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Obviously a vast majority of us are not pleased with the currently proposed solution. It may be too late, but we can't let this go silently. I have attached an alternate proposal for this post season. The only chance we have to turn this thing around, if there is any at all, is to start asking for the same thing. I am urging all of you to read through this proposal and get behind it. The attached proposal outlines why the current solution is not acceptable. 46 of the top 10 ranked kids in the state are mathematically eliminated from contention already. That is 46 kids that have worked for years to get on the podium that the KHSAA is slamming the door on. Then it goes on to outline a new post season setup and its advantages. The new setup is as follows: Regional Tournament as usual 2 semi-states (Regions 1-4 and 5-8) with top 4 from each region. 16 man brackets. 16 man state championship, top 8 from each semi state. Next it outlines how a "COVID Friendly" 16 man bracket tournament could be ran in a normal high school gym with 4 fans per wrestler. And lastly it shows how this setup will not only result in a better and more fair setup for the wrestlers but also generate more revenue for the KHSAA than the other current proposal. I know this is not a perfect proposal and maybe you think that you have a slightly better idea, but we are not going to get anywhere until we all start saying the same thing. We need to work together and take this proposal to the board of control. If we can all stand behind one idea maybe, just maybe we can get them to change this. Otherwise we're going to be stuck with whatever idea they come up with on their own, which obviously is not what we want. At this link you can find the KHSAA Board of control. https://khsaa.org/2020-21-khsaa-board-of-control/ Our best chance is for everyone to have their Coach/AD/Super call their representative and show them this proposal. Please help me spread the word on this and let's see if we can get something done on this finally. Wrestling Post Season Alternate Proposal.pdf

Obviously a vast majority of us are not pleased with the currently proposed solution. It may be too late, but we can't let this go silently. I have attached an alternate proposal for this post season. The only chance we have to turn this thing around, if there is any at all, is to start asking for the same thing. I am urging all of you to read through this proposal and get behind it. The attached proposal outlines why the current solution is not acceptable. 46 of the top 10 ranked kids in the state are mathematically eliminated from contention already. That is 46 kids that have worked for years to get on the podium that the KHSAA is slamming the door on. Then it goes on to outline a new post season setup and its advantages. The new setup is as follows: Regional Tournament as usual 2 semi-states (Regions 1-4 and 5-8) with top 4 from each region. 16 man brackets. 16 man state championship, top 8 from each semi state. Next it outlines how a "COVID Friendly" 16 man bracket tournament could be ran in a normal high school gym with 4 fans per wrestler. And lastly it shows how this setup will not only result in a better and more fair setup for the wrestlers but also generate more revenue for the KHSAA than the other current proposal. I know this is not a perfect proposal and maybe you think that you have a slightly better idea, but we are not going to get anywhere until we all start saying the same thing. We need to work together and take this proposal to the board of control. If we can all stand behind one idea maybe, just maybe we can get them to change this. Otherwise we're going to be stuck with whatever idea they come up with on their own, which obviously is not what we want. At this link you can find the KHSAA Board of control. https://khsaa.org/2020-21-khsaa-board-of-control/ Our best chance is for everyone to have their Coach/AD/Super call their representative and show them this proposal. Please help me spread the word on this and let's see if we can get something done on this finally. Wrestling Post Season Alternate Proposal.pdf

Correctly is exactly what you would get. It cuts thru all of the arguing about records, who beat who with no head to head. All of that. How many times has a coach argued that a kids seed should be higher based on a something and 0 record, when in fact half of the kids wins were against the same 5 opponents. Track seeds kids based on all of their wins and losses. Fact. Also, there is really no need to seed semi state. 1vs.4, 2vs.3, 3vs.2, 4vs.1. Bracket set up and ready to wrestle.

Goal: Mitigate risk of COVID Solution: Host 3 multi team (16 or more) individual tournaments in back to back weeks with no contingency plan, or quarantine time, in case a region or semi-state catches the virus. Result: Potential for 6 man bracket at state in some weight classes? This is hardly erring on the side of caution. If I wasn't able to compete via KHSAA, I'm sure there are other competitions out there. Or, can you not compete via DoD orders?

