As we headed out to Rossville at 5am this morning, the two biggest questions in my mind were: 1) could we get my Camry out of the neighborhood to get to some halfway cleared roads, and 2) should we take 24 Hwy out of Topeka or catch NW Carlson road off of 70? The answers were: 1) barely made it out of the neighborhood, and 2) glad we took 24 Hwy.

We pulled into the parking lot at Rossville High School at 6:10am. There weren't many vehicles there so we got a great parking space. As we walked through the doors, we were greeted with a round of applause by approximately 20-25 Rossville supporters. Apparently we were the first ones to show up for the 6am-8am weigh-ins. My son and I had a good chuckle about that and will probably tell stories about it for years to come. Thank you Rossville.

As for me, I got to meet a number of very good people that I had not met in the past, got to speak with other people I already knew, and got to see some very exciting wrestling. On many occasions, I would go out to the brackets after a really good match to see who the participants were based on the bout number. I have been around for quite a while and seen my share of matches, but I always get to see kids wrestle that I haven't seen before.

At the end of the day, after making it back home safe (I hope everyone did as well), I was able to reflect on what was a hectic, stressful, exciting, unique, fun and exhausting day. I have come to the conclusion that my son and I love this sport, that there are many devoted parents/coaches/fans involved, and a lot of really good kids that come out to do their best at one of the most difficult sports that they can compete in.

Wrestling is sure something special!

amen, my brother and i still hear our friends talk about 6 or 7 of us piling into the back of my dad's dodge ram charger, and driving 3 hours to wichita to wrestle. some of those mornings started at 3am! everyone of those days was something special, to all. the rides home were more entertaining as we would be awake. my parents still make it to tournaments just to watch, kids they don't even know. thanks mom and dad i know those days are special to me. i hope they are for my son and i as well. we start it off on saturday, hopefully 20 years from now he is making the same kind of statement.

That's exactly what it is all about guys, creating those memories and relationships. god bless 'em!!!!

We had many rossville people snowed in. We also had many rossville people that tried to get to tournament & got stuck. We did not have enough tournament workers to run our tournament efficently. Parents form other clubs ran tables & did many other things expecting nothing in return. There was many wrestling parents that came out of the bleachers & replaced those that could not get there. I would like to thank those people & also thank the people that drove through the weather & supported our club. The money we make goes to our rossville wrestlers & keeps the cost of the sport down for our wrestling familys. ReDeployd your right. WRESTLING IS SURE SOMETHING SPECIAL.

Mike,
Given the weather and the number of scrathes the the issues we didn't see (not enough table workers) you still had us out by 3:00 o'clock. I think it was a great tournament and once it started running it ran great. A lot of tough wrestlers making for great competition (and a rude welcome to 12 and under for my oldest boy... which he needed)

I also want to thank the folks who help us on NW Carlson road get our cars through the drifts. Atleast one of them is a wrestling parent or coach. It's people like that that make this sport so special.

Once again great job to all the people who helped out. We'll be back again next year

And a request for next year... No freezing rain or snow for your tournament.

Andrew Steele

Wrestling is a very special sport. I remember as a little girl getting up before the crack of dawn to make is to a tournament so we could wrestle. I remember stepping out on the mat and being scared and I remember getting my hand raised and watching my brothers hand raised. These memories will always be special to me and I hope the memories we are making with our boys will be the same. Great posts guys.