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Topic #4A: Injured or ineligible Q: Are good wrestlers that are injured or procedurally ineligible factored in to the scoring process? --Yes, if a 4A, 3A, or 2A underclassman reached at least semi-state last year and misses the state tournament series this year due to injury or due to being procedurally ineligible (i.e. transfer rules), their previous year's score is factored into their team's score for this year. The same is true in 1A for any underclassman that reached at least regional last year. Q: Why aren't additional injuries considered? --Unfortunately, injuries are a part of wrestling and the qualification process involves some luck. It would be impossible to consider all injury situations and this is where the committee has voted to draw the line so that there is a balance between genuine competition and the predictive scoring process. Topic #4B: "Those scores don't seem fair" (responses to questions about perplexing scores during the qualification process) Q: Why does an average level team have a similar score to a top-level team after sectional or regional? --All that is measured after sectional is placement in the top 6 and qualification for regional. There is no difference between a sectional 4th place guy and a sectional 1st place guy at this point. Plus, recall that underclassmen score more than seniors. Also, in 4A and 3A specifically, the biggest scoring doesn't happen for top teams until semi-state. For these reasons, a lesser team with many underclassmen advancing to regional can have a score in line with top teams the first week or two of the tournament. Q: At what point in the individual tournament series do the qualifying scores become meaningful? --In 1A, scores are quite meaningful after sectional already. There will be some further shuffling after regional, but contenders will have already put themselves in position. Positions will then be mostly decided after regional in 1A. --In 2A, scores are somewhat meaningful after sectional, much more meaningful after regional, and further finalized after semi-state. --In 3A and 4A, scores are largely meaningless after sectional. The list of contenders will be clearer after regional. However, the biggest weekend in these classes is not until semi-state. We won't really know the cream of the crop until then. Q: Why does a team that we beat during the season have a higher score than my team? (several possible answers) --It may be too early in the state tournament series to fairly evaluate scores (see previous 2 questions' answers). --The team you beat during the season may have more underclassmen coming back and their tournament performance suggests they are expected to be better than you next year. If a team is at a similar level to you this year and has 3 or 4 more starters returning than you, there is a high probability they will be better than you next year and the qualifying scores should reflect that. --THE QUALIFICATION PROCESS IS A COMPETITION. Just as during the season, you have to earn the points you get. Upsets, injuries, underperformance, and bad draws can all have a negative impact, while a strong performance can slot you higher than people might expect.

Here is the final Team State qualification leaderboard for 2024. Teams highlighted have earned automatic bids into the event next year. That's the 3 best semi-state winners plus the next 3 best scores in 4A and all 4 semi-state winners plus the next 4 best scores in 1A, 2A, and 3A. (Note: The final 2A spot came down to the 3rd tiebreaker (most underclass ticket rounders) after points, most underclassmen, and most underclass state qualifiers were equal.) The final 2 berths in 4A and the final 4 berths in 1A, 2A, and 3A will be voted on in December. Teams with a star (*) next to their school name had injury points added in. File with all 4 weeks' updates plus enrollment and classification numbers: Team State Classification & Leaderboard 2024.xlsx Image of the final leaderboard (click on it multiple times to zoom in):

Here is the 2024 Team State Qualification Procedures doc, which includes injury reporting instructions and Category levels for all sectional and regional sites. Additionally, two significant changes to qualification are outlined in the document: 1. Class 3A will now permanently have 12 participants rather than its previous total of 8. 2. Classes 3A, 2A, and 1A will now have its final 4 wildcards (slots 9 through 12) determined by IN-SEASON voting in December. Previously only the final 2 wildcards were chosen by in-season voting. (note: 4A will continue to have 8 participants and 2 vote-in spots from its much smaller class of about 32 to 34 teams.) IHSWCA Team State Duals Qualification Procedures 2024.pdf Finally, here are links to all of the most common questions about the process: General Qualification and Scoring Process: Team Classification: Controlling for Sectional and Regional Difficulty: Injuries and "Those scores don't seem fair" situations:

Here are the Team State Leaderboards through Sectional. I wrote in another thread. Two of us that do a lot of this are traveling and we're behind. About half of these scores have only been tallied by one person and have not been cross-checked for correctness. We will be much more "official" after regional. Also, these enrollment numbers are Department of Education numbers. They will remain unofficial until state finals weekend. If the IHSAA does its biannual enrollment/classification release by the state finals, we will use that data instead. If not, these numbers will stand because we are at the end of the 2-year cycle, and we want to use up-to-date data. Remember, in 1A these scores already matter very significantly because it's much tougher to score from here on out in that class. In 2A, scores mean something now, but teams with many kids left can still make big jumps. Scores after sectional for 4A and 3A mean virtually nothing. You need most of your team to semi-state to get one of the automatic 8 spots in 3A, and you need most of your team to the ticket round and state for one of the 6 auto bids in 4A. Here's a file with a Leaderboard tab and a Classification/Enrollment tab: Team State Classification & Leaderboard 2024.xlsx Or, you can simply click a few times to zoom in this image on most formats and the leaderboards and enrollment numbers are both there.

