MLee

How does it help growth? I always found that argument silly. Is there any evidence that restricting kids from wrestling a single tournament increases participation? Just the notion seems ridiculous. If you don’t like it because it seems unfair, then fine. But like Duke mentioned, don’t have the lighter weight classes. How many 70 # MS kids do we have in the whole state? I’m not sure we could fill an 8 man bracket.

Wow, what an embarrassment. You back pedal better than Deion Sanders! Find another sport. You’re a joke.

This is a problem we shouldn't expect coaches like the Carr's and Ranger to solve. Unfortunately they can only do so much. As long as there is an urge to avoid a better kid, increase your chances to medal in a specific tournament, or a need to fill a lineup spot, there will always be weight cutting. It's inevitable. Some kids might be faced w/ those urges early in their career, some might have to deal w/it in college, but there will be a time when almost all wrestlers will consider cutting weight. That is why it is so important to get the rules and regulations right. To protect the kids from an over-zealous parent, ultra competitive coach, and even themselves. A 2 LB weight allowance or "make them make scratch twice" doesn't help at all. The notion that it does is almost laughable. Again, create a weight management program for MS kids. If the board makes it mandatory to participate down state, it will get done and paid for somehow.

I’d argue that forcing kids to make scratch twice would encourage more weight cutting than less. I know of many kids that naturally weighed about 2 LBs above a weight class and just wrestled up all season until the allowance went into affect. If they were forced to make scratch, believe me most would have; hence, weight cutting. I think having something similar to HS’s weight management program is the only answer if the goal is to reduce weight cutting. Obviously, there are cost and administrative issues that comes w/ that idea. On a side note, I think adding a flat 2 LB allowance to MS weight classes is part of the problem. 2 LB’s is a lot for a 70 LB weight class...not so much for HS weight classes. If done correctly, weight allowances should be a flat % increase. Not sure who was the brainiac who started that trend.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Steve Kaiser and Simon Kenton. Great job winning a Regional Championship! He's one of the most underrated coaches in our state and has done a great job with this team. Good luck to you and your team down State!

I found it very disrespectful. "Took that Ryle girl"....sounded like a drunk viking that just got off the ship.

I didn't stay for the youth this year, but that was the best MS State Tournament I've been to yet. Great job to the KSWA team and the volunteers. Tyler and the River City crew did a fantastic job and they deserve our gratitude! Thank you too Darren Thomas! I hope this state appreciates all the effort you've put into making wrestling better.

Rick Barker from NewCath. 3 X state champ. One of the best technicians I've ever seen.

We used to have regional reps before the youth and MS combined under the KSWA umbrella. I don't think much has changed. We're having the same recycled debates now than we did 8 years ago.

I like that they get another tournament. I just find it odd that we combined a MS "JV" group to our state's youth tournament. I would rather us create a separate tournament altogether or (bare minimum) not include their team points w/ the youth. It's no longer a youth tournament, but a youth/JV MS combo...huh? And no, I have no issues w/ kids wrestling up at all.

Because we're confused... Youth is not a "rec" league, it's an age group. Youth and MS should be separated, just like MS and HS. If MS needs an additional tournament for those beginners, we should copy HS and create a JV MS state tournament separate from youth. Let youth have their tournament. I'm still surprised so many voted to include the MS group w/ the youth tournament. To me, it would be like including the HS JV scores to the MS tournament.

I hope we're not expecting a half-day, 100 participant tournament (or less) improve our #'s at the MS level....if so, we're in trouble.

I like the idea of getting rid of Districts too. Simply put, we just don't have the #'s to warrant 2 qualifiers. Maybe allow 2 entry limit per class at Regions. That would help control the bracket sizes and ensure the best kids participate. The Adams brothers are a great example. Do we really want to exclude the 2nd best wrestler from the state tournament? I wouldn't. The youth state tournament added a "middle school" age group last year for this exact reason. It even counts their team points (if you can believe that). If a newbie MS kid cannot crack their lineup but still wants to participate in a post season event, this should be the tournament for them.

Congrats Mason! Now try to enjoy your senior season. Congrats Brandon, I know you've put in a lot of hours to form him into the great young man he is today.

1.12.1.2 Spandex/lycra. The shirt shall be a T-shirt style form-fitted, sleeveless or short-sleeved and shall not cover or extend beyond the elbow. In addition, the length of the shirt must be longer than the torso to prevent the shirt from becoming untucked. The shirt shall remain tucked into the shorts at all times during competition. The shorts shall be form-fitting with a minimum 4-inch inseam and shall not extend beyond the top of the knees. Those are the rules from the NCAA. I guess they aren't as current on wrestling injuries from compression shorts as Plantman's team of astute medical professionals.

Thanks for the info rjs... Why was cost an issue? Have we ever policed the cost of headgear, singlets, or warm-ups before? Seems asinine.

