wrestling cities they might not be number 1 but top 3 hands down u have wichita south,wichita nortwest who are in the top 10 in 6a and u have bishop carrol and kappun who are top 10 in 5a

Dingbat,

Chapman does have a good following I will give you that. It's probably the best following for a team that doesn't always see a lot of success come regionals and state.

Colby,

NCKL has its share of good wrestlers past and present. In fact I know over the last few years in 4a that NCKL has had the Wrestler of the year come out of the league.

__________________________________________

KSTATE Title IX debate:

If it wast Title IX causing all the problems then all they simply have to do is add women's softball, which may surprise some, but KState doesn't have that sport for women. Maybe get that and men would be able to field a varsity wrestling team.

what about andale with all the great wrestlers right now that club is an honerable mention and soon to be a great program

Sweazy--due to title IX, Kansas State chose to add a women's equestrian team a couple of years back. A softball team is in the DISTANT future, if ever.

Ok, it might just be my thoughts but wouldn't softball make more sense?

Myself being a softball coach I think it would be a great addition to KSU. Not sure anyone cares but the Club Softball team from KSU ended up 3 at National Club tournament last season. They could become very good with help but help is not insight as KSU declines softball issue every year. Some of the great softball Jr Colleges are right here in Kansas yet no softball at KSU.

Now back to wrestling- I think the question was great towns and following so just because a a couple good years make you a good program I believe they were looking for community support. I know from My experience that Beloit (in my day) had huge crowds and could tell you what was what. Not sure it is that way anymore but in da day they held the dual record I believe.

no_fluke Trego was dang good in 1998 we were undeafeted in dual and took 3rd at state and won regionals and league. back in the days of frohling

Kansas State already had the facilities for an equestrian team. They would have had to build a whole new softball complex, as Twin Oaks is owned by the city and can't be used for collegiate athletics. I would have liked to see them add a softball team, but it wasn't economically feasible.

KSU has rich alumns...how about build a softball field somewhere in Manhattan? There are plenty of places to put a Softball Stadium, it doesn't have to be next to all the other ones! Heck they built Super Target and a Famous Dave's BBQ.

Yeah, but Famous Daves and Super Target will bring in money. Softball will be a drain on KSU's economy. Imagine the prices of a softball stadium construction and upkeep, scholarship $$, coaching staffs, uniforms, and travel. This will hardly be offset by a fan base of 30-60 paying customers. We have a hard enough time paying for the one stickball diamond we have now.

I want to get back on subject.

Abilene gets high marks for wrestling fan base and support for a couple of reasons.

1. Fans who understand the sport

2. Support banners...you can drive almost all the way to Wichita for State and see AHS banners at least clear down to Smoky Valley.

Aaron, Dingbat, KSU had a softball team in the early 80's. The field was east of the baseball stadium. I think the Brandeberry Indoor Complex
was built on that land. I'm not sure if softball was a club or if it was a sport, but I remember watching games there. Dingbat, about your senior year, a group of people met to discuss starting a wrestling team and a softball team at KSU. In less than a month, we had pledges of almost $2 million. We also passed flyers at the kids state asking for support. When a rep from the group met with KSU administration, he was told there was no chance of starting either program.
I am a KSU alum, I root for KSU football, but the rest of the year I'm a husker fan because they have wrestling and softball. Dingbat, I have seen over 1,000 people at the Neb softball stadium.(warm day).
Nigel, I was in Abilene last week at the Eisenhower Center. I asked some of the employees how the Abilene wrestling team was doing this year. One of the people thought they were probably good but he wasn't sure and the others had no idea. I guess you could go to any town and find someone who doesn't know or doesn't care about the high school wrestling team. I know we have our share in Manhattan, but if they take the local paper and listen to the local radio station, they should have a pretty good idea of what going on. Our paper does a good job of reporting the matches and doing an article on almost every senior wrestler. Our radio station will broadcast the regional and state tournaments.
If we use the local media for a guide for top 10 towns in Kansas, I would have to nominate Norton. Every dual or tournament consists of almost two pages in the local paper. You can almost picture each match in your mind as you are reading the article. The Norton radio station broadcasts all of the Norton events and the man giving the move by move is very knowledgeable. Also, based on the Newton tournament, the Norton fans are numerous, knowledgeable and loud. (very loud,right llg)

Softball and wrestling go hand in hand. It helps offset the title IX so if you hate softball say bye to wrestling-

Why not support athletics as a whole and not as one sport- support everything and realize good people play many sports.

Husker fan because of many reasons which include softball and wrestling- they support most athlete groups

If you went on statistics alone there is no question that the town with the most tradition, NOT POTENTIAL, or up and coming, we are looking at what was done in the past. St. Francis has done it all. There have been some great coaches right now larry gable and steve jenkins have to be winding down his career as a coaches, they are getting old. But Gbale has been the indian's head coach for the longest period of time 1974-2005. Jake Durham was norton's coach for many years. and i would have to say that norton would be a very close second. Norton and St. Francis used to go round and round in the day. It was the biggest rivalry in the state at the time still might be, plus hoxie

Gotta agree with Mr. Over on this one--- its one thing to be a wrestling town when you are good, but the fact is St. Francis, Norton, Hoxie, Goodland, and colby have always had good attendance at their events even when they were down, and there are many programs that would like to develop their program to the point that they could have a season like these guys have in what they would consider a down year. Scott City is another one of those kind of Towns, they have been at the game about thirty years less than the above listed schools, but I remember having big crowds at home duals even back in the sixties when we couldn't whip cool whip. I think I would separate Colby, Goodland, Hoxie, Norton, and Scott City out of that group as program supporters in general, as I have seen their basketball crowds during the years that their wrestling was up and they were very large as well, Whereas I believe that people in Sainty mostly support wrestling.

I don't think sainty has had a winning basketball season boys or girls since 1997. I'm not even sure if they have ever made an appearance at a state tournementin the last 15 years