These are mostly finals predictions but I will also include a top 4. Of note, I do not know how the seeds will play out so some of these predictions may end up being impossible due to seeds on Saturday. 106: I may have a Lake Central bias, but I can’t see anyone other than Mason winning it this weekend. He has been dominant on the year and is looking to double up on both his last years title and his most pins least time award. Apart from him, I’ll have to trust the rankings and say Bishop Noll’s Rodriguez will make the finals. While he hasn’t had a huge public match slate on the year, he did outplace Crown Point’s Newell at the Carnahan and is a returning SS qualifier. That being said, give me Mason by fall. 1. Mason Jones (LC) 2. Francisco Rodriguez (BN) 3. Nash Burke (Munster) 4. Joy Cantu (Mvill) 113: Again, I’m going to have to go with my former teammate and returning County champion Mario here. Coming off a placement at the prestigious Al Smith featuring some quality wins, I can only see him doubling his county 1st medals. In terms of finals opponents I’d say the slate is wide open here. Highland’s Ramirez is a returning SS qualifier with a mixed bag of results on the season, but has some experience. Crown Point backup Griffin Webber is registered for both team state and County, but I would say he is my most likely favorite for second place here. He has an IHPO win over SS qualifier MaKenzie Smith and has the advantage of Crown Points deep room for training. Ultimately, I’ll take Mario over Webber in finals by major or fall. 1. Mario Orueta (LC) 2. Griffin Webber (CP) 3. Angel Ramirez (High) 4. Aiden Schiedt (RF) 120: The highest ranked kid at this weight is Lowell’s Hunter Mallory, however I am not confident in calling him a favorite. Rather, I think this is a wide open weight class with a variety of challengers. With my LC bias in tact, I think the favorite at this weight is actually LC’s Ryan Bos. Bos picked up two huge wins at the Al Smith before finishing in the blood round, with one of these wins being over FWSS #2 Faurote (Belmont) 2-0. Bos is also a senior with a lot of experience under his belt, and will likely be siginficantly under seeded coming into this weekend. Apart from these two, Munster’s Petrashevich and Hanover Central’s Buikema are also looking to stake claims at the title. Buikema holds a close win over Bos earlier this year and Petrashevich has plenty of matches under his belt this season. With this tough weight class, I feel it’s hard to predict how seeds will play out, but I’m going to say Bos will take it over Mallory in a close decision in the finals. 1. Ryan Bos (Lake Central) 2. Hunter Mallory (Lowell) 3. Isaiah Buikema (Hanover) 4. Christian Petrashevich (Munster) 126: This is a weight class with a much more clear cut favorite, as I don’t see Matthew Maldonado being challenged too much on his way to a career first county title. Outside of Maldonado, I think this weight class has a bit of depth led by SS qualifiers Zach Kenney (Griffith), Alex Vega (LS), and Andrew Williams (Cal). Kenney holds a 1-0 win over Vega this year and from what I have seen is pretty impressive on top. Of note however, I’d like to highlight Lake Central’s Derian Perez. While he doesn’t have a great record coming in, he does have some close matches with Hobart’s #20 Mara in which he notched quite a few takedowns. He has a great gas tank and when he fires on all cylinders, he can compete with some high level wrestlers. I’ll take Maldonado by fall or tech over Kenney in the finals. 1. Matthew Maldonado (Mvill) 2. Zach Kenney (Griffith) 3. Alex Vega (LS) 4. Derian Perez (LC) OR Andrew Williams (Cal) 132: At 132, I feel Guillermo will be unchallenged on his route to a second county title. Guillermo has qualified for state twice and has looked phenomenal this season with many ranked wins, highlighted by his win in the Al Smith third place match over state medalist Fielden (Garrett). He will look to notch a few bonus point wins for LC as he takes the title. As for his opponent, I find it most likely he will face SS qualifier Robson (Lowell), however I will still take Guillermo here by tech or fall. 1. Guillermo Rivera (LC) 2. Dalton Robson (Lowell) 3. Devane Strong (Cal) 4. Michael Turner (RF) 138: Another open weight class, 138 features a few contenders here. First is returning runner up and Semi state ticket rounder Robert Frazier (Calumet), who last year head-locked David Maldonado to his back in the finals before eventually losing. He has had good results in the past and is likely the safest bet here. Apart from Frazier, Griffith’s Westenfeld is another SS qualifier who has looked solid on the year. Of note, Highland’s Vanek is listed in the seeding matrix as being a SS qualifier, however he did only make it on technicality due to an injury within his regional bracket. For this reason, I don’t think I would consider him a finals threat. LC’s Aiden Gutierrez here has a decent record along with a close match against Westenfeld at the Harvest. Aiden is a guy who definitely wrestles the whole six minutes and I think has the potential for a finals run as well. 1. Frazier (Cal) 2. Westenfeld (Griffith) 3. Gutierrez (LC) 4. Vanek (Highland) 144: Merrillville’s Kirksy is definitely the favorite here, being a returning ticket rounder and looking to improve off his runner up finish a year ago. He’s an impressive wrestler with a strong neutral offense and tough top wrestling. For his finals opponent, while no one else in this field holds a SS qualification, I would say LC’s CJ Briner is the most likely to make the finals. While his record is worse than a few of the other contenders he is the only other ranked wrestler here and has a lot of tough matches on the year, and I think his experience and skill separates him from the rest of the field here. In the finals I’ll take Kirsky by decision but CJ can’t be ruled out for the upset here. 1. Marlone Kirksy (Mvill) 2. CJ Briner (LC) 3. Edwin Galan (RF) 4. Tyler Tuesberg (KV) 150: With 2022 State qualifier Chris Bohn’s cut back down to 150, I would say he’s the on paper favorite here at 150. That being said, I think Chase Kasprzak (LC) is the guy at this weight. Despite having to injury forfeit out of the Al Smith 5th place match, he took Penn’s Harper to the edge (and probably should’ve won if not for a few poor stall calls). Chase has a top class neutral game and has unreal strength for his weight. Apart from these two, I think Illiana’s Ulrich is a tough guy with a lot of potential, however I can’t see him catching the two titans here in Chase and Bohn. In the finals I’ll take Chase by decision. 1. Chase Kasprzak (LC) 2. Chris Bohn (Munster) 3. Carson Ulrich (Illiana Christian) 4. Daniel Carrillo (Highland) 157: I think Merrillville’s Pellot definitely owns this weight here as he hunts for his third county title. Coming off a fiery Al Smith performance where he upset former #1 ranked Betz (Western), I can’t see him taking a loss here at County. He’s a highly technical wrestler with clean takedowns and a bottomless gas tank. Apart from Pellot, I would say SS ticket rounder Sessions (KV) is likely to be his finals opponent here. Sessions is a tough wrestler who I think is above the rest of the field here, but Pellot is just at that next level. I’ll take Pellot here by fall. 1. Adrian Pellot (Mvill) 2. Noah Sessions (KV) 3. Tino Garcia (LC) 4. Joseph Bartusiak (Munster) 165: Another fun weight class, 165 features two Al Smith placers and a 2022 SS qualifier as the front runners for a title. Lowell’s Mavros is coming off a sixth place finish at the Al Smith, and is definitely looking impressive tjis year. He has a handful of high quality wins and losses to his name, and has clearly jumped levels (as well as adding some serious bulk) from last year. LC’s Emilio Tirado placed 8th at the Al Smith and notched three ranked wins on day one to take that honor, two of those coming over ticket rounders. His record doesn’t reflect his skill, as Emilio combines incredible physical ability with a savvy and aggressive style. This being said, Highland’s Sopkowski does hold an 8-6 win over Emilio earlier this year. Sopkowski is a guy who was a SS qualifier in 2022, but then disappeared after the Harvest Classic last year. However, this year he returned and has looked solid all season. He has great reattacks and has the muscle to compete with Mavros and Tirado as well. That being said, I think Tirado gets the rematch win over Sopkowski and battles it out with Mavros in the finals. Previous results are going to have me pick Mavros by decision here, but both Emilio and Sopkowski can’t be ruled out. 1. Michael Mavros (Lowell) 2. Emilio Tirado (LC) 3. Hunter Sopkowski (Highland) 4. Gage Bambic (Illiana Christian) 175: 175 is a tough one for me here as the favorite is the guy who knocked me out at semi state last year. However, Merrillville’s Cameron Crisp is absolutely the guy at this weight. He’s incredibly powerful and fast, and has a deep bag of tricks to go along with it. He’s an all around great wrestler and a guy who I think is a medal threat at state this year. For his finals opponent, only one name really stands out to me. The guy is my former teammate Matthew Degrado (LC). Matthew is a guy who put in a lot of off season work, and after we was knocked out at regionals last year (already bumping up two weights) placed at frosh soph and ISWA. He has only wrestled at the Al Smith this year where he made the blood round, but he’s a guy who keeps going and pushing the pace so I’d pencil him in as the other finalist. That being said, I’m sorry and I hope you prove me wrong Matthew but I have to take Crisp by major here. 1. Cameron Crisp (Mvill) 2. Matthew DeGrado (LC) 3. Owen Evener (CP) 4. Joshua Rozendal (Illiana) 190: Yet another weight class with a guy who beat me in the state series last year, but here Kenneth Bisping is the real deal. He’s a very stingy wrestlers with good attacks and phenomenal top wrestling, and has crazy strength to back it up. I think he’s the favorite, but he could see a range of different opponents in the finals. The first one I would like to highlight is Stefan Jokic (LC). Stefan is a SS qualifier and Mishawaka blood rounder who has a very long build, but is still ridiculously strong. He has great cradles and has a variety of feet to back moves in his back pocket, so I don’t think he can be ruled out for the finals. The other SS qualifier here is Joshua Hubbard (Highland), however Stefan has pinned him earlier this year. Merrillville’s Josiah Edmonds is ranked in the SS but had a weak showing at the Al Smith, and I would feel more confident if I saw stronger results. In the finals, I’ll predict Bisping over Stefan by decision. 1. Kenneth Bisping (Lowell) 2. Stefan Jokic (LC) 3. Josiah Edmonds (Merrillville) 4. Joshua Hubbard (Highland) 215: Jayden Bartozek of Hanover Central highlights this weight as a returning state qualifier and looks to capture a title at home. Bartozek is a very bulky wrestler who can win close matches. However here, I think he runs away with the title. Interestingly, there appears to be yet another Clark brother from CP here. Zach Clark has very strong middle school results and seems to have been doing very good on Crown Point’s second string schedule. I will be very interested to see how he ends up performing this weekend. Apart from Clark, I believe the other finalist will end up being Aiden Abad from Lowell, a guy who placed at the Al Smith. He seems to be a tested and savvy wrestler and I think he gets the finals nod here. Calumet’s Reichen Reeder is also a SS qualifier at the weight. In the finals, I’ll take Bartozek over Abad with a controlled decision. 1. Jayden Bartozek (HC) 2. Aiden Abad (Lowell) 3. Zachary Clark (CP) 4. Reichen Reeder (Calumet) 285: Heavyweight will be a fun one here at county with a variety of challengers. I would say headlining this weight would be Hanovers Collin Foy. Foy is a guy who actually put Paul Clark on his back last year with a cradle in the sectionals finals but was unable to continue the next week at regionals. However, he’s a very solid heavyweight who qualified for SS in 2022. Other challengers here include Wheeler ticket rounder Mitchell Krolikowski, who it seems can put any heavyweight to their back. Lowell’s Seth Rindfuss is another title contender here who has very good results at the Al Smith with quality wins and close losses to ranked opponents. In the finals at heavyweight, it’s hard for me to pick between Foy and Rindfuss, but since it’s at Hanover I’ll stick with Foy here by decision. 1. Collin Foy (HC) 2. Seth Rindfuss (Lowell) 3. Mitchell Krolikowski (Wheeler) 4. Avery Villarreal (Morton) Top 3 Team Scores: 1. Lake Central 2. Lowell 3. Merrillville

