MUSKEGO — Parents of student athletes qualifying for the Wisconsin state wrestling tournament say they were left scrambling for tickets after the event sold out before both qualifying rounds were complete.
Steve Smith's face lights up every time he talks about his stepson, Carson, on the wrestling mat.
Carson, a junior at Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High School, qualified for state last weekend. But when the Smiths went to look for tickets, they hit a wall.
"All the tickets were sold out already; we had no chance, at least we didn't think we'd even be able to watch him wrestle at state," Smith said.
Smith quickly turned to Facebook to try to find second-hand tickets.
"I was one of hundreds of people looking for tickets, so every time I posted, I was looking for tickets. I got ten comments on my post also looking for tickets. Nobody had any for sale," Smith said.
Watch: Parents upset at WIAA wrestling ticket process after a quick sellout, they are now asking for change
He was not alone.
Susan Peterson's daughter, Sophia, wrestles for Muskego. After Sophia qualified on Saturday, Peterson ran into the same problem.
"As a parent that has a senior and in a situation like this, you never know when it's going to be their last opportunity," Peterson said.
Both eventually secured tickets — Smith through Carson's coach and Peterson through a second-hand market — but both say the process needs to change.
According to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, the ticketing process has remained the same for over a decade.
Member schools get the first opportunity to purchase as many tickets as they need in January. Next in line are the WIAA Wrestling tournament's annual ticket holders, of which there are about 6,000.
General public tickets went on sale Feb. 10 before the boys state qualifier on Feb. 14 and the girls qualifier on Feb. 21. The WIAA says the tournament sold out fully on Monday, Feb. 23, after both qualifiers were complete.
TMJ4's Brendyn Jones spoke with WIAA Director Stephanie Hauser by phone on Wednesday night. She said her office reached out to all schools on Monday to help facilitate tickets for any parents who were left out, and that the WIAA has accommodated the requests it has received.
Hauser also said the WIAA reviews how it can improve all aspects of the tournament each year.
"That is absolutely something we'll be talking about post-season with that advisory group and talk about if there is a better way to streamline tickets that end up not being used. That's a really fair concern, and I hear that, and that's something we'll specifically talk about," Hauser said.
Hauser was clear: if family members are still without tickets for the tournament, they should reach out to their wrestling coach, who can work to secure more through the WIAA directly.
Peterson decided to take matters into her own hands, creating a Google Form to connect people with unused tickets to families who still need them. As of Wednesday night, she had received over 60 responses.
"I think in the future it just would be nice if they reserved a section of seating that was specifically for the families and held those tickets until all of the kids qualified and then offered schools and teams the opportunity to purchase them," Peterson said.
You can find that Google Form on Peterson's facebook page.
This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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