Snow Solution

[Nike Man 292]

As everyone knows, the state of KY is about to get hammered by a huge snow storm. There seems to be a lot of legitimate concerns about Regional tournaments and youth tournaments. Add in the school team/club team debacle, and we have a real mess that needs to be dealt with. If growing the sport across the state is the "real" goal, it is time that the coaches that we have put in positions of power come up with a solution that is fair to EVERYONE. Saying that a club team can travel and whoever else that can make it, come on, isn't a real solution. These kids have worked too hard to have their season ended due to weather. Once again, if growing the sport in this state is the real goal, we can not turn our backs on these kids now. To me, the only sensible solution is to cancel ALL tournaments this weekend and wrestle them next weekend. If State Duals is the only reason for the hang up, reschedule it for the week after high school State or some other time. If you are a parent, I encourage you to speak with your child's coach and voice your concerns. He (the coach) will know who to contact (region reps) in order to network with the board of the coaches association to make this happen. Just like the high school parents and coaches had to go head to head with the KHSAA last year, we have to unite now to do what is best for wrestling in this state, and more importantly, our kids.

[netteishibashi 0]

I agree!

[pin2win 58]

What about teams that have middle school wrestlers competing at the high school level? There are some teams that will be competing at state duals that have middle school wrestlers in their starting lineup.

I totally understand where you're coming from, but it's not that easy. It's snowed the week of state, and they've had the same "if you can make it..if you can't make it" mentality as long as I can remember. Unfortunately we cannot control the weather...It's tough making those "higher-up" decisions.

Also have to consider being able to secure a location of the tournament if you postpone region. The reason high school state was pushed back to March was due to the horse park being booked up weekends prior to when it was held in March.

Not trying to shoot you down, but just playing devil's advocate here.
 

[Nike Man 292]

pin2win, I can't argue with you at all. I am sure that making those "higher up" decisions are very difficult. And I know we have had the "if you can make it....if you can't make it" mentality for a long time. I just can't help to put myself in a 10-12 year olds spot and how heart broken I would be if I put in the work and didn't get to reap the benefits due to weather. I know the dilemma of having middle school kids that wrestle up for the high school at State Duals is a tough spot as well. Without intentionally opening another can of worms, that is why I have always been in favor of making the middle school post season coincide with the high school post season. Not a popular idea, I know, just my opinion. 

[dscicle 6]

Here is the schedule of events for the next several weeks folks:

 

Regions this weekend

State Duels (both HS and MS) next weekend.

MS State Feb 6

High School Regionals Feb 12-13

High School State Feb. 19-20

 

The best solution from what I'm seeing is to move Regionals next weekend and just not wrestle state duels. Middle School State and High School state have contracts with their venues, so unless there's a major weather front that comes in and forces them to be pushed back, those MUST be wrestled on those dates. I realize it sucks for those teams who earned teh right to wrestle in State Duels and for those middle school kids who wrestle varsity, but unless someone has a better solution, realizing that MANY school districts DO NOT allow teams to travel or compete on Sundays unless the circumstances are dire, we may be up a creek with scheduling and solutions. From what I'm seeing, the schedule of the next few weekends may need to simply be this:

 

Middle School Regionals and High School State Duels next weekend (January 30)

Middle School State Feb. 6 in Louisville

High School Regionals Feb. 12-13 (8 locations)

High School State Feb 19-20 (Lexington)

[Nike Man 292]

Great solution! I like constructive threads like this.

[CoachC 115]

FYI We have a contract with our venue for MS state duals as well. Not to mention other expenses to host it laid out. And before we start talking about moving it, I have already tried, with no luck. It is booked for the next several weekends.

[Chris Duke 284]

 32 man bracket for the state tournament might be an option?  Put a couple more mats down and lets get it on.  

[Nike Man 292]

32 man bracket, interesting. I haven't even considered that. Another great solution. 

[UniPeck 15]

Would that be a two day tournament? Either way I love the idea.

[Chris Duke 284]

38 minutes ago, UniPeck said:

Would that be a two day tournament? Either way I love the idea.

We do not have to follow high school rules. 5 match rule doesn't apply.   With extra mats the tournament should be able to catch up. I'm sure someone can run numbers to see how many extra mats would be needed.  

[Go Shamrocks 2]

1 hour ago, Chris Duke said:

We do not have to follow high school rules. 5 match rule doesn't apply.   With extra mats the tournament should be able to catch up. I'm sure someone can run numbers to see how many extra mats would be needed.  

good idea

 

[LLbear 0]

Good stuff fellas.  Last year I noticed some wrestlers watching at state duals and not participating...perhaps scouting and saving up energy for state where they did compete.  Skipping the dual may not be a bad idea.   I like all the other ideas flowing in too.