I know it has been debated a million times about how the state duals should be done and how the state tournament should or shouldn't be split into multiple divisions.

However, in September of 2005, it was mentioned on this forum that LaRue County was going to host a small school state dual tournament. This was a great idea but there was also a lot of confusion about the topic. Would they still compete at large school state duals? Would this affect the number of teams at the large duals? This post is to discuss the topic again and perhaps bring new light on the subject.

There are many ways to keep the large school tournament full of teams and I don't think it will EVER be a problem to get 16 competitive teams at the large dual tournament.

I think it would make more sense to split the state dual tournament because:

• #1: A lot of small schools do not have the student pool to fill an entire line-up
  
• #2: The state has become more competitive as a whole
  
• #3: Many #3 teams could have potentially placed at the state duals this year
  

How this could work:

OPTION 1: 16 teams are still elected to the "big school" state tournament. If you are a #1 or #2 team from your region and your team is in the small school division, you may STILL HAVE THE CHANCE to compete at the big school state dual tournament. However, you have the choice to compete in the "small school" division instead.

If you are a #1 or #2 team from the region and wish to compete in the small school division, the #3 team from your region would step up into the #2 slot for the big school division. The small school duals would also invite the top 2 small schools from each region just the same as how the state duals is currently done.

Option 2: Hold a two day tournament for the state duals at two different nearby locations (or one location if the gym can fit 32 dual teams.. (Rupp arena??). At one tournament, all small schools compete and at the other, you guessed it. The top team from each tournament the first day would be awarded "small school" or "large school" state dual champions. The following day, the top 4 teams (or even 8 if you wanted to) meet up and wrestle for the "grand state dual championship".

Personally, I prefer option #2 as it would allow all teams to compete against each other for a grand championship and gives everyone a chance! This also gives MORE teams a chance to compete for the championship. Many regions have become extremly competitive in that the #3 team could have placed at the state dual tournament. This would also allow that #3 team the chance to place top 3 at the grand state duals.

Most states have 3-4 differnet divisions. We have 1. The growth of our state in the past few years have been amazing. I believe that by having a small school dual state tournament will allow the "smaller" schools a chance to compete at a state dual tournament even though they don't have the numbers to compete at the large school. However, I do feel that some schools, such as Larue and Wayne County or even Sheldon Clark who have all won a dual championship in the past should still be able to compete at a higher level to increase the competition of the large tournament (Of course we always want the best competition at the large school state tournament... at least until the ball gets rolling and we have more competitive teams).

Sorry, still don't think the state is big enough yet.  Just my opinion.  The "small" school state could be really sad to watch.

I think the state duals right now is growing into something great and we still have a way to go before we start splitting.

    I'm not sure we have a small school in our region.  Has it changed since they 1st decided?  If so then we probably only have 2. We (Holmes) were the only small school in region 6 when it started.  Now I quess Newport may be small school. 

    If this is true then the same 2 schools would represent Nky every year.  I'm not sure that is what you are looking for.  Especially when we only suit up between 4-7 wrestlers each year.

How many teams do we have now? Is it still less than 100?

If so, there's really no need to divide wrestling into a small school/big school division. That would just water down the competition, etc. What fun would that be for the kids?

Wrestling is the one sport that should never split into two classes. It just won't work, unless we get every school in the state participating in the sport. And that's a long shot when you think about it.

How many teams do we have now? Is it still less than 100?

If so, there's really no need to divide wrestling into a small school/big school division. That would just water down the competition, etc. What fun would that be for the kids?

Wrestling is the one sport that should never split into two classes. It just won't work, unless we get every school in the state participating in the sport. And that's a long shot when you think about it.

We have 120 counties with many counties having multiple schools, but only 79(as of this year) have wrestling

We have 120 counties with many counties having multiple schools, but only 79(as of this year) have wrestling

There are 79 schools with wrestling programs in HS out of appx. 273 HS in Kentucky

I think the state isn't big enough. Plus small schools are picking their programs up, for example Union has maybe 700 people in their school and they won the state title. Last year 3 of the top 4 teams were small schools (South Oldham, LaRue, and Union.) It would be too early to split the state up. Competition is getting real good and we shouldn't change it yet.

There are 79 schools with wrestling programs in HS out of appx. 273 HS in Kentucky

I knew there weren't that many.

But it's still too early to split the state for wrestling. I don't know if the state will ever split...