by David Tesitor
DENVER — Forget the individual records. Win four; win state. The only seeds at are the winners out of each region. The balance of the seeding is based on several factors. Here is as good explanation.
A previous state title is worth six points to a wrestler; second is worth five; third worth four, and so on down to sixth place which carries a value of one. An athlete who has placed two times at state (say, first and fifth), would get six points for first and two points for fifth for a total of eight points. The higher the points value, the higher the seed.
The next factor is winning percentage. If two wrestlers in the same weight have previously placed, they are prioritized based on winning percentage; the higher percentage the better. If they have the same percentage, their past head-to-head competition is the next deciding factor. If they have never met each other or split for the season, the decision would be made by coin flip.
The top seed in the tourney gets the top position on the bracket. The second one seed gets the very bottom line on the bracket, the third gets the top line on the lower bracket and the fourth one seed gets the bottom line on the top bracket.
The one seeds always wrestle a fourth place person from another region. The two and three seeds from a different region will always compete as well. In each quarter bracket you have a 1-4 and 2-3 match, from different regions.
How do other athletes get placed? After the top number one seeds are placed on the bracket as noted above, the 2, 3, and 4 seeds from different regions are placed in random order on the bracket. Again, the key is that the quarter brackets are comprised of kids from different regions. Every weight will have a different randomized set of athletes so that region one doesn’t consistently take on region four in every weight. This happens for each of the 14 weights.
It is important for the wrestlers to realize they need to wrestle one match a time and to not overlook any opponent. Again, remember, everyone is 0-0 and no one is guaranteed a win over another with a lesser record.
