Bearhugger wrote:mscoach134 wrote:Justdeserts wrote:
Rankings don't matter, and nobody is seeding the state tournament (I hope, what a preposterous idea). Rankings are for the entertainment of fans.
They do matter though.... While no one is seeding the state tournament, If i remember correctly last year there was a memo from Mr. Archer that stated that they would separate the #1 and #2 ranked wrestlers in the pill for the 2020 state tournament to help prevent the "state championship in the semi finals" scenario that peopled have griped about over the years.
Can anyone confirm if this is still the case?
YES!! Can somebody go back a year ago and "intercept that memo"?
Could not find it on the home page but was able to find it after digging through the forum for a bit.
"Memo from Coach Bill Archer
Long-time West Virginia State High School Wrestling Tournament director
State Champ, Huntington High School, 1966, 127 lbs
October 1, 2019
Configuration of Bracket Assignments at the State Wrestling Tournament, and other issues
-------------------------------
Here is the way it would be at the current time.
I wrote an article for the West Virginia Wrestler about 25 years ago about seeding the state
tournament. This has been an issue since 1971.
It was voted on to try the alternate pill at state coaches meeting. It was then presented to the
WVSSAC and Coaches Committee in April.
It did not require a principal’s vote because it is a procedure not a rule. No one on the coaches
committee had let anyone know, I guess, because they didn’t want to happen what happened.
Reason for the change:
I get at least two or three coaches every year that get in a two vs one in semis - and they tell me
that we need to do something. The person who started the team score in 1977 (not 1976) may
have picked the wrong year, but was exactly right in content. You certainly don’t want the
random draw giving one team a better chance to score than another.
The Olympics and World Championships used to be a blind draw and the person who would
have been 3rd seed might draw one and two in the first 2 matches and be out. They use a kind
of seeding system now.
The NCAA seeds of course, and regionals are also seeded. It would be completely nuts to not
seed Winner’s Choice, OVAC, WSAZ or any other tournament.
We will use the seeding system that we use in the regionals for the ranking of wrestlers for 1
and 2. It is called a ranking not a seeding because it is not for a position in the bracket -- that is
done by the pill. This is a system used in some cases in other states.
To the best of my knowledge this is how it will be done at this time.
The coaches committee will vote the ranking for the 1 and 2 wrestler. Any coach from any
school if they want to make a case for their wrestler. He can call the area rep on committee to
state their case. You guys are right -- if we could use WV-Mat rankings it would be the best -- so
that after regional adjustments everyone would know what’s happening. It probably won’t be
much different. Some of you would be very surprised to find out how few coaches vote.
The WVSSAC will call and let me know the Pill numbers. I will call WV-Mat so that both pills can
be posted. We will have a group phone call and decide what brackets need the alternate pill.
I do not know if we can get it completed and ready for distribution the next morning because it
depends on where all the coaches are and how many changes are necessary. I believe that it
won’t be as big a problem as many of you think.
Three other issues.
Please don’t use the term bye when referring to the state tournament. The state tournament
rule made way back is that the state is continuation of the regional Tournaments. The unfilled
bracket is considered a forfeit or default and is scored as 4 pts - not as a bye would be scored.
As far as a girl’s state tournament and an individual tournament: We simply need to have more
wrestlers to make it happen. Any of you that have attended the WSAZ knows, we can get
enough mats down and we can do whatever is necessary to make it happen.
I have given this explanation to Jeremy and Wayne. Many of you should try and attend a rules
clinic in your area. You don’t have to be a coach or official to attend.
Get on Win Magazine and support it by getting a subscription. Mike Chapman knows more
about wrestling than anyone in America. If you really want to get into it, try a few of Mike’s
books about Wrestling. Most of his books I have read. Several of you in to weight lifting will like
a few of his stories about bench pressing over 400 pounds while weighing a little over 220.
Thanks for your interest and let’s see how it works out.
Bill Archer"