What a poor excuse for a youth state tourney. *You don't need to qualify
*very expensive to enter
*very complicated to enter (it was less expensive and easier to enter the Tulsa Nationals and you don't need no stinking insurance card that you will never use again except for Huskerland.)
*and the competition is weak.
WHAT A RIP-OFF. At least with a USA card you get more use out of it than one time.
I know there is a lot of support for this lame tourney from the people out west, I'll tell you what, you can have it. Those of us out east have bigger fish to fry. I would like to see a group of dedicated people put together a REAL youth state tourney like Iowa does through USA Wrestling without having to go 300 miles just to qualify. HUSKERLAND IS A JOKE AND GETTING WORSE AND MORE COMPLICATED EVERY YEAR...STOP THE INSANITY!!!
The folks at Huskerland complain about the numbers dropping year after year, hmmmm, wonder why?

I agree totally. Huskerland just needs to go away. Huskerland wrestling is as touch football is to tackle. It serves a purpose but not for very long. If huskerland went away USA would be able to host a true state tournament for the state of Nebraska, and generate money to help support our athletes that decide to compete nationally and regionally. It would be interesting to see the accounting of this organization over the last 5 years. My guess is that you would see a few people making a lot of money off of this organization, (just rumors that I have heard). This excludes Doug Denson and Jay MeneelyI believe they have been a breath of fresh air they truly see the value in wrestling on the national scene. Something which HUSKERLAND CAN NOT PROVIDE.

I agree and until we get a more serious state Tourney and introduce wrestlers more to the National level of competition we will continue to fall behind in the Highschool level nationally, Many kids here the only national tournament they are introduced to is the Omaha TOC which is still a pretty pathetic national. With a harder State Tournament it will inspire alot of our better wrestlers to compete more nationally which will directly connect to better quality highschool competition.

I would have to disagree. I think Huskerland is a great opportunity for kids to get excited about wrestling. I think sometimes we get a little carried away and need to remember that these are still kids. To put the pressure of qualifying or placing at state at such an early age could be very discouraging. Many of the young wrestlers play many other sports and we shouldn't discourage them from doing so. There is no greater sport than wrestling and I think Huskerland is a great way to introduce new wrestlers. There are still many national and state tournaments that the more serious young wrestler can go to.

A very good point.. It just depends on what your looking for. Id say as for as Enjoyment of the sport Nebraska is just as far up there as any other state and in my opinion that is the most important thing. But for some reason everyoen wants to strive for the elite and to be the best and this wont be achieved by giving kids a sence of themselves being the best by making an easy state tournament. this will just cause them to be extremely overwelmed and discouraged when they see a tournament like topeka or tulsa.

At the sate tournament there are many kids at the same weight in differents brackets and lots of the kids dont even go. It isnt a real state tournament, none of the kids from out west come because they know it isnt even real. We have 2 state tourenaments in 1 state, there is one out west and huskerland. The should treat it like a nationals or better yet, how they do freestyle. Anything to make it a little bit harder. Look at all of the mat masters, there shouldnt be that many! They should have districts and set wieght classes.

I think Huskerland is a good turnament. I think the USA state is a joke. We had a kid that only had 1 kid in his bracket that he had wrestled 5 times. Huskerland is way better than that. at least the kids out west can get some different compitition. It is also in a good spot. When it was in lincoln, it was hard for us out west to get there. in kearny it is easy to get to. USA state,however, is right up in the corner of the state where some kids from lincoln and omaha cant get to. USA state is also the only place i can use the USA card. everyone else has some thing different. I wish everyone would just go to the same thing so i dont have to buy 5 different cards

By USA state i ment the one in mitchel not the freestyle

Huskerland serves as an important outlet for a lot of young wrestlers to gain knowledge of the sport . A lot of the states best wrestlers came out of Huskerland , and a large amount of these also wrestled at USA , AAU , Regional and National events . If it don't fit your needs do something else that you like better , and leave the people alone who like it . Every oportunity for young wresters to get mat time seems to me to be worth while . The Huskerland format suits todays fast paced life style and keeps families from spending all day in a gym . Would these same people come to an event with 20 wrestlers in a bracket that stretched over two days ? We would but a lot of people can't get that kind of time off .

Huskerland seems to have put some pretty smart people into place who understand the strenghts and the weakness of the program , and are tring hard to expand wrestling options and expending resourses to fill some needs within the state .

Huskerland should go away? I don't think so but AAU and USA must get stronger . These three organizations working together for all wrestlers in the state at all levels and will provide parents and wrestlers the competion to challenge their abilities beginers or advanced .