Here is the 2023 Team State Qualification Procedures doc. IHSWCA Team State Duals Qualification Procedures 2023.pdf Also, here are links to all the most common questions about the process: General Qualification and Scoring Process: Team Classification: Controlling for Sectional and Regional Difficulty: Injuries and "Those scores don't seem fair" situations:

Q: How can we know how difficult it is to advance from a particular sectional or regional? We can look at the Genius ratings of all schools for the last several years and consider how many regional qualifiers and semi-state qualifiers they got while “controlling” mathematically for their sectional and regional path. Using all of these factors simultaneously, we can project very, very accurately how many regional or semi-state qualifiers teams of any given Genius rating “deserves” if they were in an average level tournament path. If we then add together how many regional and semi-state qualifiers the teams of each sectional and regional should have, we can know how difficult each tournament site is to advance from. Q: What are Genius ratings? Genius ratings are computer ratings that use the system on which all major sports’ “true talent” or “true ability” ratings systems are based. All Las Vegas lines for particular games, for example, use the score-based ratings system that we use to compile the Genius ratings. The ratings include all scores for all dual meets and tournaments in the IndianaMat database for the entire season. They are very accurate, very predictive ratings over the long term. Q: Once we know how many regional and semi-state qualifiers each tournament site “deserves”, how do we specifically control for their various difficulty levels? Using our “deserved” regional or semi-state qualifier totals, we assign a “Category” level to each tournament that corresponds with a “quota” of advancers per weight class that are assigned to that tournament. For example, a sectional that deserves 4 regional qualifiers per weight class is a Category 4 sectional. A regional that deserves 5 semi-state qualifiers per weight class is a Category 5 regional. We then award regional qualifier points or semi-state qualifier points based on each site’s Category quota (between 2 and 6 per weight class per site). Q: How can we award regional qualifier or semi-state qualifier points to 5 or 6 guys when only 4 really advanced? For sectionals, a Category 5 or Category 6 site’s individuals receive regional qualifier points for placing 5th or 6th place. For Category 5 or Category 6 regionals, we use tiebreaker criteria to award 5th and 6th place to individuals who are then awarded semi-state qualifier points despite not advancing in real-life. Q: When are the Categories assigned for sectional and regional tournament sites? They will be announced each season during the last week or two before sectionals. This year, they will be announced Thursday or Friday before sectional as part of the Team State qualification procedures document that is always posted to the IHSWCA website. Q: What about the “multiplier” that I heard about that controls for sectional and regional difficulty? The multiplier no longer exists It was a little bit less accurate and more difficult for tracking your own team’s score. Q: Why does my sectional have the same (or lower) category than the sectional we face at regional when we had just as many semi-state qualifiers as them when our regional qualifiers faced each other face to face? Your sectional, despite having just as many (or more) strong top-end individuals, was not deeper than the other sectional at the 4th, 5th and 6th spots at your sectionals. In other words, your sectional was not harder to get out of even though your best individuals are just as good or better than the other sectional.

Here is the PDF outlining the Team State Duals qualification process for the 2022-23 event. IHSWCA Team State Duals Qualification Procedures 2022.pdf Also, below are links to frequently asked questions about the qualification process. Almost all questions we receive every year can be answered in the procedures document itself or at these links: General Qualification and Scoring Process: Team Classification: Controlling for Sectional and Regional Difficulty: Injuries and "Those scores don't seem fair" situations: IHSWCA Team State Duals Qualification Procedures 2022.pdf

Here are the Team State qualification leaderboards through sectionals. Reminders: --classification numbers are UNOFFICIAL until the IHSAA publishes their new numbers in the next week or two --these scores are almost meaningless in 4A and not so meaningful in 3A yet either. Some teams far down the leaderboards will make huge moves and teams high on the board now won't be in the mix for top spots --these scores DO mean something in 1A and to a lesser degree 2A. The teams that will be in the mix for automatic bids are already near the top of the board. Click two or three times to zoom in:

