Last year the Middle School wrestlers kinda got left out as far as seeding them goes. In Middle school, the kids are lucky to have 12 to 15 mathes all season, including tournaments. If a youngster wrestles little league all season, they are apt to have in upwards of thirty+ matches. Is there going to be ANY difference this year? Have there been any adjustments at all? Thank you for any responses.

I don't know how seeding works exactly, but what you are describing would definitely make it difficult to know how to rate the wrestlers from middle school. But I would say someone like Jared Hensley winner of three State tournaments or Marvio Tischhauser winner of six straight State tournaments should have no trouble with seeding. But those are obvious exceptions. There may be some worthy new middle school wrestlers with no previous State track record but they will probably be out of luck. I would imagine good results from the big Kids tournaments like Salina, Topeka, Maize, Wichita-Park City, Tulsa, Liberty Nationals etc. will be given more consideration during seeding. You are meeting wrestlers from all over at those tournaments. Another stumbling block for 8th graders is that I have heard that high school freshman normally get the nod in seeding decisions over 8th grade Kids records.

I saw this last year at district - the high school boy was seeded higher than the middle school boy due. The coaches reasoning was that the HS boy had been wrestling Juniors and Seniors at the varsity level. Both were good wrestlers and I would have liked to see the two of them go head to head.

What about a MS wrestler that did Kids Wrestling before or after MS. My son is now competing in Middle School wrestling, but did Kids up to the time Middle School wrestling started. He had a 16-3 Kids record and thus far has a 2-0 Middle School record. Will they be combined into one record, kept separate, or will his MS record not count toward seeding? If HS freshman are getting the nod over 8th graders than shouldn't the same go for 7th graders wrestling 12U that have wrestled 8th graders in MS?

And does it matter in the end, aren't the best wrestlers going to come out on top when all is said and done?

Seeding always boils down to the coach and how strong an argument he/she is able to make for the kid's placement. If the HS record is comparable to the MS record then I believe the HS student will get the higher seeding. If the MS record is stronger then the coach should put up an argument. And you're right - the best kid should prevail no matter where they're placed on the bracket.

Seeding criteria is established at all Sub-district seeding meetings. There are no guidelines or recommendations established by the USAWA Kansas Kids governing body. If you have questions regarding seeding in your district, direct your questions to your club director and / or sub-district director.

Generally, rank has its privilege in seeding meetings. If two wrestlers have similar records, and have no head to head match history, or common opponent history, and one wrestler is at the top end of the age group, and the other at the bottom end, the older wrestler gets the benefit of the doubt.

The purpose of the seeding is to separate the best wrestlers to opposite sides of the bracket.

My personal theory is to seed the top four (4) only and randomly draw the remainder of the bracket. This method eliminates the manipulation of many coaches (fathers) when faced with the choice of a five (5) seed and a six (6) seed for their wrestler, etc. The five (5) seed goes to the same side of the bracket as the one (1) seed. The six (6) seed to the same side as the two (2) seed.

A sixteen (16) man bracket is seeded in the following manner:

Top half:
1 vs. 16
9 vs. 8
5 vs. 12
13 vs. 4
Bottom half:
3 vs. 14
11 vs. 6
7 vs. 10
15 vs. 2

An eight (8)man bracket is seeded in the following manner:
1 vs. 8
5 vs. 4
3 vs. 6
7 vs. 2

Do all Missouri tournament results count for seeding purposes? Also, what is the purpose of sending in ratings with your sub-district entry when the ratings will change with 2 tournaments left before subs?

you have to have a cut off sometime to let the districts get everything prepared. All the ratings do is give you a starting point. If my kid is rated a 5 and your kid a 3 but your kid has beaten mine, your kid should get seeded higher. The key is knowing who within your sub your kids have won and lost to. Our club keeps record books that the parents are responsible for recording each tournament. We know before we go to the seeded meeting who within the sub our kids have beaten and lost to. We generally have very few issues getting out kids where they should be. We have one coach that studies the younger kids and one the older. It's really not that tough we just have a sheet for each kid and when they get to his/her weight you listen for the name they call out to be seeded and check the listing to see if we have beaten or lost to them.

I hope this helps,

Twister