I just wanted everyone to know that this was not a very well ran tourney in my opinion. Only one boys bathroom stall in the whole place. (300-350 wrestlers). There was at least an hour wait all day! The tourney didn't start till about 9:45. They were very unorganized. Switching mats and skipping match numbers all day. The six and under table had at least 12 matches in a row just while I was watching that had to be stopped at least twice during each match to try to correct the score because the score keepers were not paying attention at all. They were talking with each other and giving green points to red ect. They were only giving one point instead of two and in one case the score was actually off by 8 points for a whole period before they tried to figure it out. The boy score showed green ahead by 6 and after they attempted to figure it out they said he was actually behind by 2! What the heck happened here? Any other opinions?

dadofawrestler, did you offer to work at table #1 and straighten everyone out? I doubt it.

Did you offer to clean additional restrooms after the tournament? I doubt it.

dadofawrestler, where are you having your tournament?

Overall this tournament was as good as any other.
To criticize someone or the Emporia club with only the best intentions while eating nachos in the stands is horrible.

It doesn't matter where my tournement is and I can tell you that yes it was brought to table one's attention several times that there was a problem and the answer was o well. I have volunteered many many times at tounements. And if anyone had said that if I would volunteer to clean the restroom they would open it I wouldv'e. Here is the deal one bathroom stall is not enough for that many kids. If you can't handle the responsibilities of holding a tournement, then don't. One of those responsibilities is cleaning up whatever mess is made in order to provide decent facilities.

Quick thought. I myself have been to many tournements over the past 10 years. I like many others have seen the good with the bad. But a 45 minute late start in kids club don't sound all to bad, seeing how Haysville Cancelled (dadofa your not from there?)It may of been that they reached out and let late entry's in so the kids that planned on Haysville may of had a place to wrestle? Don't know all the info, anyhow I myself have been guilty of finding all the negatives in a Tournenment, than when the dust cleared I was really upset with maybe how my kids outcome was (this isn't the case?)Some, however say, that when someone with talents see what's wrong, and could help, but are waiting to be asked, their help wasn't worth having in the first place. Or maybe the $13 entry fee was bad luck to begin with why a dollar figure like that? And wasn't this at the High School surely they got more than one stall for all the students. Concessions must of been okay don't hear any complaining on that subject. Oh, thats right the Nachos was outstanding.

The Emporia tournament went well! Absorbing wrestlers and their families was a great feat. Overall, Emporia nice work. We were at Table 1 (6 & U) (on the mat that is) and I don't recall any switching mats (until maybe the end) and skipping match numbers (you always to watch for those--due to forfeits). The officials were great and yes perhaps the young table workers might have been overwhelmed with the obligations -- the ref's did well on keeping an eye on the scoring throughout the day.

We always like to attend the Emporia tournament & have been for well over 10 years now too. Did anyone make a mention how it was great not to have an admission fee? Thanks Emporia--we'll see you again in the future!

I guess I miss understood the point of the talk forums! I was not slamming emporia or thier wrestling club. This was not a horrible tourney, (and by the way my kid did well) I do not have a vindetta against anybody willing to give up thier time to help promote kids wrestling. I think it is great that they let in late entries. I was simply trying to point out their big problems to help them maybe correct at tourneys in the future. I know when we hold our tourney we want to hear the good and bad. We make sure that there is always at least one qualified person at each table and that simply did not seem to be the case here. I know it takes alot of volunteers and all of them are not going to be wrestling pros. I truly feel that having only one stall in the only boys bathroom just because nobody wanted to clean another was not fair to these kids. Concessions were pretty good. And no, I was not in the stands eating nachos all day.

The results have been sent to Mr. Juby.
3 clubs sent in kids in the wrong age group, and instead of scrathing the kids we made the adjustments to let the kids wrestle. I did the presentation to ouor founders widow at 9:32 and the national anthem was sang at 9:38. Trust me, I was not happy with the start time and the bout sheets not getting changed. Yes, we did learn alot from our mistakes.

As for the restrooms. The varsity locker rooms are the only other option available in that portion of the school. 2 years ago some wrestlers felt it was their duty to "relieve" them selves into a couple of the lockers. Yes, they were caught. So now the lockers rooms are not an option.

