Good weekend of wrestling, though we really missed the crowd noise of 4A in Wichita.

Weird things occurred this weekend, and maybe I've got my underwear bunched.

Oddity #1

Wrist bands attached to our wrestlers. What was it's intent again? And when did we agree with this? When were we notified of such implementation (other in our packets when we opened them)?

As soon as I opened the packet, I saw the yellow sheet and went to ask one of the tournament directors about the bands. His response was that they are doing it at national tournaments in college. I asked someone that went to the National Duals in Iowa and he said there weren't any bands and I haven't seen them used anywhere else.

I asked one of the officials that I know because if anyone would know, he would. He told me that in the officials meeting that he was told the bands are on, they are not to worry about it. It would seem to me that KSHSAA is asking the officials to not do what they are suppose to do - protect the athletes. One finger caught, then broke is a huge liability for KSHSAA (one would think).

Oddity #2 - If this was an executive decision, wouldn't it be better to notify the participating schools of such change before opening a packet? What is the "legality" (poor wording) of issuing such an order? Is such ruling from top down correct? I've tried to go through the KSHSAA website and cannot figure it out. Probably a question best left to Salyer.

Oddity #3 - Two man mechanics during the entire tournament. Not that I don't like it, but didn't see the purpose. What is the role of the 2nd official? Can he confer and reverse a call made by the head official? In Frestyle/Greco, it works a little different. I understand the head official has control of the match, so what does the assistant do other than signify illegal holds that the head doesn't see? If a kid is fleeing the mat, can he make that call over the head official?

In all, the tourney went without a hitch and it was enjoyable.

Congrats to all, especially to the Edison boys, the 6A 119 lbers and 125 lbers (The top 3 in 6A and top 2 in 5A were in the same weight @ one time HOLY COW), the insane 5A running for state champion team title, and various upsets/suprises that got no love in the press but didn't let it get to them.

I had a blast.

Jeremy Gibson
Asst Coach
Topeka High

i agree w/ you on the wrist bands, they were nuthing but an annoyance and a hastle.

i do think two refs was a good idea tho. one time i had a figure fore on a kids head and the kid pushed my foot out of the figure fore to a illegal scissors. one ref called me for the illegal hold but the other ref argued that it was because the opponent forced it. the other kid didnt get the penalty point. this is probably a rare occurence but i like the two refs.

The second officials at the 4A tournament got caught in watching the match instead of watching the clock. I think I saw 3-4 times and not just in the finals where the second official didn't do his job of watching the clock and they had to pull a third official off the bench to decide what happened.

The crowd noise was missing in Salina too! Along with the crowd!
The wristbands were necessary due to a number of spectators in the past attempting to gain free entry by wearing a singlet and warm-up of their favorite school.
We discovered in Salina that you still need a towel tapper when using a two man officiating crew. You can't believe how many clock errors there were where the match continued long after time had expired. In one instance it was at least 10 seconds or more before anyone noticed the error. I'm not sure exactly what is the job of the second official. Is it to watch the clock, or as is often the case, agree with a poor call by the first official?

Yaaa those wrist bands were a hassle. If they were going to have them they should gave you a second one after you weighed in friday night.
I personally like the 2 refs idea because alot of the time I see a ref make a bad call, or he forgot to give points, and the extra ref is just a back up.

Apparently none of you has gone to Junior/Cadet Nationals at Fargo or Enid or Greeley. Which is a shame when you think about it. If you had you'd know that wrist bands have been the norm for a long time.

The crowd noise was missing in Salina, but I think it was for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, the teams that seem to always travel well didn't have anybody in the finals. For example Clay Center had no finalists, so they weren't around for finals. Another reason is a lack of exciting matches. When there was an exciting match going on, the crowd definitely got into it and made plenty of noise. But there just didn't seem to be to terribly many of those this year.

Gutwrench,

Three different styles. The comment made was in reference to college wrestling.

