Attend Regionals knowing you will not go to Madison if you qualify

4myboys · March 14, 2013, 10:14:12 AM

Looking for feedback/debate.....I know it's past regionals but for the future.....

Would you encourage a wrestler of your club to attend regionals FULLY aware if they qualify they will not be attending the state tournament in Madison??

Some of the meetings I've been to, the feedback is really to not send them to regionals but find another tournament that day but maybe I'm interrepting it wrong....

Anyone know a guess as to the number of kids that qualify for state that don't actually go?? I think it's a very LOW number...that is why I ask why would you go or encourage a wrestler to go to regionals who has no desire or will not be going to Madison - but I'm looking for reasons why you would???

I would I would be beyond livid if my wrestlers were beat out at regionals by a kid who had no intentions of going to Madison....but looking for all around feedback....

Thank

DocWrestling · March 14, 2013, 10:51:36 AM

I don't see a problem at all with it. Many families might have plans like weddings or vacations over state weekend. Even bigger problem when state is Easter weekend. Not everyone schedules there life around wrestling. Why should the wrestler miss out on the 2nd biggest tourney of the year and the experience and finding out where he sits against others just because his parents/family might have plans or cannot afford it? There are many that enter their kids not expecting them to make it and then they do. I still think the number of kids that qualify and don't attend is quite low. It is about the kids so why should anyone have to be held back out of regionals when they have been working all year. My son did not wrestle at regionals (his choice) but if he would have and qualified he would not have been able to go to state as that Saturday is his mandatory 6 hour field day for hunter safety.

To me the problem is that the WWF should have a policy that states if a wrestler cannot attend, then the next higest place winner FROM THAT REGIONAL takes his place at the state tournament. I don't think anyone would have a problem with it then. That is the way it used to be with freestyle and greco state in qualifying for Northern Plains regional.

Honestly does anyone know how they select the alternates to fill the brackets?

HMsDad · March 14, 2013, 01:00:07 PM

I agree Doc.Regionals is the 2nd biggest and most times the 2nd best tourney in the area.Why not see where you stand compared to other kids?

If my son lost to the kid who wasn't going to go I would in no way be mad.He was the better wrestler.

I do like the idea that the next highest finisher from the regional should get the spot.

padre · March 14, 2013, 01:20:46 PM

I believe you can give your place away on that day. It has happened to us in the past.

Why would you be livid? Your son was not the best in that regional to go. Winning is not everything. We had a kid know he was going to Disney and qualified for state....we told the officials at the awards ceremony and the third place finisher then got a packet to go. Our wrestler's name still got to be on the state t-shirts, etc. In our area if you have a USA card it is possibly never even used until regionals so why wouldn't they go?

In some ways we use wrestling as a tool for the future. Learning the process of high school and wrestling under a bit more pressure than the regular season. This is why anyone attends national events, team duals, etc....preparing them through different avenues for what high school competition will be.

I would still encourage my kids to go....just get everything done at awards ceremony.

DocWrestling · March 14, 2013, 02:49:59 PM

Quote from: padre on March 14, 2013, 01:20:46 PM
I believe you can give your place away on that day. It has happened to us in the past.

Why would you be livid? Your son was not the best in that regional to go. Winning is not everything. We had a kid know he was going to Disney and qualified for state....we told the officials at the awards ceremony and the third place finisher then got a packet to go. Our wrestler's name still got to be on the state t-shirts, etc. In our area if you have a USA card it is possibly never even used until regionals so why wouldn't they go?

In some ways we use wrestling as a tool for the future. Learning the process of high school and wrestling under a bit more pressure than the regular season. This is why anyone attends national events, team duals, etc....preparing them through different avenues for what high school competition will be.

I would still encourage my kids to go....just get everything done at awards ceremony.

Padre, this is not entirely correct as far as I know. As a regionals director, we are told not to give the paperwork to the 3rd place finisher. We are told to still give it to the kid that qualified and they need to notify the WWF as soon as possible if they do not plan on attending. (They may change their mind). They do not need to decide that day. It is my understanding that the spot is filled by an alternate but not necessarily from the same regional but could be a 3rd place finisher from another regional which I do not think is right. I could be mistaken but this is my understanding from what we were told

Greco · March 14, 2013, 03:01:21 PM

Correction:

EMPTY spots are filled by a rotation pick through the other regionals.
1st or 2nd drop outs are filled from their regional.