The summit meetings came up with some great ideas to improve Nebraska wrestling but it will take alot of work to pull it off . In the mean time enjoy the things that suit your family situation and respect those who choose to do what they think is best for their family.

For people on both sides of this debate, some of whom have good information and others who do not...The USA Middle Schools Dual team is sponsored by Huskerland. That is where a good ahare of the money raised is spent and the purpose is to further Nebraska wrestling. The whole purp[ose is to tecah kids, encourage them, and those that wish to go on to tougher competition are getting their feet wet through Huskerland clubs. Sorry, but unless your kids club is far different, 95% of the kids don't care about national or even regioanl events. And those that do know how to find information on them.

We did huskerland for several years. Our son enjoyed it. But the thing we didn't like was the cost. I think it stinks when you paid your entry but can't find out were you wrestle unless you BUY a program. Is it still like that? the ins.cost was never realy understandable, we had good health ins. why did we need theirs. Never could get an answer for that. And where did that money go to? And it sould not be called a state tourny. We looked at it as a big tourny to go have fun at and see how you come out. By the way our son did go to some national events. They were good. He came up against a kid that was a nation cham. in freestyle, greco, and folkstyle. That was an one that he will naver forget!!

Sounds like some pretty opinionated people out there. This seems like a good platform to educate people on what is and what isn't surrounding Huskerland. Let me start with some of the easier information.

1. Huskerland has an open book policy. The books are kept by a very reputable CPA. Darrell Jennings is the Treasurer. If you email him he can provide you with appropriate information on the finances for your perusal.

2. Huskerland has a budget process (I know because I do the budget) and that process puts the money right back into wrestling. Last year, over $15000 went directly to support wrestling Nationally for our youth. We paid the entry fees for Cadet and Junior Duals, as well as Disney Duals. We paid for coaches to go to events so they didn't have to dig in their own pockets. We paid over $3500 for the Middle School National Duals and over $5000 directly to kids going to Cadet and Junior Nationals. This year we spent, already, over $1000 sending coaches to Senior Nationals and over $2500 for the Middle School National Duals. We have started a fully funded training site for freestyle and greco. Plans are to fund Cadet Duals and Junior Duals. All total, we will be putting over $20,000 in real dollars to promote wrestling in Nebraska through USA and AAU. I call this pretty darned positive for wrestling.

3. Huskerland is NOT more expensive than other events. The cost for entry has gone from $21 several years ago to $15 per entry today. That is cost effective. For such a well run tournanment, the cost is pretty good. Of this money, quite a little chunk will also go to UNK for the preservation and development of wrestling. Pretty good cause, huh?

4. Insurance card. Too much made of this. Liability wise you have to have insurance whether you go to USA, AAU, Tulsa, etc. The question is - how do these guys deal with insurance? USA embeds it in the $25 card and AAU in the $10 card. Tulsa just buys a short term policy and the cost is in the entry fee. Huskerland could do the same with insurance as Tulsa or Rocky Mountain, but we chose to give our clientele the chance to use the cheap insurance for their own tournaments, practices, etc. Five bucks for a year in secondary insurance is pretty much a bargain. Even if folks have their own insurance, we do live in a lawsuit happy environment, so there has to be insurance covering every aspect whether forseen or unforseen. This is a fact.

5. Unlike the misinformation T-Bone is spreading, since reorganization 3 years ago, Huskerland numbers have grown each year. We are increasing about 100 wrestlers each year in the state tournament, and this last season over 7000 kids were registered as Huskerland kids. I would say this is very positive.

6. Huskerland has good competition and some of our best wrestlers ever have come through the ranks. Last year Todd Meneely was OW at Junior Nationals. He was a Huskerland kid. Brett Allgood wrestled in Huskerland and he was a National Champ this past year. The list goes on and on of kids who have come through Huskerland. I think each of these kids would say that Huskerland was NOT a negative thing for them or their development.

I could go on and on with the debate, but suffice to say that Huskerland has a place. Huskerland is doing everything it can to help promote wrestling in and through USA as well as AAU, and Huskerland will continue to work hard to do what is best for wrestling in Nebraska. Folks who have strong opinions should take their opinions to the Summit meeting held at USA state this year. They can be heard just like any other person with constructive criticism. I will be there - hope you will too!

Can you honestly say that huskerland made Meenely and Algood,I don't think so,it was just mat time because it was the only thing around.I know some kids that are doing well and have wrestled huskerland since 3rd grade but will not credit huskerland for their success.

