I, personally, like the win or go home drama the ticket round at semistate brings. It's the most fun-filled round, hands down. There will always be people we know are more deserving of getting to state than someone else, but that's the beauty of the system. Yes, the draws can be brutal to some. Yes, it's not 100 percent fair, but that's life.
Probably my favorite moment at the New Castle semistate was in the ticket round watching Dru Berkebile. This kid absolutely is better than some others moving on. He had some brace on his leg and wasn't able to bend it. He barely could get in the down position and he had to take shots practically standing up. But when he lost, knowing his career was over, he saluted the fans and moved on. I'm sure that was tough for him, in a perfect world he would be healthy and advancing to state - but he moved on. A career isn't defined by one loss.