Scores are now updated through state. The top 9 here plus Northridge as the Fort Wayne automatic bid will receive team state invitations soon. After bids have been confirmed, teams eligible for the two vote-in wildcards will be sent information sheets to fill out regarding their incoming talent and other information about the potential quality of their team for next season. If all bids would be accepted, Penn, Warren Central, and Carmel would be looked at for the two vote-in bids because they are the only teams within 15 points of the first and/or second available vote-in candidate. If one bid is declined, it would bring Mishawaka into the mix and two declined bids would allow Zionsville, Crown Point, and Merrillville into the discussion for at least one of the vote-in spots. Rank Class 3A Teams Score Return 1 Indianapolis Cathedral 257 10 2 Perry Meridian 229.5 9 3 Chesterton 229 8 4 Columbus East 224.5 10 5 Evansville Mater Dei 222.5 8 6 Roncalli 218 12 7 Brownsburg 215.5 8 8 Portage 205.5 4 9 Avon 204.5 9 10 Penn 203 9 11 Warren Central 198 13 12 Carmel 196 12 13 Mishawaka 181 12 14 Zionsville 172 8 15 Crown Point 169 6 16 Merrillville 169 8 17 Northridge 161 9 18 Castle 157.5 8 19 Carroll (Fort Wayne) 156 9 20 North Central (Indianapolis) 147 10 21 Bloomington South 143.5 8 22 Pendleton Heights 142 11 23 Jay County 138 10 24 Westfield 134 10 25 Hamilton Southeastern 133 9 26 Huntington North 131 12 27 Harrison (West Lafayette) 127 7 28 Greenfield-Central 126 8 29 Lawrence North 126 9 30 Plainfield 125 13 31 Floyd Central 124 9 32 Lake Central 124 13 33 Lowell 123.5 10 34 Center Grove 121 8 35 McCutcheon 121 10 36 Mount Vernon (Fortville) 120 10 37 Hobart 119 8 38 Elkhart Central 118 7 39 Goshen 118 8 40 LaPorte 118 9 41 Noblesville 117 13 42 New Palestine 116 11 43 Martinsville 114 12 44 Jeffersonville 109 8 45 Fishers 108 12 46 Franklin Community 107 10 47 Lawrence Central 107 9 48 Fort Wayne Snider 107 10 49 Anderson 101 8 50 Mooresville 100 9 51 Seymour 100 12 52 Homestead 100 9 53 Plymouth 99 8 54 Ben Davis 98 9 55 Decatur Central 98 14 56 Southport 95 8 57 Evansville F.J. Reitz 91 8 58 Greenwood Community 89 10 59 Jennings County 89 8 60 Whiteland Community 89 10 61 Terre Haute South Vigo 86 11 62 Bloomington North 84 9 63 Evansville Central 84 10 64 Franklin Central 82 13 65 Elkhart Memorial 78 6 66 New Albany 77 6 67 Kankakee Valley 77 10 68 Columbus North 75 11 69 South Bend Riley 75 12 70 East Noble 72 10 71 Lafayette Jefferson 72 8 72 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 70 9 73 Concord 69 8 74 East Central 68 11 75 Munster 68 7 76 Muncie Central 67 6 77 Evansville Harrison 66 9 78 Highland 62 7 79 Michigan City 62 8 80 Jasper 61 12 81 Valparaiso 60 9 82 Fort Wayne South Side 57 9 83 Hammond Morton 53 4 84 South Bend Adams 53 9 85 Fort Wayne North Side 50 10 86 Connersville 49 8 87 Shelbyville 49 9 88 Kokomo 49 12 89 Warsaw Community 48 11 90 Fort Wayne Northrop 47 10 91 Pike 46 7 92 Fort Wayne Wayne 44 6 93 Logansport 44 11 94 DeKalb 43 12 95 Evansville North 42 10 96 East Chicago Central 41 8 97 Bedford North Lawrence 30 6 98 South Bend Clay 28 5 99 Richmond 24 7 100 Terre Haute North Vigo 23 6

Now updated through state. The top 10 here will be invited to Team State soon. After bids are confirmed, teams 11-17 from this list will be sent team information sheets to fill out concerning their incoming talent and any other information about the potential ability of their team for next year. * = injury points added; "Return" = number of starters returning next year from sectional lineup Rank Class 2A Teams Score Return 1 Western* 220 11 2 Wawasee 215.5 10 3 North Montgomery* 195 11 4 Jimtown 180 11 5 Leo 172 12 6 Yorktown 163 6 7 Edgewood 162 11 8 Bellmont 159 11 9 South Dearborn 154.5 9 10 West Vigo 153 10 11 Southridge 151 10 12 Garrett 151 8 13 Rochester Community 148 13 14 Oak Hill 148 11 15 Delta 147 11 16 Hammond Gavit 140 11 17 Southmont 138 10 18 Gibson Southern 135 14 19 Madison Consolidated 132 10 20 Maconaquah 131 9 21 Culver Academies 131 10 22 Boonville 129 12 23 Greencastle 128 13 24 New Prairie 126 9 25 Monrovia 122 10 26 Heritage Hills 121 10 27 Lebanon 121 10 28 Lakeland 121 7 29 Franklin County 120 7 30 Peru 119 8 31 Calumet 118 8 32 Norwell 116 11 33 West Lafayette 116 8 34 Lawrenceburg 113 9 35 Rensselaer Central 113 8 36 Angola 112 7 37 New Haven 110 9 38 Indian Creek 109 8 39 NorthWood 109 10 40 Hamilton Heights 106 14 41 Columbia City 104 9 42 Manchester 103 13 43 Vincennes Lincoln 102 10 44 West Noble 102 9 45 Marion 100 6 46 Crawfordsville 98 10 47 New Castle 96.5 4 48 Evansville Reitz Memorial 94 7 49 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 93 10 50 Danville Community 85 8 51 Wheeler 84 7 52 Benton Central 79 7 53 Twin Lakes 77 8 54 South Vermillion 73 10 55 Northwestern 70 9 56 Mississinewa 67 9 57 Pike Central 66 6 58 South Bend Washington 66 5 59 Sullivan 65 5 60 Guerin Catholic 65 7 61 Fairfield 64 7 62 Beech Grove 62 5 63 Rushville Consolidated 60 8 64 Frankfort 59 7 65 Greensburg 58 7 66 Mount Vernon 57 10 67 Griffith 57 10 68 Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran 56 9 69 Tipton 54 5 70 Hammond 54 4 71 Scottsburg 53 8 72 Hanover Central 53 4 73 Glenn 52 8 74 Charlestown 51 9 75 Evansville Bosse 50 6 76 Brown County 50 7 77 Hammond Clark 50 7 78 Heritage 48 8 79 North Harrison 48 9 80 Owen Valley 47 6 81 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 46 7 82 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 46 7 83 Northview 42 7 84 Woodlan 42 8 85 Batesville 39 8 86 Corydon Central 38 6 87 South Bend St. Joseph 38 8 88 Tri-West Hendricks 36 8 89 Salem 34 4 90 Western Boone 34 6 91 Princeton Community 30 6 92 Tippecanoe Valley 29 8 93 Eastbrook 24 5 94 Knox 24 2 95 Indianapolis Emmerich Manual 13 4 96 Speedway 12 4 97 Blackford 12 2 98 Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory 10 2 99 Gary West Side 8 3 100 Mishawaka Marian 5 2