Table 1 - New ref, scoring the kids incorrectly, I worked this table latter in the day and it was still occuring. New table workers, voluntering their time with 1 or no break throughout the day.
I'm pretty sure I know who "dadofa" is. If you wouldn't have interupted during the match and let the table workers concentrate on the match, they would have kept up. I don't remember when you came up and asked to help at table 1.

Anyway. Thanks for all that came and had the patience to sit through the changes. We will always try to improve.

There were some very good matches - the level of competition was good. It was also nice to have an early December tourney on this side of the state. It was also nice to be headed for home by 2:30.

There were a few problems, and I know from when I have helped run tournaments, you learn something new each year and try each year to be better than the year before.

The biggest problem we encountered was the boy's bathroom. Our son needed to use the restroom a couple times during the day and each time there was a very long wait due to only having one stall available. This created some worry about whether he would be able to get through the line before he needed to be matside. I am not sure what can be done in the future to get more stalls available, but it is an area that needs to be addressed.

The tableworkers and other staff we dealt with were all pleasant and helpful. Hosting a tournament is a lot of work and requires a huge committment by lots of people to pull off even a half-way successful one. Thanks for the effort, Emporia.

Well maybe you should have checked referencee of the official, or kept one of them that you had coming than last minute tell him not to come.

He is a first year ref. As were 3 others. We never canceled any refs for this tournament. All contracts that were sent out were honored. You must have been mis-informed.

no just the fact that you said yes we could use you. than last week i email you asking all the information you say you went with other officials. You did indicate you want me there and at the last second to say no isnt right

B O O H O O! Cry about it someplace else.

I find it kind of amusing that you seem to think you know who I am and even to say that I interupted the match in the middle. I didn't even have a kid wrestling on mat one! I just like to watch the little guys and simply noticed a problem with scoring!

Fair enough. It happened twice while I was sitting there. We were watching the ref and had a guy yelling at us from behind that the score was wrong. We were off a whopping 2 points. Making it 10-4 instead of 8-4.

What capped of the day was one of my non-club volunteers stated "I don't know why I come here evey year and get berated by people that don't even know me"

Also I want you to know that I do not agree with any kind of bad sportsmanship from kids, coaches or parents! Yelling is not the way to handle anything!

In the last 35 years of my wrestling, coaching and running tournaments there is always something that is going to go wrong with a tournament. They will never be perfect no matter how much planning goes in to one. The only thing I was concerned about was the bathroom situation. But as wrestling teaches us you have to be patient and composed and take the bad calls with the good calls and what comes around goes around.
I really thought our tourny in JC would start on time (9:00a.m.)with all of the planning and effort. We had over 400 wrestlers with 28 scatches and numerous problems sending kids in the wrong age groups or weights. Some were internal and some external.Most of the kids were done by 3pm and we were completely done by 4pm.

I would like to thank the Emporia Kids team on a good tourny. They had to do a lot of scrambling and made the tournament an overall success.

We did not go this year but in the past Emporia has made good on getting all the kids put in place to have a way to get mat time. I may be wrong but dado said 6&U table. Some of us have been doing this for years.Every saterday in kids wresling is a long day with up's and downs. I thank the clubs who do this for the kids.It's all good!

I have to agree with dadofa though i did see a few times scores were not being keep right on mat 1. Although the tourney was a good one.

The Emporia Tourney in my mind went well, as for the ref on mat 1
6&U are the hardest kids to wrestle. With all the flip-flopping going on it is sometimes hard to keep it straight. I was appalled to see the parents crowding all the mats yelling so loud that nobody could hear a whistle. I saw many kids keep wrestling after the whistle had blown. I know the need to yell when your kid is wrestling but I heard many coaches complaining about communicating with their kids. Maybe instead of blasting referees(dadofa) you should take a proactive approach and help control order along matside. Referees have enough to do other than keep people off the edge of the mat. As for the late start, I have rarely been to a tournament that has started on time. Maybe if people have a secret to starting on-time they should share it instead of criticizing everyone else for not knowing about it.

I attended last year's novice. The tourney was smooth, but come on the rest room complaint is a legit. I remember having to wait 30 minutes every time. I feel sorry for those if IBS.