Coaches, Wrestlers, Fans:
Over the past year, the KWCA has been working towards a Dual State Wrestling Tournament proposal to present to the KSHSAA Board of Directors to adopt in the state of Kansas. As per the current proposal, this event would be held the week after the individual state tournament. The individual state and the regional tournaments would each be moved up one week, thus not extending the length of the season. The KWCA committee working on this proposal received unanimous support from Kansas coaches (zero "no" votes were submitted).
The proposal was presented to the KSHSAA Board of Directors in April and was then discusses at the June meeting and I felt it important to report to the wrestling public on the current status of the proposal.
The proposal as written was denied by the board, which cited several concerns. The number one concern was a fear that other sports would next be wanting to ask for a second state tournament for their sports as well, which would create a troublesome situation for the KSHSAA administering all these events.
Another concern was the conflict with current league tournaments. The board of directors reportedly were not supportive of disbanding these tradition-rich events around the state and saw this presenting several complications (rescheduling problems, loss of money to league tournament host schools, the loss of "league title" honors awarded to individuals as well as teams, etc.)
Another concern had to do with finding more venues for a state-level wrestling event. This has always a difficult situation for the KSHSAA to deal with (cost, dates, location selection, etc.)
A final concern with the proposal was the continuance of allowing 30 points on the current season schedule. They felt perhaps this was perhaps too many points for a season shortened by one week.
The KWCA will take into consideration the concerns cited by the KSHSAA Board of Directors and modify, re-address, etc., the proposal and re-present it next April. If you have any ideas, suggestions, input, etc., please forward to me at (kharris@usd348.com) or to current KWCA Presient Doug Moore at Concordia High School.
If you have any questions, please contact me. I felt it important for those of you who have been following and/or supporting this proposal to be informed of its status.
Regards,
Kit Harris
Baldwin High School Wrestling Coach
KWCA Executive Board Officer