bump...I guess this is a good enough suggestion no one has a counter point to argue?

Who would the kids get to practice with? The middle school team or club team? Champions are build in the practice room.

Josh Parker

They would have to practice with the Middle School Team. They are not allowed to practice with the club team during Middle School Season.

I have argued this point for some time now. This would be the best of both worlds. They get that middle school team exposure and experience. Practice would be with their middle school team. If they do not have a conflicting middle school event on the weekend they could wrestle with the kids club.

I do not think that there are many of us club directors that want the kids to not do middle school wrestling but I have seen so many times with open weights at duals during the week that a kid gets 1 match that whole week. If they are looking for more actual mat time then they should be afforded that opportunity.

If something like this passed (letting middle school wrestle both kids and MS). Tell me who gets hurt by it? I think there would be some stick points. MS schedule would obviously take precedence.

Keep dreaming the KSHAAA will never release their icy claw of death on this. MS will continue to be really bad for good wrestlers and a let down to new wrestlers. It's almost not even worth discussing unless we get all schools on same schedule and have a true middle school state series.

What happens to the wrestler if they did both Jr. high and club wrestling at the same time?

I don't understand why it is a big deal to do both? I know it is a rule with KSHAAA (unless you are a swimmer then its ok). Does the wrestling community need to get someone from the state house elected to get this rule changed? That is how swimming got changed. You can swim for club and KSHAAA in high school at the same time. Something to bring up at district meetings and state meetings.

Being able to do both would only help wrestling.

Josh Parker

I have been told by KSHSAA board members...That if something is proposed through the proper channels to the board it has to go through the correct procedures of considering the proposal as well as voting on it. Take 4A division in football...many outsiders thought it didn't have a chance at passing...next thing you know we have 4A div 1 & 2. I guess someone needs to propose it to KSHAA.

5th Place - Wyatt Hendrickson - Kansas Young Guns
4th Place - Cyle Gautschi - Hillsboro Wrestling Club

both wrestled middle school.

NEW TOTALS

1ST 11 55%
2ND 10 50%
3RD 9 45%
4TH 11 55%
5TH 9 45%
6TH 6 30%

TOTAL OF 56 WRESTLERS OUT OF 120 PLACERS 46.6%
SUBTRACTING 6TH PLACE PUTS THEM AT A DEAD EVEN 50%

Now how many of them are the early season and/or late season?

Looks like about 40% wrestled late in the season. I don't think this really matters. I think the three biggest things is 1) Get a decent Middle School Coach. (Someone who cares and tries) 2) Have ALL of the kids in your club go out for Middle School. This way the kids will have good practice partners. 3) Daddy's, it's ok to lose control for 2 months and let someone else be in the corner, and work with your wrestler. It's not about the daddy's, it's about the Wrestler, the Team, and the School.

Beeson I did a rough count on the kids. Looks like 37 in early,14 in late and 8 I will have to look up.I will agree with you it is not about dads. It is about quality mat time.For some kids MS is great,some kids it hurts.There my kid gose to school ,we are right on the line for early and late. His school is the late.Looking at it there is no way with the coaching/number of matches,that my son would have gotten better in ms.If we where in your neck of the woods,it would have been difrant.I do not think it hurt most of the kids in MS.But eating dirt dosnt hurt you ether.It is the same way,eating the right dirt will help.Lots of trace minerals,if you are in the right part of the state.
I still think it would help to have all of the MS kids on the same dates.

Charles Bradford

I have a MS kid that it definitely hurt.
Saying that I am putting a disclaimer on this that I don’t agree with what happen just truly that it did happen. So as we argue one side this truly is the reality of the other side at times.

8th grade bought into the MS wrestling, he had wrestled some before that when he was little and was decent, and I think made it to State once top of 8 I think. For whatever reason that was the last year he did kids disappeared until his 7th grade year.

He goes out and head locks, snakes, and cow catcher everyone to I think only a couple of losses in MS and wins his league tournament both years. Again this is a coaching issue letting him do it but for those of you that say there are good MS matches I think there are 3 or 4 to 1 that they are looking for the headlock or the 2 other crap moves.
I do what I do every year go to the MS go to the HS and talk up coming out after their season is over.
This time unlike his 7th grade year he bought in.

His subs were a lot different that he thought and didn’t make it out of the first period. The kid, the father and family were shell shocked to say the least. He happened to be in a RR so he was still in for Districts. I talked to him afterwards letting him know that these kids were pretty tough and still thought he could make it out of Districts.
He didn’t come to practice on Monday so I called his Dad to see if anything was wrong.
His Dad stated (this is where the disclaimer comes in) they were totally surprised at the skill level and the intensity that he had faced in subs. His Dad told me that he has tried to talk him into going to Districts and the kid just won’t do it. The Dad also told me that (because he is an 8th grader and I tried to still keep him interested for HS) that he is completely done with wrestling.

He went on to say they remember it being tough but not like what they experienced in Subs. The kid doesn’t feel like he could ever catch up to that level (disclaimer again).

I also think it is a Dad ego thing, which as we all know can be far worse than a kid losing.
Like I said I don’t agree with a large portion of what I stated above.

What I do know is that MS wrestling gave this kid/family false hope. They thought they were better and competitive and found out harshly they were wrong.

So MS not only hurt this kid but it drove him from the sport. Would he have made it once in high school who knows? Maybe he will still change his mind and wrestle next year.

Again don’t forget the disclaimer, but facts are facts.

Tracy,

I know of a wrestler with a somewhat similar story. He was pretty successful early on in Kids mainly due to a headlock that was encouraged by his parents. Then the family had some issues and the wrestler disappeared from the sport until Junior High. The big difference is that the competition he faced had quite a few wrestlers who had wrestled from early on all the way up to that point. He didn't have near the success against those wrestlers and yes, he did win matches against those wrestlers who didn't have all those years of experience in the Kids' circuit, mainly by headlock.

This wrestler did wrestle his freshman year in High School and by his junior year had learned many more ways to be competitive including a nasty leg ride with various combinations that could earn him back points. I would have to give credit to his personal courage to stick it out through the tough times and to his High School coaches for teaching him how to be a wrestler, not just a head locker.