Last I checked, FILA is not the sanctioning body for collegiate wrestling.

I was the official's liaison for the 4a tournament and it was mixed reaction on the 2 man crew for the tournament. I think the thing that really made for a tough deal in the finals was the horn wasn't very loud either.

And they paid to put you up in the Holiday Inn for this? You live less than an hour away!

Wrestlers did not have to wear them in Enid 2005 or Greeley 2004.

The wrist bands were a dumb idea! I looked at over 20 pics from the NCAA's from the last two years and not one athelete was wearing a wrist band. Plus they were getting all bunch, twisted, etc. and kept falling off of my bigger kids.

2nd official seemed pointless to me! I never saw a call reversed period! The only thing I did see was a locked hands call by the second official. Also, in the Furches/Rogers match in the semi's it seemed to me from the stands that when there was a controversial call both officials were actually watching the clock and not the wrestling. I don't know what call was right or wrong, but I do know that one official should be counting down and one should be watching action. However, nice job Nathan in winning your first a many state championships.

4A crowd was missed, but I loved getting out at a decent hour and not having to be there on Saturday until 10:00. I still think the rest of the coliseum was full except the side where 4A usually is.

I think they should do four mats for one class on one end, and four mats for the other class on the other end instead of sides.

Weigh ins starting 20 minutes late and not letting teams in early to check is ridiculous.

Overall, very enjoyable. Clean facilities, Security was more polite, etc.

Looking forward to the next year of it!

In regards to a question posted earlier. No the assistant referee cannot overturn the decision of the head official of the match. There are there for a number of reasons, namely two sets of eyes on the situation. Sportsfans comment about agreeing with a poor call from the first official was unneccasary. Some times two referees will have a different opinion about a judgement situation. In this case the head official of the match ultimatly makes the decision. So that doesn't mean that he is agreeing with the call, he is just defaulting the call to the person who has to make it.

ya i dont have alot to say about the wristbands other than the were a hassle and annoying. but i think they did it that way this year so that kids couldnt hand up their necklaces up in the stands so other kids could come down on the floor.

Thanks Coach Gibby--you are the best. Our family has the greatest respect for you.

Ms. Jenni

These wristbands have been used at High School Sr. Nationals for several years. I was also very nervious about their use at first, but they have seemed to work well and have had no effect on the wrestling. Most wrestlers say they forget that they have them on when on the mat in competition.

Thanks coach - never gone to Senior Nationals, so I was unaware.

My second question was more in reference to diplomatic procedure by KSHSAA. With USA Wrestling Kansas, any adoptions of national rules, etc., is brought to the table at the state body. It is there that we discussed issues like the taping of shoes, etc., and then voted on the implementation or lack thereof. At our rules meetings at the beginning of the season, the wristbands were never discussed.

Now I know I'm knitpicking, but if we have a procedure in place (I can't find the by-laws so maybe there is no procedure) on voting for things such as shoulder to shoulder weigh-ins, then when was this voted on? And if there is no need for vote, but can be administered through a top-down decision, what is the procedure for notification?

Again, I know I'm just being picky, but if we have a governing body that we have to answer to, we should be made aware of such changes. To KSHSAA's defense, maybe we were made aware of it but the AD didn't notify us. As I talked to others, they were caught unaware as well.

In my opinion, this should have been an item of discussion/debate. More than likely, the vote would have implemented the bands.

I'm not upset about the bands, but more upset that protocol (if there is any, I can't figure it out) was not followed (at least the perception of it).

Jeremy Gibson

My question is, why did someone feel the wristbands were suddenly needed? Has there been problems in the past that warranted the change?

"I think they should do four mats for one class on one end, and four mats for the other class on the other end instead of sides."

That sure would have made it easier to see what was going on!!

Mat location was an issue that could be improved on. I personally don't like 2 finals matches going on at the same time either. I know that one is not an easy solution though.