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I have read, composed, deleted, composed again my 2 cents regarding the ranking quandary. I totally understand the regional conflict and those great wrestlers who will fall victim to the uneven playing field. But generally speaking on rankings I've concluded...Rankings influence seeding, seeding determines bracket, bracket progression dictates outcome. Any variance to seeding will always affect outcome, maybe not always for the champion but for placers almost every time. Wrestling out an 8 man bracket multiple times with the same wrestlers but different seeding would produce a different order most every time. So in conclusion ranking is very important if used for seeding. This isn't relevant to the topic of regions but an observation I've made over time related to bracket wrestling in general.

P.H.D. wrote:I have read, composed, deleted, composed again my 2 cents regarding the ranking quandary. I totally understand the regional conflict and those great wrestlers who will fall victim to the uneven playing field. But generally speaking on rankings I've concluded...Rankings influence seeding, seeding determines bracket, bracket progression dictates outcome. Any variance to seeding will always affect outcome, maybe not always for the champion but for placers almost every time. Wrestling out an 8 man bracket multiple times with the same wrestlers but different seeding would produce a different order most every time. So in conclusion ranking is very important if used for seeding. This isn't relevant to the topic of regions but an observation I've made over time related to bracket wrestling in general.

The "line" can dictate the results. Well put.

I'm not aware of any tournaments that seed based on ranking. In the end, the seeds may reflect the rankings. However, that is only because at this point in the season most rankings are based on the results of matches actually wrestled, and head to head/common opponents are often the first two seeding criteria for tournaments. The rankings are essentially a seeding process. The same things are examined. But they are limited to what results are actually posted, and with the volume of posted results sometimes a match here or there can be overlooked unless someone points it out.

guard0544 wrote:I'm not aware of any tournaments that seed based on ranking. In the end, the seeds may reflect the rankings. However, that is only because at this point in the season most rankings are based on the results of matches actually wrestled, and head to head/common opponents are often the first two seeding criteria for tournaments. The rankings are essentially a seeding process. The same things are examined. But they are limited to what results are actually posted, and with the volume of posted results sometimes a match here or there can be overlooked unless someone points it out.

P.H.D. did not say tournaments are seeded based on ranking. He merely stated that ranking influence seeding. A higher ranked kid may get the benefit of the doubt for having a bad day and taking a loss whereas a non ranked kid might not. You are right, seeds are not dictated by ranking, that is why there is a seeding meeting or there is established criteria. More often than not though, seeds do not dictate outcome. The line you pick to the semi-finals does however. And we all know that sand bagging is part of the game.

That is why I like the pill for the state tournament. Don't get me wrong, it is far from perfect, but it does leave the human element out of it.