Usually I attack this topic in a very negative, shame on you, type of approach. Not this time.

Great Job DERBY, MAIZE, ARK CIY, HUTCHINSON, MULVANE LITTLE LEAGUE WRESTLING CLUBS. I'm not sure what club feeds the Prairie Hill Middle School, but they had a very strong showing as well.

This is one of the toughest Middle School Seasons I have seen in a long time and I have been promoting Middle School wrestling for several years now. Several State Champions and State Placers in many of the weights.

Ark City had every middle school aged wrestlers participating. Maize had every middle school aged wrestlers participating. Derby had the majority of their middle school aged wrestlers participating, I think they may have been missing 3. I did not get a Hutchinson or Prairie Hill count but they looked very tough and I would guess the vast majority of their little leaguers for these club were wrestling for their schools.

Great Job Parents and Coaches for supporting your schools. This is a great time for the kids to come together and learn to be a team. Kids out their trying to get an extra point to earn more team points. Kids working hard to get the pin. Wrestlers rooting for wrestlers that are losing, cheering when they do not give up the pin. This is what wrestling is about. It is an individual sport, but when the wrestlers can come together and learn to be a team, that is when it becomes more than just a sport.

I can guarantee that in a lot of weights, this tournament was just as tough if not tougher than Salina. I would encourage parents to continue to support your middle school programs. It will only make your High School Teams tougher, your wrestlers better, and teach them what wrestling is really about.

And Chad should know. Middle School was the toughest 6 years of his life.

5 1/2...I graduated Middle School at semester at the young age of 16.

If you took more steroids it would have been 4 years. I know you don't have a problem with them.

Valley Center tourny was much the same. Some great finals matches and some really talented wrestlers going hard after it all day. Valley came out on top with 7 first place finishers. Andover Central and Andover were next. It was a great day for all.

Praire Hills is Buhler's midle School and those are mainly from Team Lighting. We have no 7th or 8th graders staying with the club during MS.

I will also like to give credit to the PHMS MS coaches, they went in the hals and recruited very heavy for a class that had ZERO wrestlers in it. They now have at least some of the class trying it and hopefully sticking it out.

I feel the same way. I have all except for 2 club kids out and they do not wrestle for the Local Club KYG( Young Guns have all of their kids wrestling Middle school for me at EMS) We have faced Andover Central and they are a tough team and Winfield was also very tough this weekend at the Haysville tourney. This was the toughest year I can remember for this tournament and had the best quality of wrestling from top to bottom. It is nice to see a trend starting and much easier for me as a coach to convince these kids that they will have quality matches because the other schools clubs are joining in too. Thanks to those of you promoting this in your clubs it is really appreciated.

Brian Means
Eisenhower Middle School Head coach

I also think that it is great that more club wrestlers are making the MS circuit. There is a team concept that they need to have a taste of before they get into high school. You can say they get that in the kids' circuit, but it isn't the same in my honest opinion.