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The effect of the freestyle qualifiers


Mattyb

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I know that the qualifying for state deal was not received with open arms. But.... this is what I’m seeing. Freestyle state numbers have risen for the first time in a long while (the last couple years). And... I’m seeing some quality freestyle at the locals! Is it just me? Anybody else seeing better freestyle matches this season? 

Also... great job by the ISWA for allowing other tournaments count as qualifiers. 

Freestyle is making a comeback here.

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40 minutes ago, Y2CJ41 said:

It is all based on the area of the state you are in. The Indy area is great, but the northern part of the state is not doing as well.

Seems that way. Some clubs up there need to get on the weekday tourneys!!! They are awesome. Been seeing 50 to 150 kids get two or three solid matches in a couple hours. It’s awesome! I see this much like the duals at the elementary level. Both are very good products that are cost effective and convenient for families.  

Went to Red Cobra on Friday. Bout 80 kids. Several youth hammers and several high school state placers there. Mark Durham running track. JD Minch and Zach Errett reffing. $10 entry fee. Two full mats. Nice medals for the kids (not expected but really cool). Weighins from 5 to 5:30. Everyone got 2 to 4 matches and was done by 9. Can’t beat it. This is what the people want. 

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I do not understand why the wrestler has to compete in the tournament.  I had a wrestler pay his entry fee, but was sick the day of the event and was not able to go.  Since he did not wrestle it does not count as a qualifier even though the club still benefited because they received my wrestlers money.

I also agree with Y2...  Certain regions of the state have a lot more opportunities than other regions.  

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6 hours ago, Mattyb said:

Seems that way. Some clubs up there need to get on the weekday tourneys!!! They are awesome. Been seeing 50 to 150 kids get two or three solid matches in a couple hours. It’s awesome! I see this much like the duals at the elementary level. Both are very good products that are cost effective and convenient for families.  

I was skeptical about the weekday tournament before, but most have turned out pretty well.  It hasn't been too much different than attending many of the Saturday events where you normally get 3-4 wrestlers in your weight class anyway.  And now that they have become more advertised thing rather than a couple clubs trying to just sneak in an event at the last minute for their own kids to qualify, I think most people appreciate that additional option weekday events provides.  

If anyone in the central or southern part of the state (or the north if you want to make the drive) still needs to get another qualifier in,  Seymour is hosting a weekday tournament this Wednesday.   We had a pretty solid turnout last year for our first time hosting this type of weekday event.  Almost everyone got at least 3 matches in, everyone wrestled on full mats, we were out the door at a decent time, and you get to be in the newly crowned largest high school gym (according to permanent seating calculations).  

 

Edited by MattM
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1 hour ago, AJ said:

I do not understand why the wrestler has to compete in the tournament.  I had a wrestler pay his entry fee, but was sick the day of the event and was not able to go.  Since he did not wrestle it does not count as a qualifier even though the club still benefited because they received my wrestlers money.

I also agree with Y2...  Certain regions of the state have a lot more opportunities than other regions.  

Again, I know that people don't like it and do understand to the why. My point was that I have personally seen some better wrestling and numbers are up. With that said... when the whole thing was put in place, I am sure that the weeknight deal was not in anybody's mind. As the result of trying to get the qualifiers in, we are now getting great mini tournaments and freeing up some of our weekends. I see better freestyle and enjoyed my Easter a bit more. Just saying, I'm seeing good stuff.   

Edited by Mattyb
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Without a few weekday options, my son would have had to turn down some really good opportunities to wrestle on some weekends to make sure he got his freestyle qualifiers in.  He wrestled at the Warren Central Wednesday Rumble and had 3 or 4 matches.   It is tough for us being from up North and driving to Indy but we got to get them qualifiers in. See you all at Freestyle State!!

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The best way to help increase the local tournament attendance is to incentivize it. If you go to one local even your freestyle state cost is reduced by $X, two events it is reduced by $Y, and so on. 

With spring breaks(some being two weeks long now), nice weather, maybe other sports, etc families make the decision to attend freestyle state in January or sooner. How much more would attendance increase if they didn't have to worry about driving to Indy twice during the week to get qualifiers in? 

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1 hour ago, bwoodjc89 said:

Would it help if one of your required qualifiers had to be in your section? I'm guessing that would be relatively tough to track and I'm not sure how much it would help. Just a thought.

Really don’t think track is necessary. Weigh em in, block em up, and roll. Don’t even need a clock. I’ve been to ones with a guy with an iPhone and a score keeper with a pad of paper. Just as good wrestling there! 

Couple people pairing and sending them to the first available surface. A ref, clock guy, and scorer at the mat. Keep em rolling til the matches run out. Simple! 

