Kids Wrestling Tournaments

[tyben]

Not sure if people ever put out polls so tournament organizers can plan around what is most desired by parents and coaches.  As a parent of a couple wrestlers and a coach of many others, I find myself running through all the tournaments to see how they are matching up kids so not to create a bad experience for beginners or a waste of time for the experienced kids.

[bulldog]

I prefer to only have "Beginner" as the option...that let's the kids that are just starting have a shot a wresting others and the other categories are so subjective. Even years of experience is subjective. I have seen kids take to the sport quick and other slower to "mature". Most tournaments try to work with you if you have a "stud" and try to find matches that will test those kids if you let them know you are coming. What I do prefer is "Birth Year" over "Grade in school"

[HMsDad]

It all comes down to the parents being honest. We were at a tourney this season and listen to a dad tell his kid he put him at average instead of state qualifier because even though he had been to state twice before he did not go the year before.  We ask on our tourney for if wrestler is beginner,average or good. I have seen one where it asked your childs average tourney finish 1,2,3 or 4.

[BlackandGold]

Not sure how much the skill category is factored into Trackwrestlings bracketing algorithm.  Last weekend our club had a multiple state champion bracketed in a 4 man with 3 beginner's (registered as Excellent), and another from our club that is the same Age and Weight as the state champ, that is good but hasn't qualified for state (registered as Good) bracketed in a 4 man with 3 state qualifier's.

[cooch]

I am liking more and more the question of on average what does your child place 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th question.

Honestly some parents just don't know.  I talked to a parent who's 3nd grader won 4 out of his first 7 tournaments, 2nd in two and 3rd in his very first tournament and was still putting him down as beginner. (yes I track-stalked him, after talking to the dad I got his nontrack tournament info)  I watched him pin his way through a tournament, none of his matches made it past the first period.  I asked the dad why he was signing him up as a beginner.  He said well, he just started wrestling last year, what am I supposed to sign him up as?

You will always have dishonest parents, but some times is just ignorance.

[cooch]

the kid was a young wrestler.  There is no perfect solution.

[tyben]

I think when picking the best ranking system you always have to assume parents are going to be honest.  I do like the beginner, average, good and excellent ratings with the assumption that each rating can wrestle one higher or one lower if need be. 

[cooch]

the kid was a young wrestler.  There is no perfect solution.

Yeah I wouldn't worry then. He is most likely a beginner level wrestler but showing some natural talent.

oh totally agree with that. 

I am just saying if your asking a parent to rank their own kid, there is bias of opinion there. If you say what place does he normally take? Your looking for facts.  And I know youth wrestling has its odd and even years so, you go up and down. Nobody wants to say well my kids been wrestling for four years and is a beginner because he usually places 3rd or 4th.  They are going to rank them as Average and then they get stuck with the excellent kids and he gets pinned all three matches. 

In the end four options is better if you have the numbers in the tournament to back that up.  Everyone has seen that elite kid get stuck with three beginners because of weight. So, if its Beginner, Average, Good, Excellent or does your wrestler usually place 1, 2, 3, or 4? Your going to get the same break down on the brackets.

[beastmode]

What qualifies a kid as "good"? Making it to state? Placing at state? What qualifies them as "excellent"? Winning state or maybe placing nationally... I personally believe a good wrestler qualifies for state and maybe places. An excellent wrestler wins state or places nationally. Anyone else have thoughts?

[foose4]

What qualifies a kid as "good"? Making it to state? Placing at state? What qualifies them as "excellent"? Winning state or maybe placing nationally... I personally believe a good wrestler qualifies for state and maybe places. An excellent wrestler wins state or places nationally. Anyone else have thoughts?

Above is why I feel it's best to do this

Beginner - New to wrestling
Experienced - Usually places 2nd to 4th
Experienced - Usually places 1st to 2nd
Experienced - State Qualifier
Experienced - State Placewinner

That leaves no open judgement as to average, good or excellent.  Circle the proper one and the bracket room can use how they see fit.

Just as important to ranking by parents is HOW they are used in the bracket room.  If they are not used to separate kids then don't even bother asking.

Best thing to do is make sure you have parents/coaches who know wrestlers in the bracket room.  We make sure to have 2-3 parents/coaches in each age group that know wrestlers from both the area and state wide so you can make the best possible match ups, both for state placewinner level kids and 2nd-4th place in regular tournament kids.

[padre]

We actually spend 3-4 hours the night before the tournament to make sure everyone is in the appropriate bracket.  We have not had much success with track being close.

http://www.wiwrestling.com/2014/events/bflyerjan/1314WittenbergBirnamwoodJan26_2014.doc

[nutman]

When using trackwrestling for tournaments.  The brackets are much more accurate when beginners are bracketed together first and then bracket the rest after they are gone.  The test site works really well for this.  I have spent hours trying to get the brackets just right (based on wrestlers' previous performances.) In order to separate beginners, the administrator has to create a whole new 'beginner' division, re-class,  and then move then move them back to one division later. (OR create separate divisions as an option during the preregistration process) I'm sure this seems like a lot of work, but I will tell you that once I started doing this that it saved time in the long run, and there was much more parody in the brackets. (There is always the risk that parents or coaches list an athlete as a beginner, but that is very rare...and typically people have their reasons).  ...not an expert, but just one more perspective.

[beastmode]

What qualifies a kid as "good"? Making it to state? Placing at state? What qualifies them as "excellent"? Winning state or maybe placing nationally... I personally believe a good wrestler qualifies for state and maybe places. An excellent wrestler wins state or places nationally. Anyone else have thoughts?

Above is why I feel it's best to do this

Beginner - New to wrestling
Experienced - Usually places 2nd to 4th
Experienced - Usually places 1st to 2nd
Experienced - State Qualifier
Experienced - State Placewinner

That leaves no open judgement as to average, good or excellent.  Circle the proper one and the bracket room can use how they see fit.

Just as important to ranking by parents is HOW they are used in the bracket room.  If they are not used to separate kids then don't even bother asking.

Best thing to do is make sure you have parents/coaches who know wrestlers in the bracket room.  We make sure to have 2-3 parents/coaches in each age group that know wrestlers from both the area and state wide so you can make the best possible match ups, both for state placewinner level kids and 2nd-4th place in regular tournament kids.

I like this!

[Say-Say]

I wish the chart had the explanation alongside it. I don't think parents always know when they register their kid.

[MHSfan]

It's hard enough to bracket kids close in weight, same schools and same name, especially if you have a small pool. We had 425 kids this wind and still had only 4 or 3 kids in some weights not taking experience into acct. We had good competitive brackets but only because parents of better kids come and let us know who is good and who is not. The parents of good kids seek out other kids at the same level. People downplaying there kids ability is rare. Most dad's want to brag.