LETTER: North and south

For decades, Nevada high school wrestling followed a tradition: the state tournament alternated between the north and south to maintain fairness. That tradition has been abandoned.

By sending the 2A, 3A and girls state championships to Fallon, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association is requiring Southern Nevada wrestlers and families to travel north for the third consecutive year. This burden is unnecessary. Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite offered to host the tournament. Mesquite has ample hotel capacity, and Virgin Valley has two gymnasiums ready for a major wrestling event.

So why ignore a qualified southern venue? The answer: money. Northern venues offer facilities at little to no cost to the NIAA. But a “free” venue isn’t free — it shifts the expense onto families who must absorb hundreds of dollars in gas, lodging, meals and lost wages.

This decision also reveals a lack of budget foresight. The NIAA routinely generates six-figure surpluses ($409,584 in 2022 and $123,596 in 2025). Furthermore, after securing free northern venues in back-to-back years, where did those budgeted facility funds go? An organization committed to fairness should bank those savings to offset venue costs in the south.

State championships should bring Nevada’s athletes together — not repeatedly require one half of the state to shoulder the financial burden. The NIAA must stop prioritizing short-term savings over fairness for Southern Nevada families.