Westforkwhite

Hit the nail on the head. Passionate wrestling fans don't need to be courted, they will spend all day in a cramped gym flattening their butts on the bleachers (myself included) and enjoy every minute of it. This is great and no one is suggesting we turn our backs on this set of fans, but this hardly the group that needs pursued(You've got them hook, line & sinker). Its important to understand that sports compete with all other entertainment for viewers, and if wrestling doesn't offer them an entertaining product then its not hard to find alternatives.
 
It's wonderful to hear about the Brownsburg vs Avon dual and the efforts the staff's went to make it a memorable event for not just the wrestlers but the fans in attendance. These fans are also significantly more likely to be repeat attenders than a fan that gets "suckered" into going to an all day event (family/friends & casual spectators can often go away with this feeling) Super Duals definitely have their value, but it shouldn't come at the expense of the traditional dual. I don't think anyone on here is suggesting that the super duals go away, but in a sport that has attendance/participation issues we need to make efforts to make the sport more attractive to watch and participate.
 
Going to tournaments and super duals in recent years I have seen a lot of great wrestling, the caliber of which far exceeds what was happening 20 years ago in this state. As much as this competition has helped raise the level of IN wrestling, to some degree it has also come at the expense of the dual. Short of the State Finals its hard to find a more exciting atmosphere in wrestling than a well staged dual. If you work to make an "event" out of a dual and get people in the door, you've got a good chance of converting a few people over to the darkside (die hard fans)!!!

The 300 mile rule does seem nonsensical. While it makes sense to restrict travel to 300 miles or less, the fact that our teams can't compete against teams that travel from outside that area doesn't. How does it negatively impact Indiana student athletes if a team from CA, OR or WA travel to an Indiana tourney? Or when IN teams travel to border states and those events just happen to have teams that have traveled in from considerable distance, how is that protecting our athletes or the integrity of IHSAA wrestling?
 
Putting rules together for all the IHSAA sports can't be easy, and I understand that unintended consequences can result from well meaning sports legislation. The purpose seems to be to limit the amount of in-season travel that could be at the determent of academics, which I believe is a good thing and has merit. Unfortunately the rule has the added layer of not just restricting travel but who you can compete against, regardless of how close to you that event is, this is the aspect I would like to see addressed.

I don't think that's a strong enough case to keep him out of the fw ss rankings.

Congrats to Nick. He lost a 7-6 decision in which a fleeing call against his opponent was unexplainably waived off in the fleeting seconds of the 2nd period. Still a great performance, and I expect he'll have 3 midwest championships before he's done at UIndy.