As for the seats issue -

I do not understand why each school can not be given x number of seats in the lower bowl. The school can then distribute them as they see fit.

Or block of a section for family and parents in the finals.

Seems very unfair to have mom and dad not able to be up close.

posted by Antlerfan: Low attendance could be attributed to poor vision. Those patrons of wrestling that sat in the nosebleed sections may have developed severe eye strain attempting to read their program. It is hard on the eyes to move from squinting in the dark while filling in the bracket to scanning 8 mats in an attempt to follow all the action. With poor vision, finding cheap hotel rates on a computer and reading restaurant menus becomes nearly impossible. I say the Qwest should either provide flashlights for the "cheap seats" or pay for our lasik surgery.

You call them cheap seats but I paid the same price as the Ms fans in the front row

I agree that the tournament needs to be moved. I miss the days of looking up and seeing a jam packed rockin arena. I miss the days of walking through the halls and seeing legendary pictures of people that you have looked up to for so long and you have finally made it to the place where they workout and wrestle. I miss the days of working up a sweat in the wrestling room that was nice and warm before I wrestled. I miss all the Saturdays where the crowd was packed once again and you could barely hear yourself think.

Plain and simple, the Qwest Center has scared some people off, that is the truth. Is it too bad, yes, but it happened. We need to get this thing back to where people remember it being. If we aren't careful, the attendence will continue to drop and the "mystic" of state wrestling will be gone. Devaney Center used to sell out four times a year, once for the Kansas game, once for the Creighton game, once for the state wrestling semi finals, and once for the state wrestling finals.

I miss those days, I really do.

My kids miss those days as well. They talk about how cool it must have been to wrestle where the Huskers "live". They talk about how they had dreams of wrestling there.

To me the Qwest Center is meant for the PBR, concerts, college athletics, and what not.

Traffic, food, and monetary issues are not a problem to me. It is all the above that gets me.

NWI: Nicely done sir.

saywhatwillis, You are right THIS IS A HIGH SCHOOL EVENT. This is not a pro baseball game or any other pro sporting event. That is why the prices are too much. You are right I do expect to pay more at pro events, but not a high school event.

One other thing that bothers me is we do have people staying in CB we should keep people in Nebraska. I guess people in Omaha are used to giving that state money but shouldn't Nebraska profit from our state tourny. I don't blame the people that do stay there it is closer to the Quest. just something to think about

dswitz, I laughed outloud! and I live way out here btw! hey, if we keep teaching everyone that its much cheaper to stay over in CB just imagine the flack NSAA will get from Qwest Something just completely ironic about it you might say. But, by then the attendance level may not matter anyway. I agree with some others, a bit more suspense in some classes would probably help, and I'm pretty sure of my numbers when I say 80% of the crowd was there either watching Class C & D or pulling for KHS Did I read that right, an Omaha team was staying in CB? Everyone in this thread that is sincere needs to be sending these messages off to NSAA board members, not a lot of good will come of it here, one way or the other.

I absolutely hate the Qwest.Much rather have my wrestlers hurt (that always was a BS argument) at the Devaney.

*I just wanted to cancel out dswitz's vote... LOL

It really doesn't matter where it is held you should all be there to encourage your sons or whomever might be there from your schools.

Good points on both sides but talking to Coach Buaer fron UNK at BEST OF THE WAST last year he said between unk arena and the hockey arena there would be plenty of room to have state. For the finals four mats in unk gym with bleachers out. It would be a more central location for evertone not in Lincoln and Omaha. After all they did host D2 wrestling championships and have over 1000 wrestlers for Midwest Classic. Would like to hear some feedback.

You will never have the NSAA split the championships. People want to watch all the matches, not just one or two classes.

Diehard most of the tournment is already split. A & D wrestle together in the first round and quarter finals.

Realistically, the Quest has the tournament. It's not going to Kearney, and not to Devaney (maybe the new arena in Lincoln though). And it should stay at the Quest for the two most important reasons, room for the mats and room for the fans. No reason to risk injury or mom not getting in, like happened at Devaney. So the time should be spent on what can be done to improve the tournament at QWEST.

We've rehashed this, but GockeS post was right on. And one of his points was interesting, attendence could be affected by lack of diversity in the semi's and finals. Good Point. Just a sign of the times and not much anyone can do, and definitely not till parents are loyal to their local programs...

Other things to get fixed: seating (the nose bleads are impossible), allowing some school spirit (signs), get creative with the parade with honorary leaders is cool, etc.

Let's focus on fixing the best place that's available.

The banner's will not be allowed. The reason why is the Qqest makes money off the sponsorship that is displayed there. There is no room like the Devaney to place the banners. I honestly don't know why people care so much if there is a banner or not.
The only issue is seating, which I do believe is a little wrong. Its not going back regardless of how hard people try. People act like the Qwest is this terrible place. Its the nicest place to hold it and the safest. Its modern and has MODERN prices. People need to learn to deal with this.

