State Venue

[eville dad 17]

I have heard lots of complaints about the current site, the Horse Park.

 

Where are some other facilities that could realistically be used for the State Tournament?

 

 

[WrestlingDadx2 3]

Bank of kentucky center at nku

[naplesme 58]

Any of the public Universities: Western Kentucky, Murray State, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State,  or Freedom Hall/Broadbent Arena, Owensboro Sports Center. Of course we could test the Basketball gods and ask for Rupp.

[Laniganfan29 0]

I think the Bank of Kentucky Center would be a great place to host the state championships. 1st class facilty

[Tarzan 21]

Rupp would be awesome .

[CoachJC 0]

Im pretty sure the KHSAA is under contract with the Horse Park. Not sure how long is left on the agreement, but changes need to be made if safety is really a concern of the KHSAA. I need to buy stock in allergy medication after this past weekend.

[firemans34 33]

Freedom Hall would be my pick. KHSAA does their damndest to take state events out of Louisville for some reason....maybe part of the Lexington to Louisville snobbery. Football moved out of Papa Johns, basketball, soccer, cross country, and baseball state tourneys are all in Lexington!!! A friend of mine has two kids in cross country who told me the traffic in and out of the state meet was absolutely ridiculous due to only one way in and out. What is sadly never taken into consideration is Louisville is very centrally located and can accommodate any number of people. I would venture to guess many additional people would choose to stay Saturday evening in Louisville. Once again, I'm sure it all comes down to the almighty $$$ with the KHSAA elite.....or safety!

[Leonidas 0]

Freedom Hall would bring a breath of fresh air to the tournament.. Literally speaking.. I believe eventually we would fill most of the seats there..

[8798 45]

The Horse Park isn't too bad...we may just need some logistical changes.  One of the things to see, however, is what a new venue would allow for our finals.  And let's try to keep it fairly centrally located.

[Mike Frankrone 20]

Freedom Hall sounds good. Or even Broadbent Arena! The Old Louisville Gardens would be sweet. Plenty of hotels & restaurants within walking distance. Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

[dscicle 6]

I could be wrong, but I remember someone telling me that the KHSAA looked into Freedom Hall before signing with Altech. The problem was that Freedom Hall/Fairgrounds staff wanted $5 per car. And that wasn't a weekend pass either, $5 EACH AND EVERY TIME YOU CAME IN. So if you wanted to leave and come back, it was $5 again. Not exactly someone many of us would be willing to do I'd wager, especially with the concession prices as high as they are. YUM! isn't owned by UofL either, they just rent it for home games.

 

Now, I 100% agree we need to get out of Altech ASAP! I haven't had such a bad allergy problem for as long as I can remember. WKU is an idea, but IDK how helpful they would be. That area is extremely basketball prejudice. It would be nice if Elizabethtown built an arena, but I don't see that happening. Memorial Coliseum at UK has the seating, not sure about floor space for 6 mats though.  

[KentuckyWrestlingHeavy 1]

It isn't centrally located but the Owensboro sports center is nice and cheap

[Tarzan 21]

Lex is central located

[Nkawtg 137]

90% of the Kentucky wrestling community is within an hour of either NKY or Louisville--sorry Union and Johnson Central. Makes logistical sense to have it in one of those places to me.

[halfhalfhalf 121]

Something needs to change

[Dirtdawg 0]

10$ for a hamburger and Pepsi way to high..

[B10grapple 7]

Rupp or Freedom Hall are way too big for the current fan base following at States.  Then again if the pricepoint were changed perhaps that would be different as well.  Although I'm in Lexington, it seems to me the most sense would be anything along the Ohio River as that is where the state's wrestling strength is primarily as well as the most fans.  There were 5 lexington schools there this weekend and I think all together the number of fans there in support were outnumbered by 2 schools along the Ohio River (Union, Campbell).  Plus the arena size of say an NKU makes more sense for where the sport is right now.  Beyond that I would say the horse park in general does not seem to appreciate the tournaments presence.  It feld like we were just a bother to those at the arena even though the group seemed very well behaved.

[KY_WAR_VET 3]

I like the idea of rotating the venue between Lexington, Louisville, Northern KY, Richmond, Bowling Green and maybe even Morehead, Owensboro, Murray. I think All state sports championships should rotate if the facilities and hotel accommodations would support it.

[bumstead 13]

I think rotation is a good idea also, as more local people may attend just to check it out and get hooked on the greatest sport around.

[Ranger123 43]

Based on my very brief and fairly one sided conversation with Mike Barren it is 100% evident the KHSAA doesn't give a crap about any of our thoughts or concerns. I think the finals "reconsideration" was more driven by coaches/ads response. They are only concerned with getting our event completed and making $. They don't care a bit about presentation or growth or safety (unless it is a driver of profit).

Louisville is the most logical location given the wrestling population. But Lexington is to easy for those in charge.

[Tarzan 21]

I'm lost on the whole wrestling population thing ??? Lexington is more centrally located , most of us can read a map !

Of course having it in Louisville would make some decent private schools happy and anyone pushing for it with any clout with the people would get some

Brownie points from power players in the sport .

Lexington or anywhere thereabouts is obviously the best place , of course everyone would like it in their own region !

[Ranger123 43]

Population as in number of teams/wrestlers. Especial when you include oldham and Hardin county as neighboring counties.

[8798 45]

If we are going to cater to wrestling for the entire state, it seems a central location would be best...Lexington or Frankfort.  The Horse Park may not be perfect, but it's a far cry from where we were...a high school gymnasium.  When we moved to Frankfort, in the mid-1990s, Jack Kline, of Western Hills, (and others) did a great job of talking with people who had experience with other State Wrestling Championships.  He gleaned what he thought would work best for Frankfort and, over the years, it was tweaked and improved.  We'll have issues with any venue, but what we do while inside the facility can sure make it special for the kids.

 

And a big thank you for all the hard work that has been done to make our tournament light-years ahead of where we once were.

[Leonidas 0]

its definitely not centrally located but Corbin has the arena and its right off the side of I75. and it would be perfect for the tournament, it holds concerts and such. It has the specialized lighting and plenty of seating and definitely enough room for 6 or even 8 mats.. just a thought.

[grappler-of-old 44]

I'm not sure where it can be held but if the Horse Park is causing that many problems with alergies then it needs to be moved. 

 

I don't know this for sure but this may be why at least one wrestler didn't wrestle this weekend.  If you have ashma problems a horse park can be a major problem.

 

If the state is worried about money then maybe they sould be concerned about a lawsuit.

I can see a lawsuit forming because a kid or kids have a severe alergy attack because of the venue the state tourny is held in.  Or a kid not being able to participate because of the venue it is held in. 

 

I do believe it needs to be centrally located either in lex or lou.  C'mon its only about 45 min difference between the two cities.  Not that big of a difference. The venue also needs to fit our fan base not extremely large (Rupp) but not extremely small (high school gym).