This is precisely why I stated it should not get put to a vote. I typically respect the voting process, but I've seen first hand people vote against or for something just to be a thorn in the side of the ones trying to help grow the sport. Plantman brought up safety as the sole reason why he was voting against. Albeit a silly reason, it was the only reason I read from anyone that held any merit. I guess the safety of our youth isn't as important as our MS kids. Huh? My question is...what would happen if some kids showed up with the new gear? I see HWT's wear compression shirts all the time under their singlets (just like girls) at the HS level. Would an opposing coach have to request a uniform change? How pathetic would that be on their part? I doubt any of the coach's I know would do that.

Voting isn't always the answer, you know this. I've seen some of the same people on here debating against compression shorts and shirts make arguments against because of cost. Now it's a safety issue. We all know it's not about safety. It's a spin job. I broke my leg, collarbone, ankle, tore my knee, countless stitches and dislocated fingers all while wearing a singlet. And the ringworm debate is hilarious. Are we to believe shorts might increase the likelihood of spreading diseases? Too funny. The wrestling singlet is arguably the worst uniform of all sports. We're just accustomed to it. Kids play football for the helmets and shoulder pads. Basketball for the shoes. If we can introduce an element of coolness to an archaic sport w/out disrupting its integrity, I say go for it. I doubt it will help tremendously with #'s, but at least we won't see HWT's man boobs pop out all over the place.

I got an idea...let's have a conference call about the meeting in the Fall regarding the topics in the Spring Meeting that's in reference to the vote about which medal we're going to use for the Youth State Tournament in 2022.

I just cant buy safety as a primary reason why people are against it. I'm all for keep the kids safe, but this seems silly. Are these same people opposed to lightweight mats vs the resilite mats? I'm sure those same "professionals" would agree the old style mats are safer. Was that decision put to a vote? Also, you mentioned there is a small difference between practice and live tournaments...I'd argue the difference is huge. In live tournaments, you have a referee watching the matches. If and when a kid gets tangled up in a bad position (happens all the time now in singlets), the ref's job is to stop the match. Most live go's in a practice room are like the Wild Wild West! There is very little supervision with kids wrestling wearing whatever they want. Are we going to vote on practice attire too? If a team thinks it could help improve their #'s, then they should be permitted to do so. I don't see why it should even come to a vote.

I've seen a finger get dislocated after getting caught in a shirt (once), but no other injuries due to clothing in over 30 years of being on the mats. If it's unsafe to wear fighter shorts and compression shirts at tournaments, then why in the heck do we allow kids to wear whatever in the practice room (hoodies, sweats, etc.) where most of the wrestling occurs? I believe this is a no-brainer. Kids should have the option to wear either. I've had dozens of youth kids choose not to wrestle in tournaments or quit because of singlets. It is clearly impacting participation. I haven't heard of a good argument against it.

It's not too late to play in this golf outing. Please help honor Coach Badida by joining us this Sunday. Going to be a great event!

Be a part of celebrating Coach Badida’s retirement and honoring an incredible person both on and off the mat. We’ll have a great time with old and new friends. All proceeds go to the purchase of the new mats for Conner Wrestling. Boone Links Golf Course 19 Clubhouse Drive Florence, KY 41042 Sunday, June 26th, 2016 Registration begins at 11:00pm Lunch served 12-12:30 Shotgun start at 1:30pm Awards Ceremony follows Enjoy 18 holes of golf (including cart), door prizes for each player and an exciting awards banquet, and lunch. All for just $300 a 4-man team or $75 a player Putting challenge on the practice green Longest drive contests Closest to the pin challenges All proceeds go to Conner High School Wrestling All individual players will be grouped into 4 man teams There will be an awards presentation To help us properly plan for this event, please pre-register by emailing Stan Martin at Stan@trunniontable.com by June 17th. Payments for this event will be made by CHECK or CASH ONLY. Please make checks payable to CONNER WRESTLING. You can bring checks the day of the even or mail to Martin Manufacturing 602 Main Street Elsmere, KY 41018 For more information contact Stan Martin at 859-866-3370 or stan@trunniontable.com

It's not too late to play in this golf outing. Please help honor Coach Badida by joining us this Sunday. Going to be a great event!

Be a part of celebrating Coach Badida’s retirement and honoring an incredible person both on and off the mat. We’ll have a great time with old and new friends. All proceeds go to the purchase of the new mats for Conner Wrestling. Boone Links Golf Course 19 Clubhouse Drive Florence, KY 41042 Sunday, June 26th, 2016 Registration begins at 11:00pm Lunch served 12-12:30 Shotgun start at 1:30pm Awards Ceremony follows Enjoy 18 holes of golf (including cart), door prizes for each player and an exciting awards banquet, and lunch. All for just $300 a 4-man team or $75 a player Putting challenge on the practice green Longest drive contests Closest to the pin challenges All proceeds go to Conner High School Wrestling All individual players will be grouped into 4 man teams There will be an awards presentation To help us properly plan for this event, please pre-register by emailing Stan Martin at Stan@trunniontable.com by June 17th. Payments for this event will be made by CHECK or CASH ONLY. Please make checks payable to CONNER WRESTLING. You can bring checks the day of the even or mail to Martin Manufacturing 602 Main Street Elsmere, KY 41018 For more information contact Stan Martin at 859-866-3370 or stan@trunniontable.com