By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Coach Nathan Broeckelman continues his rebuild of the wrestling team at Barton Community College. With a little luck, the Cougar wrestlers will stay close to home for postseason action next season. During Monday's USD 431 Board of Education meeting, Hoisington Superintendent Patrick Crowdis said Pratt Community College is interested in hosting the Region VI tournament at the Activity Center on Feb. 15, 2025.
"The only event that would bump this, and it would bump it, is if it's a high school event," Crowdis told the board. "There's a slim chance we could host a regional wrestling. If we host regional wrestling, the college is aware that they'll have to find a different location."
The Kansas State High School Activities Association usually announces regional sites in mid-December. The Lady Cardinal wrestling team hosted a Class 4-1A regional tournament in February 2022. Crowdis said the usual fees for using district facilities would apply to the college.
"It's about $1,000 - a $250 deposit - so we will be charging them to use the facility because they'll have full access to it for pretty much a 24-hour period of time to get that all set up and ready to go and torn down," he said.
The Cougar wrestling team went from eight wrestlers in the 2023-23 season, to 19 wrestlers in Broeckelman's first year with the program last season. Charles Neuman was the lone Cougar to qualify for nationals last year and the team placed ninth at the NJCAA South Central District Championships hosted by BCC in February.