What the post said was that Huskerland didn't hurt these guys and that these kids were in Huskerland. I didn't read in there anywhere that Huskerland said they made these kids. Hey, quit reading between the lines and putting stuff in there that doesn't belong. Like grapplinman said, guess we can count on seeing you at the summit or are you just another computer wrestling guru?

I dont think anyone would argue that the Tournament needs some big improvments.. but at the same time we have to support it and show support to the young kids who wait all year for this tournament, It might not be as big of a tournament as it could be or as challenging as it could be but in the kids minds it is the state tournament...It is just as important to them as anyone else in the country.

You say it only costs $15, well you are wrong. What about all the other fees.
Club costs:
$40 Club fee
$25 CampTeam club fee
$10 Coaches CampTeam cards (for 2 coaches)
$4 Coaches matside passes (for 2 coaches)
Individual costs:
$5 CampTeam card (for a card you only use once)
$15 Entry fee
$5 Brackets (why not post them on the wall like EVERY other tournament)

If you only have 10 kids in your club that go to Huskerland, divide the club fees by 10 then add the individual fees and that comes up to $32.90 per wrestler. That is not cheap!

If your club does not join Huskerland then it costs at least $35.00 per wrestler not including the cost for coaches.

None of this includes the cost of admissions for the parents.

At least with USA you can use your card at folkstyle state, district freestyle, state freestyle, Regionals, Nationals, and with any of the dual teams. Admissions to the USA state tournament is free to the families and they post their brackets on the wall not charge 5 bucks! With AAU you also have more opportunities to use your card than just once.

This tournament is held during baseball season.
It is made for little town clubs who don't start until after High School season is over. Over the past 10 years I don't think funding was done for all or any the organizations listed above, and if it was, one of the coaches or organizations was affiliated with Huskerland to get support. It's fine to have Huskerland, personally I have had a good time in Lincoln and Kearney but it should not be called a State Tournament. A real State Tourny would greatly benefit the sport of wrestling in Nebraska.

Nice try on the math but I think you are just a little errant there. First of all, you don't have to belong to anything to go. Secondly your 32 bucks per kid isn't accurate at all, but I understand you have to have your personal slant. Anyway, if you choose this math, do some math for the USA stuff, will yah? Thanks!

I took the fees straight from Huskerlands site at http://www.huskerland.org/huskerlandfees.htm If you don’t believe me check it out and do the math yourself. You say that you do not have to be a club member? Then the costs are higher like I said before.
$10 CampTeam card
$20 Huskerland entry fee
$5 Bracket

Total of $35!

But wait I need a coach, add $10.00 for Dad to get a CampTeam card. That card got him nowhere but in the door ($5 gate fee would have done that without the card) now Dad needs to pay $2 so that he can get on the floor to coach me. If Mom and my sister wants to watch well they got to pay to. To save money we will leave Mom and sis home. The basic lowest cost to my family for me to wrestle if I am not a member of a Huskerland club is $47!

No personal slant, just saying I get more bang for my buck in USA and AAU.

Huskerland has good points and bad points as does every other "State" tournament in Nebraska. I truly believe that when you remove any qualifying criteria from a state tournament you lessen the signifance of that tournament.

Nebraska could learn a lesson from Iowa when it comes to youth wrestling. In Iowa, AAU is the definitive organization. From the beginning of the season, the wrestlers have one goal in mind, to qualify at districts and go to Cedar Rapids for the State Tournament. Believe me, the State AAU Tournament is no less exciting and no less entertaining than the State High School Tournament. I have been in several car caravans going to Cedar Rapids with our wrestlers and it is some of the most fun I have ever had.

I don't see that in Nebraska. I don't see all of the top quality wrestlers at each State tournament either because of logistics or timing of tournaments. I see three organizations going in three seperate directions with the only common goal being how much money they can make. Their goal should be to build and strengthen the overall wrestling picture in Nebraska with the wrestlers' benefit in mind.

Iowa has eight seperate AAU Districts. You can only compete in the District Tournament assigned to your county. In order to qualify for State, you must finish in the top four at Districts. At Districts, just like any other tournament, you may have a couple of wrestlers in your bracket or you may have 20. You must also make your weight, according to AAU guidelines, at Districts and if you qualify, make your weight at State. You can see that with eight Districts and each District sending it's top four wrestlers to State, what a quality State Tournament it is. To win a State Championship, a wrestler has to fight his way through a 32 man bracket.

High School wrestling programs are only as good as your feeder programs (i.e. youth wrestling and middle school wrestling). For the good of Nebraska wrestlers and wrestling programs, let's work together to have a "definitive" State Tournament and give the kids all the support we can muster. Remember, it's all about them anyway.