I live in Nebraska, fairly close to the Kansas border, so we hit both the KS and NEB tournaments. Going to both tournament formats for the last 6 years, I feel that I am in a good position to make an educated decision on this matter. I am also involved in directing a club. In my opinion, the split tournaments are the way to go. We set it up in 2 hour increments, which allows plenty of time to complete the brackets in each age group. This allows some people with plans to not only get their business done, but also watch thier children wrestle. It is not as crowded in the gyms, and I do not believe that it hurts the club finacially. We just finished back to back KS tourneys, and both Saturday and Sunday were extremely long. I have 2 open and 1 novice wrestler, and believe me, the kids, on the days that they were not wreslting, were extremely frustrated and bored. The split sessions allow kids to compete without having to sit in a gym for 8-10 hours. We have 13-14 and 6 and under start at 9am. 7-8 start at 11am. 9-10 start at 1pm and 11-12 start at 3. Wrestling times are moved up if needed, and we usually get done by 4pm. To the people who have kids in 2 divisions, 1 early and 1 late, I guess it doesn't matter to you much, cause you would have been there for the duration anyway. My suggestion is this, maybe a club from KS shoud give it a try and see how it works out. I know a lot of our club parents tend to shy away from the KS tournaments for this very reason. Just my opinion. I was in Atchison this weekend and got to see Bo Purcell wrestle. I've read a lot about him on this site, and it was a treat to see him in person. A very nice balance of speed, knowledge, and power. Good coaching and a nice kid. That's all for my first post. Too bad the Nebraska and Missouri web sites don't have forums like this.
