Help Me Fix The State Finals

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

Hi, my name is Caleb Canter. For those of you that do not know me, I graduated from LaRue County High School in 2013. I have been a huge wrestling fan my entire life and always will be. However, as I attended the state tournament yesterday, I was extremely disappointed to find that the finals had been lumped together with the rest of the medal rounds, and the face off had been done away with entirely.

This is absolutely disrespectful to the kids that worked so hard to make their way to the finals. Those kids deserve to be honored separate from all the other wrestlers in the state, as they have rightfully earned that position.

As soon as I realized what the KHSAA had decided to do, I looked up the emails of the representatives (who we will not name) that made the decision, and sent an email asking for an explanation as to why it was done this way. I received a response almost immediately, and feel very inclined to share this information with the rest of the wrestling community.

Shown below is the email I sent and the response I received. Please take the time to read through both emails as I would like for everyone to completely understand the situation before we take our next steps.

 

My original email:

Hi, my name is Caleb Canter. I have been involved with Kentucky
wrestling since I was born in 1995. Wrestling has been a huge part of
my life and I am concerned about the path the sport is taking in our
state.

I'm writing this email from my seat here in the Alltech Arena as I
watch this lackluster "state finals." I am extremely disappointed in
the format of this year's finals, and I am seeking a legitimate
explanation as to why the biggest match of the season is less exciting
than the finals of any given tournament throughout the season. Because
I honestly can't think of a single reason why things are happening the
way they are.

I understand, or at least I hope, that you are not the only ones that
have made the decision to format the tournament this way. However I am
sure that you are able to fix the issue. If you are not convinced that
this is an issue, you can ask any fan in attendance and they will tell
you otherwise. I would even be willing to go as far as creating a
petition to have signed for you to see just how many people are upset
at the direction our state finals have gone.

I'm sure when you read this you will likely write me off as a random
upset 21 year old, and ignore my request for an explanation. But I
urge you not to do so, because I know that I speak for the entire
Kentucky wrestling community in what I am saying to you. In the future
I hope that you will allow these high schoolers to earn the respect
and honor that they have worked so hard for.

Thank you for taking your time to hear my message.

Caleb Canter

If you would like to discuss the issue further I would be more than
happy to do so! Feel free to give me a call

 

The Response I Received:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As someone who likely has been
involved in this sport since before you were born, I know that change
in anything dealing with this sport is seldom unanimous.

As I sit here tonight we have received several extremely positive
comments from coaches, parents and fans of the 3rd through 8th place
wrestlers thankful for the change rewarding their son, daughter or
wrestler's year long commitment even though they didn't finish in the
top two. There have been some who would like to move the quarterfinal
round and others would like to end earlier tonight. All of that is the
function of our staff evaluating the conduct of the event going
forward.

The state association and its mission is to make  decisions that are
student friendly for the most students, not simply the elite level. If
the elite level was the sole purpose, many team championships and
individual events would involve only the elite or those from the urban
areas where they are perceived more athletic or brackets would be
seeded, etc. But that is not the purpose. It is about recognizing
students across the board regardless of ability.  In order to ensure
continued participation in sports, such as wrestling, that struggle in
many states maintaining optimal support.

Since the time of your referenced year, participation in the sport has
nearly doubled in terms of schools and much of that is properly
attributed to changing both the culture of the sport and format of
events to include more kids. And that will continue to be emphasized.

So while those that want no change ever are likely disappointed with
any change, others continue to welcome evolution. This association
will continue to manage it events in the manner that the staff feels
is the best for the continued evolution of the sports and activities
and that may in fact mean even more change in the future.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

Sent from my iPhone
Blame all typos on Apple auto-incorrect

 

I do realize that both of these emails are extremely lengthy, but I ask that you at least take the time to read through the response email so that you can fully understand the decision that was made.

 

I am thankful that the KHSAA took the time to actually read and think about my comments, but I am extremely unsatisfied with the justification for the way things were done. That is why I am going to see that it is fixed. While the KHSAA is operating in a manner that they believe is what the wrestling community desires, I am sure that they are mistaken. Therefore, we as an entire wrestling community must present our opinion to the KHSAA.

The first thing I will ask of you is to sign the online petition to have the finals revamped into all that they should be. You can find this petition at the link shown below.

https://www.change.org/p/kentucky-wrestling-kentucky-wrestling-state-finals?recruiter=492947154&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Please take the time to sign as well as share the link with your friends and family that may have an opinion on the matter.

