How much money could be made if the dvd's of state were made available through the KSHSAA web site? ALL of the finals should be professionally done and made available the week following the tournament. You should be able to order them at the tournament or on line.

State Tournament wear... I was only able to attend the 4A tournament and I have to say the logo was HORRIBLE. Does KSHSAA have a marketing rep or marketing consultant? They could sell SO much more if it was appealing.

Rick and Gary need to go to Fargo and watch how to make the tournament something special. Warm up boxes, raised platform in the center, a Michael Buffer type of announcement, a little dry ice fog, music, etc. The crowds need to be proximate to the mat. The environment is so steril. The backup refs are the only guys with great seats! Do you know how much you could make selling premium seat tickets? Creativity, marketing, do it up right!

The award ceremonies were sad, THe parade of athletes was conducted in a manner that only half of the crowd could see the wrestlers. Put the podium up in the middle of the platform and do the pictures in another room.

Speaking of pictures. How about selling those online? How about some action photos from the finals? I didn't order on site because at nearly EVERY major tournament in the country there is web site that you can order photos from. I had to hunt the guy down on the phone on Monday and barely got my order in.... Another missed $$ opportunity! Back in the day they made all of the champions wait until the last match was over to take a group picture. Those were classic pictures. What happened to them?

On the topic of last match. For Pete's sake, start in the MIDDLE not at 103. Create an exciting atmosphere and quit disrespecting the 285's!! The CLASSLESS Clay Center crowd got up and walked out when they were mathematiclly eliminated with more than half of the finals left. Show the finalists some respect.

The Salina venue is so quiet it feels like a golf tournament. Lets make it more exciting and make it a revenue generator!!

I had never been to Salina or seen just a 4a tourney before, but I agree with Will on the 'golf tournament' feel. I couldn't believe I was watching a state tourney FINALS, and it was so quiet at times, that you could hear a pin drop.

And, starting with the three pounders all the time??? I agree. Bad move. So the big dudes some respect. Get real fans to stay for the WHOLE tourney and not have the big dudes suffer the indignity of wrestling in front of a 1/4 filled gym. Its got to hurt for them to see the gym FULL for the smaller dudes but empty for them. An injustice that easily can and SHOULD be fixed.

I have never been to a dual, let alone a tournament championship, where they jump around with the weights. That is just how it is done--you start with 103 and go through to 285. This is an etiquette issue for wrestling fans, not a KSHSAA issue. I agree it sucks for those guys, but the fans need to figure it out.

Lots of tourneys start at an upper weight. This is NOT a unique concept. And, it is not RANDOM. IE. Start at 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, Heavy, 103, 112, 119 . . .

Some HS's do it. Some colleges do it. Again, this is not some new and unique idea that Will came up with.

I never understood why tournaments started at the light weights and ended with the heavy weights. They should draw the weights out of a hat. I would even go so far as to draw the weights from a hat except for the final matches that could determine top team placements - leave those select matches for the very end.

I am a classless Clay Center person who you said walked out in the middle of the finals. First of all, all of the parents in our section, who I sat with the entire tournament, stayed until the end of the 285 finals match. I don't know if some of the high schoolers who sat up above left early or not. I know many were still there at the end of the finals.

You said we left when it was mathematically impossible to win state. Ridiculous, you should really research your facts before
saying something like that. The team and fans knew it was impossible for us to win state Saturday morning. And yet, all of the parents stayed throughout the day whether they had a wrestler in the finals or one that had already been beaten out.

Coming from a parent of a Clay Center wrestler, Clay Center has the best fan base that supports all the wrestlers unbelievably well. It is a TEAM wrestling town and, in my opinion, the wrestlers support each other like no other.

Were the wrestlers disappointed they didn't wrestle as well as they could have and took home second? Absolutely. Will they be back strong next year? Again, absolutely.

If you didn't walk out then you weren't a member of the classless group that left. After your last finalist wrestled a majority of your fan base left. Your coach and I even talked about it. If you stayed I applaud you for doing the right thing. I agree that you have a great support base but it doesn't hurt that it is only a short drive to Salina from Clay Center. You cannot dispute that a majority of your fans left after the 135lb finals. Before this match you were .5 points behind Colby. Mathematically still alive. Had he won you would have been in first with a hope of staying there if Arnberger and Kriss would have lost. There is my research! It was POSSIBLE for you to win but NOT LIKELY. The fans may very well have been students but none the less the place was tomblike for the 285lb finals, this you cannot disput either. I know your coach well and I know you will be back. I didn't dispute or challenge your town's ability to put good wrestlers on the mat. I have taken some of your boys to wrestle in Iowa before. I merely called out those who left and didn't stay in respect to the other finalists. If the finals would have started at 140lbs perhaps they would have stayed to support Anderson. That is really my point, why do we always start at 103. I hope you and many others return next year and that ALL of your fans can stay until the end.

What you suggested is NOT within the rules and cannot be done as such.

What is in the rules is that a random draw may be done in dual meets and for championship finals at both regular season and state championship tournaments. When a random draw is done only ONE weight class is drawn and that is the starting weight class, every match after that follows in the normal order and loops back through. For example if 140 lbs is drawn than that is the first weight class to be wrestled, followed by 145, 152 all the way to 285 and then back to 103. You can't just pick certain weights you want to do at the very end.

I am of the opinion that the starting weight in the finals at state should be determined by a random draw myself for the exact reasons that Will mentioned which is that it would keep people in the stands and give all these young athletes a chance to shine in front of everyone.

For a normal dual don't the rules require a certain number of days notification before starting at a weight other than 103?

There is no such notification required according to the NFHS rule book. However, I believe that KSHSAA has defined a period of notification to apply whenever a random draw may be used.