UPDATE FEBRUARY 19: Now through state. The top 10 teams here will receive their invitations to Team State soon. Once those bids are confirmed, teams 11-16 are in position for the two vote-in wildcards and will be sent information sheets to fill out concerning your incoming talent and any other information that will give us a picture of your expected ability for next year. UPDATE FEBRUARY 13: Eastern of Greentown just sent their injury info and doctors' notes for 2017 regional champs Eli Elkins and Gerald Pearson. Both are now cleared and coming back next year. Because they previously only had 11 guys in the lineup, this jumps their score very significantly up to 171. They are now in position for an automatic invitation--again, assuming no more injury information comes in. The revised Top 10 here are now in automatic berth territory with the next 6 teams having cinched vote-in positions. * = injury points added; "Return" = number of starters returning next year from sectional lineup Rank Class 1A Teams Score Return 1 Prairie Heights 205 9 2 Attica 195 10 3 Frankton 188.5 11 4 Adams Central 185 10 5 Central Noble 179.5 7 6 Wabash 179 10 7 North Posey* 177 9 8 Eastside 172 11 9 Eastern (Greentown)* 171 11 10 Shenandoah 165 10 11 Centerville 158 12 12 Knightstown 157 8 13 Churubusco 154 11 14 Southern Wells 152 11 15 Milan 145 7 16 Elwood Community 144 9 17 Eastern (Pekin) 138 12 18 Boone Grove 138 10 19 Cass 136 10 20 Indianapolis Scecina Memorial 129 11 21 Triton Central 129 9 22 Tell City 125 12 23 Lapel 124 10 24 Triton 121 10 25 Carroll (Flora) 118 9 26 South Adams 110 7 27 Bluffton 109 11 28 Alexandria Monroe 107 8 29 Eastern Hancock 105 8 30 Rossville 105 8 31 West Central 105 10 32 Madison Grant 104 10 33 Delphi 103 9 34 Lafayette Central Catholic 102 7 35 LaVille 100 9 36 North White 100 7 37 Daleville 98 11 38 River Forest 98 7 39 Seeger 97 10 40 South Spencer 96 7 41 Cambridge City Lincoln 94 8 42 Hagerstown 93 10 43 Tri-Central 87 6 44 North Knox 86 7 45 Paoli 86 6 46 North Putnam 85 6 47 Southwood 85 8 48 Winchester Community 84 6 49 Hebron 81 8 50 Lake Station Edison 81 8 51 North Newton 80 6 52 Cascade 76 6 53 Clinton Prairie 75 10 54 Sheridan 74 7 55 Northfield 74 7 56 Fountain Central 73 8 57 Union City 73 7 58 Clinton Central 72 5 59 Crawford County 71 7 60 Southwestern (Hanover) 70 7 61 Winamac Community 70 7 62 Parke Heritage 69 5 63 Union County 68 8 64 Monroe Central 66 7 65 West Washington 65 8 66 Tecumseh 63 6 67 Northeastern 63 6 68 North Judson-San Pierre 60 6 69 North Miami 59 7 70 Frontier 58 7 71 Providence 56 5 72 Andrean 56 7 73 Fremont 55 6 74 Faith Christian 54 7 75 Whiting 52 8 76 Indianapolis Lutheran 51 5 77 Cowan 51 5 78 Wes-Del 51 4 79 North Vermillion 49 6 80 Cloverdale 48 6 81 South Putnam 48 8 82 Westview 46 7 83 South Newton 46 10 84 Indiana School for the Deaf 42 1 85 Tri 41 3 86 Caston 39 6 87 Mitchell 38 5 88 Wood Memorial 38 5 89 Providence Cristo Rey 37 3 90 New Washington 36 3 91 Switzerland County 36 6 92 Forest Park 34 5 93 Covington 33 3 94 Bremen 31 4 95 Whitko 30 5 96 Oldenburg Academy 29 7 97 Randolph Southern 25 5 98 Pioneer 17 3 99 Wapahani 16 3 100 Taylor 14 1 101 Tri-County 9 2

Scores here are very significant, although there will still be a good bit of movement in some instances this week (Yorktown, for example). Western is a lock for the event, Wawasee and North Montgomery are virtual locks, and Jimtown and Leo should be ok, while the other spots are very much up for grabs from among a large group of teams. Remember that the top team in each semi-state plus the next best 6 scores qualify automatically for Team State. Rank Class 2A Teams Score Left pts available @ SS 1 Western 190 11 68 2 Wawasee 180 9 66 3 North Montgomery 172 9 54 4 Jimtown 156 4 25 5 Leo 155 6 39 6 Edgewood 148 7 43 7 Oak Hill 143 4 28 8 West Vigo 143 3 21 9 Delta 140 5 39 10 Garrett 140 7 34 11 Hammond Gavit 136 4 25 12 Bellmont 135 6 40 13 Southridge 134 5 32 14 South Dearborn 133 6 36 15 Southmont 132 3 15 16 Gibson Southern 130 2 14 17 Greencastle 128 2 14 18 Rochester Community 128 6 42 19 Maconaquah 126 5 32 20 New Prairie 126 2 14 21 Madison Consolidated 125 6 45 22 Yorktown 124 9 52 23 Boonville 119 3 21 24 Lebanon 117 2 11 25 Heritage Hills 116 4 28 26 Culver Academies 112 6 33 27 Franklin County 112 6 32 28 Calumet 109 4 22 29 Lakeland 109 3 18 30 Monrovia 109 4 19 31 West Lafayette 109 6 34 32 Peru 108 3 15 33 Angola 107 2 11 34 Hamilton Heights 106 0 0 35 Norwell 104 3 25 36 Rensselaer Central 103 6 39 37 New Haven 102 3 12 38 NorthWood 102 2 11 39 Vincennes Lincoln 100 3 18 40 Lawrenceburg 99 4 22 41 Crawfordsville 98 2 8 42 Manchester 96 2 11 43 Indian Creek 95 4 22 44 Columbia City 93 2 11 45 West Noble 93 2 11 46 Evansville Reitz Memorial 92 2 8 47 Marion 89 7 37 48 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 88 1 7 49 New Castle 84 6 33 50 Twin Lakes 77 3 14 51 Benton Central 75 3 26 52 Wheeler 73 4 22 53 Danville Community 72 2 14 54 Northwestern 70 2 14 55 South Vermillion 68 1 7 56 Guerin Catholic 65 1 7 57 Sullivan 65 1 7 58 South Bend Washington 62 5 32 59 Mississinewa 60 1 7 60 Pike Central 60 3 12 61 Rushville Consolidated 60 1 6 62 Fairfield 59 2 14 63 Frankfort 59 0 0 64 Greensburg 58 3 22 65 Mount Vernon 57 2 14 66 Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran 56 0 0 67 Scottsburg 53 2 15 68 Beech Grove 52 3 12 69 Glenn 52 0 0 70 Griffith 52 1 7 71 Hammond 52 3 18 72 Charlestown 51 0 0 73 Brown County 50 2 17 74 Evansville Bosse 50 0 0 75 Hanover Central 49 2 11 76 Tipton 49 1 7 77 Heritage 48 0 0 78 North Harrison 48 1 4 79 Owen Valley 47 2 11 80 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 46 1 7 81 Hammond Clark 45 1 7 82 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 42 3 12 83 Northview 42 0 0 84 Woodlan 42 0 0 85 Batesville 39 0 0 86 Corydon Central 38 0 0 87 South Bend St. Joseph 38 1 11 88 Tri-West Hendricks 36 0 0 89 Salem 34 0 0 90 Western Boone 34 0 0 91 Princeton 30 0 0 92 Tippecanoe Valley 29 0 0 93 Knox 24 0 0 94 Eastbrook 22 1 4 95 Indianapolis Emmerich Manual 13 0 0 96 Blackford 12 0 0 97 Speedway 12 0 0 98 Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory 10 0 0 99 Gary West Side 8 0 0 100 Mishawaka Marian 5 0 0