"We again are going to call 3rd place finishers to fill in empty spots. A system is set up so we rotate through the regionals to see which 3rd place finishers gets asked. Please do not contact the WWF or the regional contact persons, we directly call you if a spot is available and your name comes up through the existing system. If a 1st or 2nd place finisher cannot make the state tournament then the 3rd place finisher from that regional is the alternate and will be contacted."
http://www.wiwrestlingfederation.com/tournament-info/youth-folkstyle-regional/

DocWrestling · March 14, 2013, 09:47:19 PM

Great to hear that is the way it is. So then it does not matter if a kid competes but cannot go

boowrestle · March 14, 2013, 10:12:02 PM

I can recall on a couple occasions thru out my many years of attending youth regionals of witnessing parents imform the regionals at awards that their wrestler would not be attending state and the awards were handed out to 2nd and 3rd place finishers,who went on to represent at state tourney.

littleguy301 · March 15, 2013, 12:34:13 AM

Our club had a wrestlers that started our regional warm up, he bought his USA card and after he did this he found out that he was going to an educational competition for the school so if he would qualify for state he would NOT be able to attend. Not sure if they didn't get the dates of this up front or when the competition and teams for this were chosen. I was informed after a couple of regional practices. This family also put great stock in their child's education with my talking to them.

The parents didn't know quite what to do and they talked to us the coaches about it. We encouraged him to go and after some confo with WWF officials they also encouraged this. He placed second and after that we informed the tournament officials of the situation. The asked why he would not be able to attend and the dad of the wrestler and I both stated because of an education competition. Both officials were very happy for him and wish him well on his education competition. They also stated that he wasn't the only one

My dealing with the officials, I did not find any problem with them about this.

Anybody that qualifies for state is a not given that they will be going. No one can predict a family situation, sickness, injury or so on.

I am all for competition and with regional being the sometimes the biggest competition of the year for some is a good way to find out how good he or she is.

To say that someone shouldn't go to regional because they cannt go to state is pretty bold because anyone at anytime can be beat and to make youth state you have to beat some pretty good kids and nothing is a given.

I figured that is why the wrestle to 4th place for situations like this.

nutman · March 15, 2013, 08:38:59 AM

It still means something to qualify for state, even if you cannot attend. Regionals and state are not always an indication of the best wrestlers. However, they are the events that provide the greatest amount of pain and the greatest amount of excitement because kids have to lay it all on the line. Kids regionals and Kids state mentally prepare wrestlers for high school. Since it means something, they have to perform under pressure. Kids state and regionals will not be the final determining factor to high school success because there are a whole host of factors that will determine that as well. What these tournaments do is "mentally" prepare wrestlers for the big matches they will face by desensitizing them more and more. They need to learn that it is still wrestling; it just happens to be called "Regionals" or "State"

Nobody cannot deny the fact that regionals makes kids put it on the line that day. Win or lose, they will learn something that day. Anyone who misses state by an inch or two will learn that they have to take matters into their own hands if they want something. If little Jimmy goes to regionals and doesn't qualify, it has nothing to do with the fact that little Johnny decided to go to the spelling bee championships instead of state. Hopefully, Jimmy will be better prepared the next time at regionals, and more importantly high school regionals. I do not believe we want to deny a kid the opportunity to experience a pressure situation. Will it make some people mad...sure, but if we always did things to please everyone else where would it get us.

cooch · March 15, 2013, 08:10:34 PM

knew a kid that did this a couple of years. His family always went on vacation in March so, some times he could go to state some times not but, he could always do Regionals. I remember him winning it one year, they handed the state registration over to the third place parent and they threw it back at them and said they didn't want it.

I guess its good for the kid, but not so good for the third place guy.

padre · March 17, 2013, 01:40:50 PM

Quote from: cooch on March 15, 2013, 08:10:34 PM
knew a kid that did this a couple of years. His family always went on vacation in March so, some times he could go to state some times not but, he could always do Regionals. I remember him winning it one year, they handed the state registration over to the third place parent and they threw it back at them and said they didn't want it.

I guess its good for the kid, but not so good for the third place guy.

Plenty of third place people would be happy to have it happen....otherwise they would never fill the braclkets. Guessing almost no one turns it down.

imnofish · March 17, 2013, 08:19:28 PM

Heck, this sometimes happens in high school sports. I remember seeing a high school kid wind the WIAA Sectional once, then not go to state because his family was going on a cruise. The kid was a freshman and (reportedly) the cruise had been booked way in advance, since he wasn't expected to make it to State that year. I've also known of kids who qualified for state in track; then couldn't attend because of a conflict.

Dale Einerson · March 17, 2013, 08:34:00 PM

We did it a few years ago. just informed the folks at the Regional and dropped Jeff Jones an email. Obviously the sooner the better to be more courteous so they can run down the rotation right away.

Had a vacation planned, but kid wanted to wrestle Regionals...

boowrestle · March 18, 2013, 10:29:25 AM

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