It is not so much what private schools have done in the past. It is what they are capable of doing. Private schools have not cared so much about wrestling in the past. Now there seems to be a push for it. Why can't you admit they have a different set of rules over public schools? If you compete, you should have the same set of attendance rules. If I'm so crazy then why do so many other states have a separate class for private schools???

Kansas now has it's own version of Blair Academy. I don't see Blair in a public state tournament.

I wish we had the same set of rules as public schools. Then we wouldn't have to forfeit to girls. Advantage: Public Schools.

You know you are right some Catholic schools do have a different set of rules then a public school. It showed this weekend, when one of the toughest wrestlers in the state had to forfeit a match due to the catholic rules, but wait a minute that benefited the public schools, we better not talk about that. I think you need to get off of your soapbox, and just admit it that SJA had a solid team this year from top to bottom, just like the other 3 PUBLIC schools that one the state team championships in 4a, 6a, and 321a.

Lance Geyer

Tuition for public schools must be pretty expensive too. Oh wait... Advantage: Public Schools.

No busing
No subsidized meals
Expensive tuition
Uniforms
Religious curriculum

Steve,

Advantages or disadvantages? Wisconsin separated private and the public demanded them back in. Blair is a boarding school. SJA is NOT a boarding school. Olathe has open enrollment. Public schools have kids attending outside of the district. I think you are not well informed.

Let me just clear up my personal feelings. Chief is good for Kansas Wrestling. He may be a fan of the Kansas City area just like I am a fan of District 2 area. He has personally made me branch out and pay attention to the rest of the state which has been fun and made me a better fan of the sport. I just like to poke fun on here sometimes to make sure he is looking further than just the Kansas City area, which most of the time he is. In addition to the picture I saw of him holding the trophy, I also saw him talking to several members of different coaching staffs and fans, and wishing them the best. He is not a bad guy in my belief. (Now that you know I respect what you do Chief, will you just admit you are a fan of St. James...LOL. )

On the public vs private school issue... there are kids all over the state that are wrestling for school districts that they do not live in. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Will Cokeley said it best... there is a difference between promoting and recruiting....

IMO, I think it would be a shame for the private schools to compete in a separate class. Whoever is the best (last year Ark City, this year SJA) wouldn't you want to prove yourself next year against those top teams? Everything is cyclical, kids graduate and talent changes, so it is hard for me to believe SJA will always win the title. Next year, or the year after, it could be Andover, Goddard, Mill Valley, or it could be KMC or STA. Whoever it is, I want our school to try and compete with them. I want our school to go to the tournaments they go to and wrestle those guys. If we get beat, we go back to the drawing board and work on our weaknesses. If we win, we know we can compete with proven talent. At the end of the year, the state tournament is where our guys should go to wrestle the best of the best. There are some that would like to throw all classes together for this exact reason, but that is a different thread.

I guess I don't understand the whole controversy. It sounds too easy to chalk up a private schools success to 'recruiting'. Any school district that has open enrollment like the Blue Valley school district could be accused of the same thing, but on a smaller scale. We know who the 'Football School' is in our district. We also know who the 'CC School' is and the 'Tennis School' is, etc... But I don't hear a lot of accusations about recruiting because I think it is rare. At least I have no first hand knowledge of it. Wouldn't football players see the success a school has over time (due to great coaching and systems) and maybe just entertain the thought that they would like to go to school X because they are considered the football school? Success in our district is it's own recruiter. If our wrestling coach is doing his best to promote and teach youth wrestling, we should be able to build a strong program (I think he is doing a good job at it, too). Then maybe we become the 'Wrestling School' in our area and wrestlers will choose to wrestle for that school, not out of any sense of recruiting, but because they want to wrestle for that proven coach.

It just seems to me that we should be looking at the success of some schools with more complex criteria than if a private school succeeds, it is because they did something unethical to poach talent. I am not saying that recruiting doesn't happen in either private or public schools. But I have yet to have knowledge of even one instance where it happened. It seems to me that kids and families make their own decisions based on what is best for them. I guess I am too much of a libertarian to think otherwise.

Blair Academy #1 in the United States of America.
SJA #1 in Kansas 5A once...congratulations by the way SJA.

...not a KS version of Blair Academy. Get more competitive and beat them. You know what you're up against...make a difference. Life is not fair, wrestling is life. Wrestlers do not make excuses they find solutions and overcome obstacles.

Elevate your level... I wish SJA was in 4A so that we had more competition to beat and be proud to work hard and beat and know that if we lost to a warrior from SJA it would be worthy.

Let SJA enjoy their reward. It's a new day, make progress, a new season started last Sunday.

Steve,
I guess I don't understand why you think this is a Catholic thing? I'm Catholic and my daughter attends Bishop Carroll. And my boys attend Goddard. I chose what is best for my kids, as do the rest of parents. To call out Catholic schools, cheating the system is rediculous! What if the SJA kids all pulled out and went to, one of the many public schools in the KC area. Would you call out that school as recruiting, if they all went to the same public school? My guess is, no. EVERY school has rules, private or public.

Biased or not, you need to be careful, so you don't hurt your shoulder. Lol.