 

Secondly and most importantly I am going to ask for you dedicated members of the wrestling community to write a short personal statement or letter to the KHSAA about why you think the finalist deserve to be honored more so than the rest of the medalist. I do understand that this is asking a lot of you, but it is my opinion that your written out thoughts are worth much more than your signature on a petition. I hope to receive letters from all possible sources, including children, wrestlers, coaches, officials, parents, and fans.

Once you have written your letter to the KHSAA, please email it to me at caleb.canter@uky.edu. After I receive your notes I will print them off and personally deliver them to the KHSAA office.

I also ask that you please remain respectful and professional throughout your entire statement, that way we can present our opinions to the KHSAA in a positive manner.

 

While I do not wish to discount any one of your opinions and would love to receive letters from each and every one of you. I believe that the testimonies of wrestlers who found success at the state level but never managed to reach the finals, will be found most convincing, and I ask that you please make sure those people see this message.

I also would love to hear the voice of those that support the way finals were done, and would be more than happy to include your statements when I deliver our messages to the KHSAA.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this lengthy post. I hope that we can find a way to rise up together and see a change made, so that these kids that work so hard can enjoy the respect that they earned.

 

Caleb Canter

 

Feel free to email me with any questions or ideas.

Caleb.canter@uky.edu

 

[RTRBURN 15]

I totally agree. Need to take a page out of Ihsaa book. Watch replay of Ihsaa finals, take notes.

http://ihsaatv.org/

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

Awesome! Great example. 

Please share this post and my email with everyone, I want to carry a box full of letters for them to read!

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

Thanks to everyone that is responding to the petition! I love the comments!

 

I really want to ask you guys to think about emailing me letters. I think that will be much more effective when presented to the KHSAA. I'm not looking for a long drawn out letter, a paragraph or two will be just fine! 

 

Caleb Canter

[Nike Man 292]

Hey Caleb, PM me if you need any help! 

[NPaden93 0]

As a kid and throughout my time as a high school wrestler, it was my dream to make it to the finals and wrestle under the spotlight and run out during the faceoff. I will never forget the feeling I had when I got to finally experience that great atmosphere my senior year. With how they are formatting the finals now, I doubt nearly as many young kids have a dream to participate in the finals atmosphere because of how they have watered it down. It is disappointing to see how they have changed things, but hopefully something can come out of this and the finals can have the unique atmosphere they once had. I would encourage as many people as possible to send Caleb a short letter so he can send them to the KHSAA.

-Nick Paden

[top shelf 4]

I couldn't agree more with NPaden93 and also others, as a 2x state champion and 3x finalist I remember dreaming running under the spotlight for the finals. You don't only train everyday during the season but year round for yrs to be the best and be a state champion, unfourntaly they can't do it in Frankfort like they use to because of having 32 man brackets. This just water downs the tournament at the same time Kentucky is deff on the rise in quality and competition, when I graduated in 2001 only 1 other wrestler received a D1 scholarship in the previous 5 or 6 yrs before I did and now a bunch have since, it's an honor to make a state tournament and in many regions you only have to win one match to make it. I don't think the problem is the ky horse park, it's a great arena for the tournament but more on the people calling the shots all the medal rds from 3rd  to 8th place should be wrestled at once with the championship finals wrestled alone on one mat one match at a time. The kids who put in blood sweat and tears yr round for yrs to get there deserve being the sole match going on with all eyes on them 

[otisgcc 0]

I'm new to here but I agree 100% with you mr. Canter. The finals should be a separate event! I couldn't believe they did it differently this year. Takes away from the excitement of it and also takes the showcase away from where it belongs. The champs! Who knows?  Maybe they're trying to fall in synch with the rest of the world and reward participation the same as winning lol

[hasbeen1 2]

The KHSAA offices have proven over and over on multiple occasions they are unwilling to hear any type of detractors. If anyone really wants change it will take the following:

Email/ call members on the board of control, this group effectively keeps  Julian and Mike accountable to the schools. You can find their emails at this link: http://khsaa.org/2015-16-khsaa-board-of-control/

Email/ call your State Representative, this is what it took to allow middle schoolers to wrestle varsity again and unfortunately quite possibly what it may take to get the championship out of the Horse Park and a proper ending.

Lastly, contact your local Athletic Director, Principal, and Superintendent and ask for the help to fix what was the correct way to crown a state champion. 

Unfortunately politics within the proper channels will be the only way to make the changes everyone desires. 

[Wrstlrsdad 5]

Has anyone on this board of control ever wrestled?

