MAT CLASSIC SPECIAL SEEDING CRITERIA (updated 1/26/12)
Each year, a draw is conducted in the WIAA office by the Mat Classic Tournament Management Team to determine the regional rotation pattern for that year’s tournament.
Wrestlers who meet the following criteria are eligible for special seeding consideration in Mat Classic, the state championships.
The wrestler:
1. Must be a regional champion in the current year AND;
2. Must have placed 1 through 8 in any WIAA State Championship in Washington State in any weight class, in any previous year AND;
3. Must be one of at least two wrestlers in the weight class who qualify under 1 and 2 above.
In the event the above criteria qualify two or more wrestlers in a weight class the following method of granting special seeding consideration shall be applied. When applying the special consideration, the integrity of the regional rotation pattern shall be maintained.
1. In the event there are only two qualified wrestlers but they are already in opposite half-brackets then no changes shall be made.
2. In the event there are only two qualified wrestlers but in the same half-bracket then a blind draw will determine which of the alternate regional seeding patterns will be applied in order to separate the two wrestlers into opposite half-brackets.
3. In the event there are three qualified wrestlers then;
a. The tournament manager will select the only regional seeding pattern which places the qualified wrestler with the highest returning state place in one half-bracket and the remaining two wrestlers in the opposite half-bracket.
b. In the event of a tie in 3a above, the tournament manager will select the only regional seeding pattern which places the qualified wrestler with the highest returning multiple state places in one half-bracket and the remaining two wrestlers in the opposite half-bracket.
c. In the event of a tie in 3b above, a blind draw will determine the regional seeding pattern that places one wrestler in a solo half-bracket.
4. In the event there are four or more qualified wrestlers then;
a. The tournament manager will select the only regional seeding pattern that places the wrestlers with the two highest returning places in opposite half-brackets.
b. In the event of a tie in 4a above, the tournament manager will select the only regional seeding pattern which places the two wrestlers with the highest multiple state places in opposite half-brackets. If possible to determine highest seeds in order one through 4, they should be paired with 1 and 4 in the same half-bracket and 2 and 3 in the other half-bracket.
5. In the event there are one or more wrestlers who have benefited from seeding consideration who then fail to successfully weigh-in and there also exists a returning state place winner from the same region who finished second in that region in the current year, then the later wrestler shall be rotated to the regional champion’s position in the bracket and shall receive seeding consideration. In the event the affected wrestler is one of three or more qualified wrestlers then procedures 3 and 4 will be applied, as necessary.