Vince,

I never said it would create more college opportunities. Nothing is going to do that until Title IX is addressed. My point was that Division 1 coaches do not view Kansas High School State Champions in the same light as Iowa state champions or Wisconsin State Champions. If you want to be a Division 1 wrestler and you wrestle in a Kansas High School you better do well at Fargo or walk on.

Having kids with losing records, to the degree that 5a and 6a do, diminishes the quality of wrestling. I know of one wrestler who posted wins on his record but actually didn't win a wrestling match and made it to state this year. To me, that is a joke. I totally agree with everything posted by "fan of the sport" as the participation level at 5A and 6A probably isn't greater and may be less than that of 4A and 321A. There are far more extracurricular options for kids in the larger schools. Larger schools are in larger cities which offer far more job opportunities and other non-school activities.

The restrictions against extra practicing, coaches not being able to work with kids outside of the season, the limited travel and matches, all of these KSHSAA mandates weaken wrestling. These rules protect the kids who don't want to put in the extra time and protect the coaches who don't want to put in the extra time. These are the socialistic rules that I am speaking of. The top programs in the country wrestle the top programs in the country. Has a team from Kansas ever gone to one of these elite team events? I don't think so because they are beyond the limits mandated by the KSHSAA. I never said that wrestling should just be for the elite but I disagree STRONGLY with rewarding the mediocre or less than average. What are you teaching your kids then? You don't have to work as hard as the guys at the top but you will still get the same rewards?

You can agree or disagree with me about whether a wrestler is incented to work harder if they don't make it to state but you have to agree that losing records to the degree we have them makes our state tournament look weak.