 

[tccx-14 16]

I don't think KHP is the issue even though I think it is ridiculous you had to pay $5/day to park. I was told the KHSAA wanted to run the round of championship that was wrestled on Saturday morning Friday night but the coaches wanted to get out of there early. Also was it necessary to have a 2 hour break? No! If they wanted to clear the arena if done correctly can be cleared out in 30 minutes. While that is happening you start setting the mats up. In my opinion, if they wanted to keep the way they did it (I hated this way) they should have moved 3 mats to the center of the arena and wrestled 3, 5 & 7 then wrestle championship match on the center mat because people where Union & CC fans were sitting were always away from the championship mat, put it in the center where it should belong. 

Also it took 1 hour to do 3 weight classes. 

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

Hey guys I love your support and I'm excited to hear all of your opinions. However, I must say that I'm not looking to create a big long thread on this website talking about how terrible everything is. As we will just frustrate ourselves and accomplish nothing. 

Instead I'm asking for you to seriously and professionally write out your thoughts. That way I can take them to the KHSAA and read it with them, to hopefully show them that they are not operating inside of what the vast majority of the wrestling community wants.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

Just wanted to keep everyone updated. I just sent the following message to the KHSAA:

 

First of all I want to take time to thank you for reading my message, and then taking the time to explain your thoughts to me. I really do appreciate it!

 

I now understand the thinking behind the decision you and the rest of the KHSAA made. I do appreciate that you are working to better the sport, and I agree that you have done a good job at doing so. However, I also believe that a few recent changes that have been made are not beneficial to our sport, and I think that you will find that the rest of the wrestling community agrees with me.

 

As you may have already heard, I am working to gather the opinions of as much of the wrestling community as possible. I posted a forum on the Kentucky Wrestling website, you can find that at the following link if you have not already seen it.

 

http://forums.kentuckywrestling.com/index.php?/topic/14293-help-me-fix-the-state-finals/

 

I have also started a petition, to make an easier avenue for fans and wrestlers to share their opinions. That can be found at the below link.

 

https://www.change.org/p/kentucky-wrestling-kentucky-wrestling-state-finals?recruiter=492947154&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

 

I’m sure that you’re not impressed by the number of people on the petition, and you shouldn’t be because we both know that half of those people probably honestly have no opinion at all. What is worth noting is the hundreds of comments left by fans, parents, and wrestlers of all skill levels describing how disappointed they are with the direction state tournament has gone in the past few years. I strongly recommend that you go read through those.

 

In my forum you will also see that I have asked for the wrestling community to write me their opinions in a letter to the KHSAA. I also made sure to say that I even wanted to hear if they have enjoyed the new format of things.

 

I fully understand that it is impossible to please everyone, there will always be a handful that think the other way. What I am trying to convey to you is that right now we are catering to those handful of people and not the swarms of people on the other side of this issue.

 

I know this is a lot to discuss over email. I have listed my phone number on my previous email if you ever want to discuss this over the phone. Once I feel that I have reached out to enough of the wrestling community, I will be in contact with you to set up an appointment so that we can meet and talk face to face.

 

I sincerely hope that you do not find my messages to be rude or disrespectful, towards you or the KHSAA as a whole, that is not what I am trying to do. My goal is to work along side you so that we can improve the sport of wrestling in the state of Kentucky.

 

Thanks for all you do!

Caleb Canter

[afan 4]

11 hours ago, Caleb.Canter22 said:

My original email

Hi, Caleb...can you please confirm that you sent your original email & received the reply from KHSAA yesterday (so Feb 20th)?  I'm getting my letter together and would like to make sure I have the date right.  Thanks!

[afan 4]

11 hours ago, Caleb.Canter22 said:

As I sit here tonight we have received several extremely positive
comments from coaches, parents and fans of the 3rd through 8th place
wrestlers thankful for the change rewarding their son, daughter or
wrestler's year long commitment even though they didn't finish in the
top two.

...a side note...  I truly wonder if this statement from KHSAA wasn't inflated.  My son placed 4th and we both agree that the way they ran finals this year cheapened the entire experience for all (but especially for the championship finalists).  Also...I didn't see any girls that made it to ANY of the finals matches - did I miss something?  How were daughters rewarded by these changes?  Anyway - just some quick observations that jumped out at me when I read their response.  Working on my letter!

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

Yes my original message was sent during the 113 lb match, and I received the response around the time of the 152 lb match. 

As far as the truth of that statement I cannot comment. I am going to take his word for it that there were at least a few people in the crowd that appreciated the changes. I have yet to find anyone that thinks this way, but I would love to hear their opinions if they are seeing these messages.

Thanks for taking the time to write a letter for us, I really appreciate it!