Only a little bit of jostling for position left in 1A, as you can see from the points each team has available this week. The top 4 teams here are locks for the event already. Wabash, Central Noble, and Eastside are also virtual locks. Remember that the top team from each semi-state, plus the next best 6 scores are automatically qualified. Rank Class 1A Teams Score Left pts available @ SS 1 Prairie Heights 202 5 8 2 Attica 191 6 29 3 Frankton 184 5 12 4 Adams Central 181 6 21 5 Wabash 173 3 8 6 Central Noble 167 6 16 7 Eastside 166 3 8 8 Knightstown 157 3 9 9 Shenandoah 156 5 30 10 Centerville 155 6 35 11 Churubusco 154 1 0 12 North Posey 150 5 8 13 Southern Wells 146 4 16 14 Milan 145 4 14 15 Eastern (Pekin) 138 0 0 16 Boone Grove 138 1 0 17 Cass 136 2 4 18 Elwood Community 135 3 8 19 Eastern (Greentown) 130 5 16 20 Triton Central 129 1 4 21 Indianapolis Scecina Memorial 129 1 4 22 Tell City 125 2 18 23 Triton 121 1 4 24 Lapel 120 2 4 25 Carroll (Flora) 118 2 2 26 South Adams 110 4 9 27 Bluffton 109 2 4 28 Alexandria Monroe 107 0 0 29 Rossville 105 0 0 30 Eastern Hancock 105 2 0 31 West Central 105 0 0 32 Madison Grant 104 1 4 33 Delphi 103 1 0 34 Lafayette Central Catholic 102 3 20 35 North White 100 1 0 36 River Forest 98 1 0 37 Daleville 98 2 11 38 LaVille 97 2 8 39 Seeger 97 1 0 40 Cambridge City Lincoln 94 1 4 41 Hagerstown 93 1 9 42 South Spencer 89 2 8 43 North Putnam 85 0 0 44 Southwood 85 0 0 45 Winchester Community 84 1 0 46 Tri-Central 84 2 4 47 North Knox 83 2 4 48 Paoli 83 2 8 49 Lake Station Edison 81 2 4 50 North Newton 80 2 4 51 Hebron 78 1 4 52 Cascade 76 0 0 53 Clinton Prairie 75 0 0 54 Sheridan 74 1 0 55 Northfield 74 0 0 56 Fountain Central 73 0 0 57 Union City 73 2 18 58 Clinton Central 72 1 0 59 Crawford County 71 2 11 60 Winamac Community 70 1 4 61 Southwestern (Hanover) 70 3 27 62 Parke Heritage 69 0 0 63 Monroe Central 66 0 0 64 West Washington 65 1 2 65 Union County 63 1 4 66 Tecumseh 63 0 0 67 Northeastern 63 2 13 68 North Judson-San Pierre 60 1 4 69 North Miami 59 1 0 70 Providence 56 1 4 71 Andrean 56 0 0 72 Fremont 55 1 4 73 Faith Christian 54 1 0 74 Frontier 54 1 4 75 Whiting 52 0 0 76 Indianapolis Lutheran 51 0 0 77 Wes-Del 51 1 0 78 Cowan 51 1 2 79 North Vermillion 49 0 0 80 Cloverdale 48 0 0 81 South Putnam 48 0 0 82 Westview 46 0 0 83 South Newton 46 0 0 84 Indiana School for the Deaf 42 0 0 85 Tri 41 1 0 86 Caston 39 0 0 87 Mitchell 38 1 0 88 Wood Memorial 38 0 0 89 Providence Cristo Rey 37 1 4 90 New Washington 36 0 0 91 Switzerland County 36 0 0 92 Forest Park 34 0 0 93 Covington 33 0 0 94 Bremen 31 0 0 95 Whitko 30 0 0 96 Oldenburg Academy 29 0 0 97 Randolph Southern 25 0 0 98 Pioneer 17 0 0 99 Wapahani 16 0 0 100 Taylor 14 0 0 101 Tri-County 9 0 0

Here are unofficial 1A Team State Qualification scores through sectional. They remain unofficial because Evansville semi-state teams haven't gone through a full cross-check and because we are trying to get the facts about Indianapolis Public School consolidation plans for next year that could affect the classification of a couple teams. Remember from previous years that 1A scores are very significant already at this stage. All of the contenders for one of the 10 automatic bids already have good scores at this point and no one will score large amounts of points from here on out. Rank Class 1A Teams Score Left 1 Prairie Heights 174 12 2 Attica 166 10 3 Adams Central 162 11 4 Wabash 161 10 5 Frankton 158 8 6 Eastside 154 7 7 Knightstown 153 11 8 Churubusco 152 4 9 Centerville 143 7 10 Shenandoah 141 8 11 Central Noble 139 10 12 Eastern (Pekin) 138 8 13 Boone Grove 136 6 14 North Posey 134 9 15 Milan 130 7 16 Cass 129 6 17 Southern Wells 126 5 18 Tell City 125 6 19 Elwood Community 123 5 20 Indianapolis Scecina Memorial 119 2 21 Carroll (Flora) 116 2 22 Triton 116 6 23 Triton Central 114 5 24 Lapel 113 3 25 Eastern (Greentown) 108 6 26 West Central 105 6 27 Alexandria Monroe 105 3 28 South Adams 104 7 29 Rossville 103 2 30 Lafayette Central Catholic 102 5 31 Bluffton 102 3 32 Delphi 101 1 33 Eastern Hancock 101 5 34 Madison Grant 99 4 35 North White 98 7 36 Daleville 98 6 37 River Forest 96 5 38 Seeger 95 1 39 Hagerstown 93 6 40 Cambridge City Lincoln 89 5 41 LaVille 87 5 42 North Putnam 85 1 43 Southwood 85 3 44 Winchester Community 82 5 45 South Spencer 79 5 46 Tri-Central 77 3 47 North Knox 76 5 48 Clinton Prairie 75 0 49 Crawford County 75 4 50 Lake Station Edison 74 3 51 Parke Heritage 74 2 52 Northfield 74 4 53 Hebron 73 2 54 North Newton 73 5 55 Fountain Central 73 1 56 Paoli 73 3 57 Union City 73 2 58 Sheridan 72 2 59 Cascade 72 4 60 West Washington 71 1 61 Southwestern (Hanover) 70 3 62 Monroe Central 66 3 63 Winamac Community 65 5 64 Woodlan 64 2 65 Clinton Central 63 3 66 Tecumseh 63 3 67 Northeastern 58 4 68 Union County 58 1 69 North Miami 57 2 70 North Judson-San Pierre 55 3 71 Faith Christian 52 1 72 Whiting 52 3 73 Indianapolis Lutheran 51 3 74 Providence 51 4 75 Cowan 51 4 76 Fremont 50 2 77 Frontier 49 2 78 Indianapolis Arlington 49 1 79 North Vermillion 49 2 80 Wes-Del 49 4 81 Cloverdale 48 1 82 South Putnam 48 0 83 South Newton 46 1 84 Westview 44 1 85 Indiana School for the Deaf 42 2 86 Tri 39 3 87 Caston 39 1 88 Wood Memorial 38 1 89 Mitchell 36 2 90 New Washington 36 2 91 Switzerland County 36 1 92 Forest Park 34 1 93 Covington 33 2 94 Providence Cristo Rey 32 2 95 Bremen 31 2 96 Oldenburg Academy 29 0 97 Randolph Southern 25 1 98 Pioneer 17 1 99 Indianapolis Broad Ripple Magnet 17 0 100 Wapahani 16 1 101 Taylor 14 0 102 Tri-County 9 0