I agree it is not going to be moved,nor should we think it will be. Yes it would be nice if it was more central. But lets face it there is no place that can hold all the people who do attend. The most important thing here is the kids. No matter where we go it is going to cost money (can you tell me something that doesn't)! Even to enter a tournament to watch our kids it 5 or 6 dollers, doesn't matter if it is a duel or invite. Lets all try to get more people from our home schools to attend. There are a some things that could be changed to make it better. We got our seats ourselves this year (wtih couple other families from our school) and we did have lower bowl seats the entire time. Our school did not. Get your tickets yourself, if your seats are bothering you, I believe someone else said earlier that they got together and sent someone to do this. We all just have to get creative, and make the best of what we have. Be gratefull that we have the chance and a place for our kids to wrestle in a state tournament.

quote:

Originally posted by mat mom:
I agree it is not going to be moved,nor should we think it will be. Yes it would be nice if it was more central. But lets face it there is no place that can hold all the people who do attend. The most important thing here is the kids. No matter where we go it is going to cost money (can you tell me something that doesn't)! Even to enter a tournament to watch our kids it 5 or 6 dollers, doesn't matter if it is a duel or invite. Lets all try to get more people from our home schools to attend. There are a some things that could be changed to make it better. We got our seats ourselves this year (wtih couple other families from our school) and we did have lower bowl seats the entire time. Our school did not. Get your tickets yourself, if your seats are bothering you, I believe someone else said earlier that they got together and sent someone to do this. We all just have to get creative, and make the best of what we have. Be gratefull that we have the chance and a place for our kids to wrestle in a state tournament.

I agree with you I have ordered tickets every year for a lot of years but since it was at the quest i still order myself and have had great seats every year.

I was just thinking about the ticket issue and tell me if this makes sense to any of you , most of you were saying when you bought a large number of tickets thu your school you were put in the upper bowl could it be the quest is thinking it is going to be a student section and when you order yourself they think its parents so they give the good seats to them just a thought and if it is true maybe someone needs to talk to the Quest center.

I do think that the sets the get for schools are thought to be for students. And until someone says dif. that is prob. what they will continue to think. Good thinking on that one Mark. We were going even if he would not have made it to state (thank god he did) so it did not matter to me. If you truely care about wrestling and what is going on at state you are going to be there no matter where it is, so I suggest buy tickets as a group. Make your plans in advance. And remember that it is all about celebrating the kids.

Ok...here is another idea to consider for the finals. Lets do some simple math first. We have 28 wrestlers from 4 classes wrestling. Meaning 112 kids! When the kids win on Friday night it would be nice if they received 4 premiere seating tickets for the front rows in section 104,105,106, for C & D or 120,121,122 for A & B. 448 seats to the wrestlers families.

Leave the first row open so that the 4 kids who are wrestling can have their 4 ticket holders in the front row during their match cheering on their son! After each weight class the parents rotate out of the front row and back to their premiere seats!

Now what does that do for the sport...first the parents are in the best seats during the parade of champions watching with pride in their heart and tears in their eyes. Second, they are close to that action and their sons can actually see and hear them during the match. Third, they can run over after their match and get a quick hug and support from their family. And lastly but not insignificant, the rest of the fans get to honor the families as well and enjoy watching families share in the joy of having a son reach the ultimate accomplishment win or lose during the finals!

Forget all of the arguing over the lodging, facility, town, parking, or prices! What really needs to take place is the NSAA and coaches association need to put Wrestlers and Families first. Come up with creative ways to honor families and wrestlers that do not have to cost anything but give back for all of the dedication and hard work that it takes to reach the finals!

Building that kind of tradition that is focused on the wrestler and the families is what will draw families to the state championships. It was so disappointing to see the arena empty when the team trophies were handed out. How do you think those teams and all the kids who receive their medals at the end of the night feel when they can hear the janitors cleaning up and most of the fans are gone by the time they get their awards!

Forget the intermission where you hand out the first group of medals after 140! Everyone stays for the entire dinner if you want to get the dessert! That was Grandma's Strictest Rule!

Great idea 189mom.. the seats for the families with kids in the finals, that would be such an honor for the parents, siblings, or grandparents! That is what we are there for to support our kids, wrestling is a family sport. I have always said it has done great things for our family.

I totaly agree with you on the handing out of medals also. That should all be done together, there is no need to stop in the middle. These kids should be able to have the seats full when they get there hardware.

The reason that the stands are empty is that the MECCA Crew is telling fans that they have to leave! They are in such a hurry to clear that facility that they couldn't give a rip about you, your son, your family, how many years of hard work it took to get there or any thing else . . ."folks you gotta leave NOW".