You can also make a quick $1000 to $2000 for your club in a random Wednesday night. 

Bruce... you could host a couple a season????

Edited by Mattyb
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9 hours ago, Mattyb said:

Really don’t think track is necessary. Weigh em in, block em up, and roll. Don’t even need a clock. I’ve been to ones with a guy with an iPhone and a score keeper with a pad of paper. Just as good wrestling there! 

Couple people pairing and sending them to the first available surface. A ref, clock guy, and scorer at the mat. Keep em rolling til the matches run out. Simple! 

You can also make a quick $1000 to $2000 for your club in a random Wednesday night. 

Bruce... you could host a couple a season????

We are planning on doing at least one next year.

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22 hours ago, Mattyb said:

Seems that way. Some clubs up there need to get on the weekday tourneys!!! They are awesome. Been seeing 50 to 150 kids get two or three solid matches in a couple hours. It’s awesome! I see this much like the duals at the elementary level. Both are very good products that are cost effective and convenient for families.  

Went to Red Cobra on Friday. Bout 80 kids. Several youth hammers and several high school state placers there. Mark Durham running track. JD Minch and Zach Errett reffing. $10 entry fee. Two full mats. Nice medals for the kids (not expected but really cool). Weighins from 5 to 5:30. Everyone got 2 to 4 matches and was done by 9. Can’t beat it. This is what the people want. 

Yes!  Especially considering there are big national opportunities this time of year.  The other one we went to was St Roch last Tues. 

Quick in and out, two matches.  Run very efficiently. 

Would like to see one of these on the Northside of Indy!!

 

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My son wrestled at St Roch and I thought that it was a good way to get matches in. Walk in, pay $10, get a couple of matches in, go home in a couple of hours.  Maybe that’s the answer to the question that we’ve been all been asking about getting more involved in folkstyle.  Maybe we need more weekday tournaments that can get families in and out.  No frills, nothing fancy, just two wrestlers getting after it.  I’d also like to see a mix of freestyle tournaments during folkstlye season. 

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Didn't make much sense to me that Heartland Duals (Folkstyle) and USAW Folkstyle Nationals counted as a qualifier but the UWW 15U Freestyle Trials in Omaha didn't count (even though the UWW Junior Nationals counted as did the UWW Cadet Pan Am Trials a.k.a. FloNationals).  Sent several emails and text messages back and forth to @dstruck on this, who said he agreed and would follow up with me on this after he spoke with the ISWA, but he quit responding to my requests.  Any good reason from anyone in the know with the ISWA that this event didn't count?

Edited by BrokenTowelRack
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5 minutes ago, BrokenTowelRack said:

Didn't make much sense to me that Heartland Duals (Folkstyle) and USAW Folkstyle Nationals counted as a qualifier but the UWW 15U Freestyle Trials in Omaha didn't count (even though the UWW Junior Trials counted as did the UWW Cadet Pan Am Trials).  Sent several emails and text messages back and forth to @dstruck on this, who said he agreed and would follow up with me on this after he spoke with the ISWA, but he quit responding to my requests.  Any good reason from anyone in the know with the ISWA that this event didn't count?

Hit up @Davistein

Seems to be a legit request. 

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IMO.... any USAW or UWW sanctioned event should count as a qualifier. I think the rule was put into place to ensure our wrestlers were training and actually learning freestyle. Hats off to the kids that went other national regional events and to any UWW events. It would be a shame if any of these kids were left out of state. For being short on qualifiers. 

Edited by Mattyb
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The UWW should have counted. I believe if you represent your state on a National level...it should count. 

Just my opinion, but qualifiers where you are lucky to get a match isn’t bringing the numbers up. I believe it is the exposure of the sport via Flo, Track etc. 

 

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7 hours ago, Blumafia said:

The UWW should have counted. I believe if you represent your state on a National level...it should count. 

Just my opinion, but qualifiers where you are lucky to get a match isn’t bringing the numbers up. I believe it is the exposure of the sport via Flo, Track etc. 

 

100 percent. I was actually on the board when we passed the qualifier requirements. And yes... I voted for it. Free style was dying here and we needed to do something. It was worth a shot (in my mind). The rule was passed to encourage kids to wrestle freestyle. It was NOT a money grab. 

If a kid trains enough freestyle that they feel that they can do UWW then that kid absolutely has put the work In and deserves to wrestle at our state tourney. Absolutely should count. 

The spirt of the rule was to get kids to the come back to freestyle by encouraging more freestyle participation, not to exclude kids. Especially kids that are doing national freestyle events. With that said, it is good to support local freestyle also. 

Edited by Mattyb
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