I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall at some of these meetings we weren't all privy to. There has either been a miscommunication or a straight up lack of communication. Of all the options one could come up with for a post season, this is possibly the weakest. I wonder if anyone fought for something else and what that "something else" was. I know a lot of people on the BOC don't spend their times in gyms during the winter watching wrestling, and they definitely don't spend time in the off season in gyms watching the sport, either. That's why I believe it's no crime to be ignorant of the sport of wrestling, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a uncomfortable, undesireable, and difficult. But, it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion regarding the sport while remaining in this state of ignorance. And, comparing an individual sport in the winter in 2021 is not the same as comparing a team sport in the spring in 2020. COVID has made it difficult, but I wonder what the data is regarding wrestling this year.

As an old timer with kids far past their wrestling days, i have been casually monitoring how wrestling plays out for KY. Taking the top 2 from semi state to make an 8 man state final is a wild idea. Wont most regionals be 16 man 2 day events? Seems like the safety and overnight stuff gets passed over for Regionals. Next up, if you’ve been involved in wrestling in KY at all now or in the past, one thing should be abundantly clear. The KHSAA has absolutely no interest in wrestling. Bare minimum to keep the lights on. It’s clear with their post season treatment year in and year out. Whether it be no spotlight, not moving mats, the dime size medals, not allowing a live stream, etc etc. The state championship is something they have to do and want it done as fast as possible so they can check the box and move on. Prove me wrong. Finally, isn’t there a coaches association for KY wrestling coaches? Did the Coaches association meet, discuss the options they wanted to present, and then present them? If so, and the KHSAA ignored, why is the coaches association sitting on their hands? If the above did not happen with the coaches association, then what’s the point of the association? Is there enough membership in the coaches association to tell the KHSAA to buzz off with their proposal and say “our teams won’t be there, good luck with everything”? Then host their own tournament? You may have a handful of schools that still go to regular state, but I bet you the rest would go to a true state representative of the best. Easier said than done, but why not flex the muscle and see if they call bluff? Just sharing ideas. Either way this year has been wild and I’m glad that KY got to wrestle at all. Seeing as attendance will be minimal, I’m sad to say it will probably be only the 5th state tournament I’ve missed since ‘73. Hopefully they can get it up on the web for people to watch. I’d pay. Good luck to all the rest of the year!

Very well put together. I believe this is a proposal that everyone in the wrestling community should get behind and have an urgency to fight back against the current KHSAA plan. I really hope coaches/AD/superintendents step in and fight for what is right.

I do believe if it had been top 4 out of semi-state and a 16 man bracket we would be seeing a lot less outrage. The way this bracket is set up reminds me of similar issues Virginia had in I want to say 2015 when they split into 6 or so different divisions and had 8 man state brackets

Please check out our website for tournament date and times. chasingtitleswrestling.com

Should let 12 kids into state. The 4 semistate winners get first round bye, and that gives 3rd place kids at semi state the chance to wrestle their way back into discussion. But, it won't happen. I know for a fact Mike "Baron" was proposed an option for state over the phone that allowed 32 man brackets, followed protocol by utilizing 4 different gyms (coaching may or may not have been an issue) and allowed spectators. Second day, the top 8 would have been brought back to finish all in the same gym. Coach Dennis Walls, formerly of Union County, was the one who proposed this idea to Julian Tackett and Mike Barren. They said it was a great idea that could definitely work and in Lexington. What they did was take those four sites and made it into a semi-state and brought on only the top 2 from semi-states. We have a BOC that only utilizes athletic directors and pushed out all of the acting wrestling coaches, making it easier for the KHSAA to say screw off, we don't care about wrestling and do it their own way. Have athletic directors that don't have a backbone to stick up for their regions wrestling teams. Every other state tournament has ran normally. Football used Kroger Field. We all know dang well that the Sweet Sixteen will use Rupp Arena, and not be forced to semi-states and only bring in teams (same ratio they dropped wrestling by) to the actual state tournament. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Agreed! If you take a baseball bat to my kneecaps, I’m not going to “just be thankful” you handed me a pair of crutches.

Kids get bad draws every year. It happens. It’s just a different setup. The cream will rise to the top.