Here are unofficial 2A Team State Qualification scores through sectional. They remain unofficial because Evansville semi-state teams haven't gone through a full cross-check and because we are trying to get the facts about Indianapolis Public School consolidation plans for next year that could affect the classification of a couple teams. Remember from previous years that 2A scores are somewhat significant at this stage, but any team in the top 30 or so probably has a good shot still. Rank Class 2A Teams Score Left 1 Wawasee 152 14 2 Western 152 14 3 North Montgomery 142 13 4 Jimtown 142 8 5 Leo 133 10 6 West Vigo 131 6 7 Oak Hill 127 10 8 Edgewood 124 9 9 Hammond Gavit 122 12 10 Gibson Southern 122 8 11 Garrett 122 12 12 Madison Consolidated 119 10 13 Bellmont 119 9 14 New Prairie 118 11 15 Southmont 118 10 16 Greencastle 116 5 17 Southridge 116 12 18 Delta 116 12 19 South Dearborn 113 10 20 Maconaquah 108 9 21 Boonville 107 7 22 Rochester Community 104 7 23 Lebanon 103 6 24 Hamilton Heights 102 2 25 Yorktown 102 11 26 Heritage Hills 100 8 27 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 100 5 28 Peru 100 9 29 Lakeland 99 9 30 Franklin County 98 10 31 Calumet 97 9 32 West Lafayette 97 6 33 New Haven 96 7 34 Norwell 96 7 35 Culver Academies 94 9 36 NorthWood 94 6 37 Angola 93 9 38 Rensselaer Central 91 10 39 Monrovia 91 6 40 Crawfordsville 90 7 41 Manchester 90 5 42 Evansville Reitz Memorial 88 8 43 Lawrenceburg 87 7 44 West Noble 87 7 45 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 84 4 46 Indian Creek 83 6 47 Vincennes Lincoln 82 6 48 Benton Central 73 6 49 Twin Lakes 73 7 50 Jasper 71 6 51 Marion 69 7 52 South Vermillion 64 4 53 Northwestern 62 5 54 Wheeler 61 5 55 Guerin Catholic 61 3 56 Sullivan 61 3 57 Rushville Consolidated 60 5 58 Danville Community 60 3 59 Frankfort 57 3 60 Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran 56 2 61 Mississinewa 56 3 62 Pike Central 54 7 63 Glenn 52 3 64 Greensburg 52 4 65 Charlestown 51 6 66 Scottsburg 51 3 67 Fairfield 51 3 68 Brown County 50 3 69 Evansville Bosse 50 5 70 South Bend Washington 49 5 71 Mount Vernon 49 2 72 Griffith 48 1 73 Heritage 48 3 74 North Harrison 46 5 75 Tipton 45 4 76 Hanover Central 43 4 77 Hammond 42 5 78 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 42 6 79 Northview 42 1 80 Hammond Clark 41 4 81 Beech Grove 41 5 82 Owen Valley 41 3 83 Batesville 39 2 84 South Bend St. Joseph 38 5 85 Corydon Central 38 3 86 Tri-West Hendricks 36 0 87 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 36 3 88 Western Boone 34 2 89 Salem 34 5 90 Andrean 32 1 91 Tippecanoe Valley 29 3 92 Knox 24 2 93 Eastbrook 20 1 94 Whitko 14 0 95 Indianapolis Emmerich Manual 13 2 96 Blackford 12 1 97 Speedway 12 0 98 Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory 10 0 99 Indianapolis Northwest 10 1 100 Gary West Side 8 0 101 Mishawaka Marian 5 0

Just after Team State and during the Team State qualification process (during the individual state series), I am asked many, many questions "behind the scenes" by coaches and parents that want to understand the process better. While the event is fresh in people's minds, I want to post a series of "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)" topics with basic descriptions of the qualification process. Topic #4A: Injured or ineligible Q: Are good wrestlers that are injured or procedurally ineligible factored in to the scoring process? --Yes, if a 3A or 2A underclassmen reached at least semi-state last year and misses the state tournament series this year due to injury or due to being procedurally ineligible (i.e. transfer rules), his previous year score is factored into his team's score for this year. The same is true in 1A for any underclassman that reached at least regional last year. Q: Why aren't additional injuries considered? --Unfortunately, injuries are a part of wrestling and the qualification process involves some luck. It would be impossible to consider all injury situations and this is where the committee has voted to draw the line so that there is a balance between genuine competition and the predictive scoring process. Topic #4B: "Those scores don't seem fair" (responses to questions about perplexing scores during the qualification process) Q: Why does an average level team have a similar score to a top-level team after sectional or regional? --All that is measured after sectional is placement in the top 6 and qualification for regional. There is no difference between a sectional 4th place guy and a sectional 1st place guy at this point. Plus, recall that underclassmen score more than seniors. Also, in 3A specifically, the biggest scoring doesn't happen for top teams until semi-state. For these reasons, a lesser team with many underclassmen advancing to regional can have a score in line with top teams the first week or two of the tournament. Q: At what point in the individual tournament series do the qualifying scores become meaningful? --In 1A, scores are quite meaningful after sectional already. There will be some further shuffling after regional, but contenders will have already put themselves in position. Positions will then be mostly decided after regional in 1A. --In 2A, scores are somewhat meaningful after sectional, much more meaningful after regional, and further finalized after semi-state. --In 3A, scores are virtually meaningless after sectional. The list of contenders will be clearer then after regional. However, the biggest weekend in this class is not until semi-state. We won't really know the cream of the crop until then. Q: Why does a team that we beat during the season have a higher score than my team? (several possible answers) --It may be too early in the state tournament series to fairly evaluate scores (see previous 2 questions' answers). --The team you beat during the season may have more underclassmen coming back and their tournament performance suggests they are expected to be better than you next year. If a team is at a similar level to you this year and has 3 or 4 more starters returning than you, there is a high probability they will be better than you next year and the qualifying scores should reflect that. --THE QUALIFICATION PROCESS IS A COMPETITION. Just as during the season, you have to earn the points you get. Upsets, injuries, underperformance, and bad draws can all have a negative impact, while a strong performance can slot you higher than people might expect.

Just after Team State and during the Team State qualification process (during the individual state series), I am asked many, many questions "behind the scenes" by coaches and parents that want to understand the process better. While the recent event is fresh in people's minds and qualification for next year is just around the corner, I want to post a series of "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)" topics with basic descriptions of the qualification process. Topic #4A: Injuries Q: Are injuries to good wrestlers factored in to the scoring process? --Yes, if a 3A or 2A underclassmen reached at least semi-state last year and misses the state tournament series, his previous year score is factored into his team's score for this year. The same is true in 1A for any underclassman that reached at least regional last year. Q: Why aren't additional injuries considered? --Unfortunately, injuries are a part of wrestling and the qualification process involves some luck. It would be impossible to consider all injury situations and this is where the committee has voted to draw the line so that there is a balance between genuine competition and the predictive scoring process. Topic #4B: "Those scores don't seem fair" (responses to questions about perplexing scores during the qualification process) Q: Why does an average level team have a similar score to a top-level team after sectional or regional? --All that is measured after sectional is placement in the top 6 and qualification for regional. There is no difference between a sectional 4th place guy and a sectional 1st place guy at this point. Plus, recall that underclassmen score more than seniors. Also, in 3A specifically, the biggest scoring doesn't happen for top teams until semi-state. For these reasons, a lesser team with many underclassmen advancing to regional can have a score in line with top teams the first week or two of the tournament. Q: At what point in the individual tournament series do the qualifying scores become meaningful? --In 1A, scores are quite meaningful after sectional already. There will be some further shuffling after regional, but contenders will have already put themselves in position. Positions will then be mostly decided after regional in 1A. --In 2A, scores are somewhat meaningful after sectional, much more meaningful after regional, and further finalized after semi-state. --In 3A, scores are virtually meaningless after sectional. The list of contenders will be clearer then after regional. However, the biggest weekend in this class is not until semi-state. We won't really know the cream of the crop until then. Q: Why does a team that we beat during the season have a higher score than my team? (several possible answers) --It may be too early in the state tournament series to fairly evaluate scores (see previous 2 questions' answers). --The team you beat during the season may have more underclassmen coming back and their tournament performance suggests they are expected to be better than you next year. If a team is at a similar level to you this year and has 3 or 4 more starters returning than you, there is a high probability they will be better than you next year and the qualifying scores should reflect that. --THE QUALIFICATION PROCESS IS A COMPETITION. Just as during the season, you have to earn the points you get. Upsets, injuries, underperformance, and bad draws can all have a negative impact, while a strong performance can slot you higher than people might expect.

