State Tournament Qualification Proposal

[Bearhugger]

There are four regions in each class. There are fourteen weight classes. The regions will determine 56 state tournament qualifiers (4 X 14 = 56) for each state tournament.

As of this writing, nobody knows who those 56 state tournament qualifiers will be.

On the other hand, I have compiled rankings routinely for the AA/A weight classes. These rankings have been broken down to the regional level as often as weekly.

Each wrestler has been ranked within the state based on their known performance. As each wrestler is listed within his region, he retains his state ranking. This approach clearly displays how the top five, the top ten, the top 15 and even the top 20 wrestlers are distributed within each region. Some regions possess so much talent, the talent cannot qualify for the state tournament. There are simply more than four highly ranked wrestlers.

On the other hand, the same talent has wrestled for over two months and beat other talent from other regions, thus they are higher ranked.

The current approach for state tournament qualification is easy and convenient. It also does not make an attempt to get the best wrestlers to the state tournament. It is simple a tool to get 16 wrestlers to the state tournament.

The following would be easy to do, no added expense and it is better than what we have:
1 Keep regions based on geography. I understand the need for this.

2 Take the top 3 from each region, no questions asked. The top 3 from each region would be referred to as “The 12 Regional Qualifiers” for the sake of this discussion.

3 All wrestlers that place sixth in their region are out, no questions asked.

4 Wrestlers who place 4th or 5th go under review for the remaining four qualification spots based on cumulative criteria. For the sake of this conversation, we will call all of the 4th and 5th place winners “Wild Cards”. Who does the review, the coaches’ committee in conjunction with the remaining coaches.

5 The suggested cumulative criteria would be: 1 Head-to-head wins over the 12 Regional Qualifiers. 2 Head-to-head wins over the other Wild Cards. 3 Their Regional Tournament winning %. For example, a wrestler placing 5th and going 2&2 is better than a wrestler that places 4th but went 0&2. You should have to win a match in order to qualify for the state tournament. These three criteria would be a start. Whichever wrestlers hit the most criteria, get in. If everybody got on board and organized, this might take a couple of hours.

6 Let’s keep in mind what is already being performed. 1 We have an eleven-to-twelve-day gap from the regional tournaments to the state tournament. 2 The coaches committee already meets after the regional tournaments to discuss and review who are the clear cut #1 and #2 wrestlers in each weight class. The appropriate pill is drawn to separate these two wrestlers. 3 Where a given region has a weight class with only 3 wrestlers; a review is being performed among the other region’s 5th place winners to select who gets in. Also, as scratches occur, the 5th place winners continue to be reviewed and let into the state tournament.

What problems does this proposal solve?

1 It allows for as many as five wrestlers to qualify out of a given region. This would pertain to all regions.
2 It makes an effort to get more of the best wrestlers to the state tournament.
3 It promotes more competition during the season.
4 It rewards schools who participate in more competitive competition. It does not reward programs who stay within 10 miles of their school and/or wrestle 90% of their matches out of state.
5 It rewards the hard work and adversity high level competitors face during the season and does not reward lower performing wrestlers.
6 We would see more worthwhile matches on Thursday night at the state tournament.
7 We would see more worthwhile matches in the quarterfinals on Friday morning.
8 It lessens the sting of being in the historically toughest region.
9 It addresses the small regions in AAA where the amount of schools per region is not equal.
10 It is a baby step toward seeding the state tournament.
11 Unless an approach like this is already taken, this provides West Virginia to become a leader in the sport or wrestling.

Is it a little bit more work? Yes. Everybody expects the kids “to work harder”. I say everybody involved should work harder.

[Bearhugger]

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