Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion High School 4A, 5A & 6A State Championship Thoughts

I am curious what people's thoughts were that actually attended the tournament in person or watched it online. I was only able to watch some of the matches on Friday and then during the championship only through 138. It would be great to get perspective from those of you in the know on highlights, controversial matches, surprises, etc.

Also does anyone know if Metro Sports KC will be airing the 5a & 6a championship matches today or sometime this next week? I would enjoy seeing it in its entirety.

The 4a #120 was outstanding, as was #145 and #160. The announcing was HORRIBLE, and the two people should NEVER be allowed to announce a state tournament again.

ditto on the announcers. Though they got better with mispronouncing names, they still manage to mispronounce names of kids that are very well known as top tier kids.

During the first round, they announced the wrong winner probably 1 out of 4 times.

Talking down to the kids "we shouldn't have to tell you every time to come down and get lined up for medals ceremony". They liked hearing themselves talk, so what was the big deal if they would have simply said this instead: "XYZ lb class, please report for the medals ceremony"

The 5A/6A tournament at Hartman was very good for the most part. I thought the way they did the individual weight class medal procession was neat. The announcers did a very good job throughout with the exception of pronouncing one particular four letter name in four different ways. Food and drink prices, yea I get that. Parking is great. Facility is top notch for this event. Team scores could have been kept up and updated on the big board or the scrolling side boards more often, but that doesn't help advertise their upcoming events (again, I get that). I still wish that breaks in between rounds could be shortened as it makes for a very long day. Overall, I like this venue a lot.

There were many little things wrong with the 4a tournament.

Does anyone recall if they used to announce the winners at the Coliseum when all three classes were together? I don't remember that being the case. I think with that added to their duties the announcers are over-burdened with 4 mats and likely need to just stick to calling the next match to the mat. That would provide them with more time to find notes on correct pronunciations of names.

Or just announce the winner when they received the bout sheet, with the winner's name circled, at the announcers' table. I think they have time to do it, but need to take their time to get it right.

Our only issues with 5A/6A at the Hartman Arena is how they deal with the wrestlers food and drink. All of the food and drink had to be left in a designated area. It could not be taken out of that area, not even a gatorade that our son wanted to drink in between matches. The second day we bought gatorade from the concession stand but sent an EMPTY lunch box cooler with him to be brought up into the stands to keep the gatorade that we bought from the concessions in. He wanted to keep it cold. The food/drink nazi standing by the stairs where the boys food was kept would not allow the EMPTY lunch box out of that area. I understand not allowing spectators to bring food in but the wrestlers should be allowed to have THEIR drinks/food with them. What harm could an EMPTY lunch box have had? I think KSHAA needs to negotiate something different with Hartman regarding how the wrestlers food/drink is handled. The breaks in between rounds were long and should/could be shortened. I personally was not crazy about the star wars music. Its old and out dated but... other than those issues, we felt it was great!

in my opinion, i thought the best match of the weekend, was when perez defeated mies in the 113 final, absolutely amazing.

Us Andale folks didn't think that match was good at all........!!!!!

The breaks between rounds were long. They could have a bit of entertainment if they want us to sit there for 30+ minutes. At least play some fan based music. The bright spot during the breaks was the SHIRTLESS (for a bit of time) Olathe Northwest student that was trying to get the crowd going.

I agree Red. One thing I did find annoying was the BRIGHTNESS of the 'ever changing, lighted banner' that was way up high in the area. The banner that was near the 6a mat. It was so BRIGHT at times (it ran on a cycle) that it even changed the color of the mat! This happened about every five minutes, all night long. Kind of annoying. Tone that thing down and save on the electric bill!

Was not there but have watched a lot of big tournaments: Bobcat classic, Lv Challenger, BIT, etc. Half the stands are taken up with coolers, lunch bags, gym bags, wrestlers laying on the bleacher seats, etc. Limiting some of the baggage to areas outside the seats make for a more comfortable area and pleasing tournament for the fans--may even clear enough space to allow having a 6a5a4a state tournament again. Yes, concessions are expensive--just one of the things you half to accept---plus the arena owners rely on concessions to make a profit. If we are going to complain do it on a real problem (three different sites for state, no live streaming for 4A, real time live TV broadcast for state tournaments, plus many more relevat issues!!.

4A had live streaming. It was provided by OpenSpaces out of Colby, same group that did 321A.

Contrarian, I think it is fine to have the wrestlers put their coolers/food/bags in a designated area. It does free up space. However, they should be able to carry a sandwich/drink out of that area to where they are sitting. I did not EVER say I had a problem with concessions being expensive. I DO accept the prices as my pocket book would prove if you saw it right now! Ive been to many big tournaments as well and many other sporting events. No problem with the cost of concession or entry fee. Wrestling is cheaper than the other sport we have been involved with! These are OUR thoughts about the 5A/6A Championships. Just because they are not YOUR thoughts does not make them invalid or irrelevant

Ok, everyone is a little right about Hartman Arena. The lighting was strange on the 6A side, the food situation was something to work around and the breaks were to long. But the biggest problem was the zebras. To have two per mat and still be that inconsistent, was terrible to the fans and definitely to the wrestlers. Most of them should feel like thieves for being paid for the weekend(Not all). Hope everyone enjoyed there tournaments, some more then others.

Oh yeah, I forgot the prices for everything was a problem. I understand that concessions are mostly profit, but 12 dollars a day for 5 adults and 8 dollars for a student, get to be a large number for some families. I think they should have a discounted two day pass.

I agree with the two day pass discount. You do get one heck of a lot of entertainment value though with all the incredible matches. As for the food/drink prices, I am sure that they would sell more in volume and profit more if their prices were more reasonable.

OK. Agree with carrying A sandwich and A drink to the stands---IF they were allowing fans to take food and drink purchased at the concessions to their seats--just don't carrying a whole buffet to the fan area!!!!

There was no hospitality room for coaches. Where the room was they had a concession stand set up selling hotdogs, candy bars, Chili and other cheap stuff. Wish they would at least give us options rather than treating coaches as merely people to make money off of.