[afan 4]

14 minutes ago, Caleb.Canter22 said:

Yes my original message was sent during the 113 lb match, and I received the response around the time of the 152 lb match. 

As far as the truth of that statement I cannot comment. I am going to take his word for it that there were at least a few people in the crowd that appreciated the changes. I have yet to find anyone that thinks this way, but I would love to hear their opinions if they are seeing these messages.

Thanks for taking the time to write a letter for us, I really appreciate it!

You're very welcome.  I'm not doubting the truth of their statement...just the completeness.  I work with data, so I know all about inflating numbers to paint a picture that supports your perspective.  Not saying that's what happened here...just that I've seen it done (in many professional settings) and so I also don't rule it out completely.

Thank you for taking the time to get this going...I hope the silent majority takes action to better this situation for future championship finalists!

[afan 4]

2 hours ago, hasbeen1 said:

Email/ call your State Representative

Q:  how do we know who our State Representative is?

[hasbeen1 2]

16 minutes ago, afan said:

Q:  how do we know who our State Representative is?

See the link below as it gives county by county listings:

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/whoswho/county.htm 

[mommaswatching 8]

14 hours ago, Caleb.Canter22 said:

Thanks to everyone that is responding to the petition! I love the comments!

 

I really want to ask you guys to think about emailing me letters. I think that will be much more effective when presented to the KHSAA. I'm not looking for a long drawn out letter, a paragraph or two will be just fine! 

 

Caleb Canter

Have you thought about contacting the Media and telling them about it.  Hey  they would not like the bad press.

[Caleb.Canter22 13]

1 hour ago, mommaswatching said:

Have you thought about contacting the Media and telling them about it.  Hey  they would not like the bad press.

I haven't really considered that yet. Right now I'm simply collecting opinions so that I can present it to the people at the KHSAA. I would really like to keep it as civilized as possible, since we are kind of on the same team in that we all want wrestling to grow. I just believe that they are operating on an incorrect assumption about the wrestling community. 

However, if they refuse to accept an undeniable amount of evidence, we may look into it then.

[RTRBURN 15]

Something we need to seriously consider, going to a 16 man bracket. Add regional tournament. Its mentally and a physical drain to wrestle upwards of 6 matches dragged out over 2 days.

Consolation finals need to be there own round.

Finals must be under the lights, accolades need to heard during face off  AND NEEDS TO BE 1 MAT!

Podium needs to be delayed 1 match, give this kids time to process a loss in the finals before you stick him on the podium for everyone to see...this is plain cruel!

Podium area should allow a parent to take pictures, they deserve the right!

If KSHAA isn't going to change it for wrestling, then boys and girls basketball doesn't need the flashy entrance either for the finals!

KSHAA says they had positive feedback, I want those published. Just as easy to say we have thousand of complaints.

And to build Wrestling in Kentucky we have to give and show the youth something to strive for, if it lacks in luster theirs efforts and wanting to wrestle diminish.

[plantmanky1 58]

Total 2-day Attendance - 8,959

Assume $15.00 each minimum revenue.

 

$134,385.00 Attendance Revenue. 

[gameface 253]

Good information plantmanky1. Also I'd be interested in the revenue generated during the 2 day event from ticket sales, merchandise, concessions and the adjusted rate of facility use in lieu of parking revenue. The medals, brackets and final singlets we give out on the Middle School Level vs the cost we collect is greatly less than the KHSAA collected and spent on their event. I'd like to see published the final spreadsheet on cost and revenue. If they want to profit and share amongst the whole KHSAA athletic programs, let them do this after they've awarded these wrestlers with all the glory and awards deserved as the top 6 placers and 2 finalist. 

[Coach Wagers 43]

17 hours ago, tccx-14 said:

I was told the KHSAA wanted to run the round of championship that was wrestled on Saturday morning Friday night but the coaches wanted to get out of there early.

I hope this was sarcasm.....  Myself and probably the 30+ other coaches I talked too complained that they were NOT running the QTRS on Friday night.  So I would be curious about coaches that truly wanted out of there early on Friday rather than run that round.  There were also many many complaints prior to the tournament even starting; letting KHSAA know the finals in this format would last 4+ hours.  I don't know any coach and/or wrestler that would want to arrive at 5:30 and then not wrestle until 10:40 for your finals match. 

There are loads of coaches with ideas, on and off the coaches board, that can make this tournament spectacular.  I have only coached high school in KY for a few years now, and the feeling I get is that KHSAA does what they feel is best and nothing else matters.  Which to me, IMO, is causing a spiraling downward effect rather than helping make it better.