The dates for this year’s event are Friday March 24th, Saturday March 25th and Sunday March 26th. It is held at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This is one of the nation’s elite team events with top notch competition guaranteed.
The qualifying tournament for this event is Sunday March 5, 2023 at the Kansas Star Casino, Mulvane, KS. There will be a seeding meeting at the head table early the morning of the qualifier.
Kansas is taking 6 teams plus alternates (both Elementary and Middle School – Girls take 2 teams). Elementary and Middle School will be wrestling for 7th and 8th at the qualifier so it is easier to select alternates. Every year there are changes to the teams because of injury, etc. If a wrestler who finished above you at the qualifying tournament can’t go, you automatically move up one spot. In other words, if you finished fourth and the second place wrestler drops out, you move to third team and the third place finisher moves to second team. The placers below you all move up one spot and the 7th place finisher goes to Team 6 and the 8th place finisher then has the option of going as an alternate.
I’ll create an email list for communication between the qualifier and the event. Please make sure your email address is correct on trackwrestling as that is where I will start. There is also a place for an email on the sign up forms.
Cost of the trip is $250.00 which is due on the day of the qualifier. Forms will be available thru a link online and at the qualifier. Pay by cash, check or Venmo. The fee includes Team Kansas singlet, shorts and t-shirt, travel on chartered buses, hotel stay, tournament entry fee, and food/drink. The Best Western has a good breakfast for all the wrestlers both Saturday and Sunday mornings. We provide sandwiches, fruit, snacks and water during both days of wrestling. I’ll have a trailer in the event center parking lot and the wrestlers will need to come outside to get their food/drink. On Friday night after weigh-in, there will be pizza at the hotel for the Elementary and Girls Teams. Middle School goes to Pizza Ranch I believe. On Saturday night, we have a hamburger feed for all the wrestlers and parents.
We will meet at the Capitol Plaza Hotel – 1717 SW Topeka Blvd - Topeka, KS 66612 - Friday March 24th between 9-10 am to pass out gear and load up on chartered buses for the trip to Council Bluffs. We will leave by noon in order to arrive and get checked in to our hotel before weigh-in. Weigh-ins are from 4pm - 8:30pm. No weight allowance is given and all wrestlers have to weigh in on Friday – there is no Saturday weigh-in.
I understand this location is not convenient for everyone. If it is out of your way to come to Topeka first, make sure you are at the Mid America Center in time for weigh in. I will give your wrestler their gear at the hotel in Iowa after the weigh in.
The wrestlers will be staying at the same hotels as we have been for the last several years – Best Western Plus at 2510 Abbott Plaza and Candlewood Suites at 2601 Abbott Plaza. These are right across the street from each other on a dead-end cul-de-sac. With the girls’ teams staying at the same hotels, rooms for parents will be sparse. I’ll try to set up a block of rooms for the parents at one of the other nearby hotels and post that info later.
We will be finished wrestling on Sunday between 2 and 3. Most of the wrestlers ride back home with their parents. If your wrestler IS NOT RIDING THE BUS BACK TO TOPEKA, let your Team’s coaches know. The coaches for each Team will have a roster and will mark off anyone not riding the bus back to Topeka. Anyone riding the bus back to Topeka should be at the Capital Plaza Hotel around 6pm or so.