IHSWCA Team State Duals Qualification Procedures 2021.pdf Here's the procedures document for qualification for 2021-22 Team State. The event is tentatively planned for January 8 of next season due to New Year's falling on the previous Saturday. From another post I made earlier..here are the significant changes this season because of covid effects: 1. In 3A and 4A, exactly 6 of the 8 bids will be via automatic qualification, rather than 6 or 7. (Best 3 semi-state highest scores, 2 highest remaining scores as wildcards, then either the 4th semi-state "winner" if they are in the top 10 overall or a 3rd automatic wildcard.) The 1A and 2A classes remain unchanged in terms of automatic bids (10 of the 12). Rationale: More flexibility for intelligently picking both the 7th and 8th teams in 3A and 4A with so many covid issues at play. 2. Only one of the two vote-in choices in each class will be made by the selection committee in April following the season. The final vote-in selection will be made in mid-December 2021 so that one team per class will receive a last-minute bid based on in-season evidence. Rationale: Last-minute invitations after teams had to pull out this year worked well. Especially in a season that will still be so impacted by covid, this will give us the chance to do a trial run of inviting a few deserving teams based on in-season merit that may be hit by significant issues during the upcoming state series. It means four teams will have to pull out of event commitments at the last minute, but it feels like a sacrifice many will consider worth making--especially considering the unusual circumstances. 3. The vote-in pool for the April wildcard selection in each class will be expanded to consider certain covid-affected teams. Any team affected by covid that does not earn enough points to qualify for the voting process will be given a chance to present evidence based on a) individuals' in-season head-to-head wins or b) individuals' past season accomplishments that demonstrates they would have earned a qualifying score within 5 points of the first two available vote-in candidates. With this specific level of evidence, those covid-affected teams will be considered in the voting process in April for the next-to-last wildcard spot. Rationale: Numerous schools that are clear contenders for spots are already being impacted significantly at sectional. Sadly, we imagine there will be others in the coming rounds. If results-based evidence for wrestlers who missed part or all of the state series because of covid can be presented, we want those kids' schools to be considered. 4. All schools in the state will be considered for the final spot in the event at the time of the December 2021 vote, regardless of their qualification score this season. Rationale: This gives one final "catch-all" for recognizing one deserving team, previously uninvited because of covid or other issues, that should be in the event. With all that's happening surrounding this current season and the impact on next season, we imagine ADs and tournament directors will be flexible and understanding for 4 of the 300 schools in the state to make a last-minute change to their schedule. If it is received well by coaches and ADs, this procedure for last-minute bids for one school per class may continue beyond next year as well. Finally...one more clarification that Y2 reminded me of that's different for this "covid" year specifically: For classification purposes, we want the size of each class to resemble what it will be in normal years going forward. To ensure this, instead of maintaining a hard line of 7+ wrestlers needed to be included in classification, we will most likely include some teams with less than 7 wrestlers. The process for this year only: --Count the number of teams at each participant level breaking point (7+, 6+, etc.) --Include all teams at the lowest breaking point that would not count more teams than 2020. (Example: All teams with at least 6 sectional wrestlers totals less than 2020. Including teams with 5 wrestlers is more than 2020. This is our classification inclusion breaking point and we include the teams with 6 or more.) --Classify according to school size following 2020 parameters for the four classes. --Any team not included in classification that had very significant covid issues that puts them in position to apply for vote-in consideration will simply be added to the class in which their enrollment fits--even though they won't have been part of the original count. (In the very unusual instance that a team is not originally classified and has an enrollment exactly between two classes, they will be in the lower enrollment class.)

Here is the 4A Leaderboard after sectionals. Remember this has very little meaning in 4A at this point. Right now, scores mostly just reflect who has a lot of non-seniors in their lineup. This class doesn't score huge points till semi-state. Teams will most likely need more than half of their team to SS 2nd round or beyond to qualify, so these scores' meaning are very limited.

Here are the 1A scores through regionals. Remember that the top score from each semi-state plus the 6 next best scores earn automatic bids. The final column is the number of points available for each team this weekend at semi-state. ( * indicates an injury has been added through SS first round qualification level)

Next year's Team State will tentatively be held on January 8, 2022. (January 1 is a Saturday.) Several changes will be mentioned in the Team State selection procedures document that will be out later this week. These are primarily being put in place to offset some of the impact that covid will have on teams' qualifying scores: 1. In 3A and 4A, exactly 6 of the 8 bids will be via automatic qualification, rather than 6 or 7. (Best 3 semi-state highest scores, 2 highest remaining scores as wildcards, then either the 4th semi-state "winner" if they are in the top 10 overall or a 3rd automatic wildcard.) The 1A and 2A classes remain unchanged in terms of automatic bids (10 of the 12). Rationale: More flexibility for intelligently picking both the 7th and 8th teams in 3A and 4A with so many covid issues at play. 2. Only one of the two vote-in choices in each class will be made by the selection committee in April following the season. The final vote-in selection will be made in mid-December 2021 so that one team per class will receive a last-minute bid based on in-season evidence. Rationale: Last-minute invitations after teams had to pull out this year worked well. Especially in a season that will still be so impacted by covid, this will give us the chance to do a trial run of inviting a few deserving teams based on in-season merit that may be hit by significant issues during the upcoming state series. It means four teams will have to pull out of event commitments at the last minute, but it feels like a sacrifice many will consider worth making--especially considering the unusual circumstances. 3. The vote-in pool for the April wildcard selection in each class will be expanded to consider certain covid-affected teams. Any team affected by covid that does not earn enough points to qualify for the voting process will be given a chance to present evidence based on a) individuals' in-season head-to-head wins or b) individuals' past season accomplishments that demonstrates they would have earned a qualifying score within 5 points of the first two available vote-in candidates. With this specific level of evidence, those covid-affected teams will be considered in the voting process in April for the next-to-last wildcard spot. Rationale: Numerous schools that are clear contenders for spots are already being impacted significantly at sectional. Sadly, we imagine there will be others in the coming rounds. If results-based evidence for wrestlers who missed part or all of the state series because of covid can be presented, we want those kids' schools to be considered. 4. All schools in the state will be considered for the final spot in the event at the time of the December 2021 vote, regardless of their qualification score this season. Rationale: This gives one final "catch-all" for recognizing one deserving team, previously uninvited because of covid or other issues, that should be in the event. With all that's happening surrounding this current season and the impact on next season, we imagine ADs and tournament directors will be flexible and understanding for 4 of the 300 schools in the state to make a last-minute change to their schedule. If it is received well by coaches and ADs, this procedure for last-minute bids for one school per class may continue beyond next year as well.

Here's the 4A leaderboard through sectional. Remember that these scores in the big school divisions are virtually meaningless at this point because it's mostly a reflection of who has a lot of underclassmen. The number of kids left matters much more than the scores. You'll need nearly 200 points to qualify and a huge chunk of those points won't come until semi-state in this class.

Here's the 2A Team State qualification leaderboard through sectional. These scores are somewhat meaningful, although there are many more points up for grabs the next couple weeks in this class. Teams a little down on the leaderboard with a high number of kids left can still make significant moves. (if you click once or twice on an image, you can zoom)

Here's the 3A leaderboard through sectional. Remember that these scores in the big school divisions aren't very meaningful at this point because they're mostly a reflection of who has a lot of underclassmen. The number of kids left matters much more than the scores. You'll need 160 or 175 points to qualify and many of those won't come until semi-state.