Missouri Boys/Girls Wrestling Alternative Postseason Format

2020-2021 BOYS/GIRLS WRESTLING ALTERNATE POSTSEASON FORMAT – COVID19 

These modifications are made in an effort to promote the chances of having postseason opportunities. The modifications to the postseason will equally affect each classification of Boys and Girls Wrestling. At this point, we  continue to communicate with the University of Missouri to determine the availability and feasibility of utilizing their  facilities to host our modified final site event. Once we are able to make a determination for the state championship  site(s), a detailed postseason calendar will be forthcoming. 

For many in the wrestling community, these modifications will deviate from what is considered “normal” or  “traditional”; however, at this time our hope is everyone understands our efforts and continued desire to provide  opportunities for students, teams, schools and communities during these uncertain and unprecedented times. I am also  hopeful that everyone will continue to focus on continued participation and postseason opportunities, rather than  focusing on what modifications have been or may need to be made to the postseason in order to have hope for these  postseason opportunities even occurring. 

1. DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS: There will now be 8 district tournaments instead of 4 district tournaments in each boy’s classification (Classes 1,2,3,4) and girl’s classification (Class 1) in an effort to reduce the number of teams/schools at  each district site; therefore, reducing the number of competitors and coaches at each district site, ultimately reducing  the attendance at each site. These modifications will also reduce the number mats (space) needed and the number of  workers required at each site.  
2. DISTRICT HOSTS/SITES: MSHSAA will coordinate the selection of host sites for the boys and girls district  tournaments in order to speed up the process for securing locations for the district tournaments and moving forward  with planning the details for district tournaments. Any schools that have a desire or interest in hosting a district tournament and would like to be considered for selection should email Greg Stahl immediately, greg@mshsaa.org.

NOTE: It is preferred that a district host site has a venue/facility that can permit spectator attendance (2 spectators per  participant); however, the ability to permit spectators is not mandatory. Should two schools in the same district desire  to host the district tournament, the ability to permit spectators will be a determining factor.  

1. GIRLS DISTRICTS: 

District Assignments – Number of schools assigned to each district has again been determined using the number of  participants from each school along with each female wrestler’s projected wrestling weight. This same process for  determining district assignments was used the previous two years. The number of schools assigned to each of the 8  districts ranges from 17 to 26 schools and the number of projected participants at each district ranges from 104 to 117  participants.  

District Dates – TBD – please note Postseason Considerations chart on page 3 of this document.  

If there are no weight classes at a district that exceeds 12 wrestlers, the district tournament will be a one-day  tournament (Saturday). If any weight class at a district exceeds 12 wrestlers, the district tournament will be a two-day tournament (Start on Friday, End on Saturday) in order to avoid any chance of exceeding the limit of five matches in a  day per NFHS Wrestling Rules.  

District Awards/Advancement – The top four place finishers at each weight class will be awarded medals and advance  to the Sectional tournament.  

1. BOYS DISTRICTS: 

District Assignments – Number of schools in each district has again been determined by assigning an equal to similar  number of schools to each district after dividing the total number of wrestling schools equally into four classifications.  The number of schools assigned to each of the 8 districts ranges from 7 to 8 schools per district and the “maximum”  number of participants at any district will be 112 wrestlers, but that is only if all 14 weight classes are full at any  particular district. 

District Dates – TBD – please note Postseason Considerations chart on page 3 of this document.  Since none of the districts have more than 8 schools, none of the weight classes can have more than 8 entries;  therefore, all boys district tournaments will be a one-day tournament (Saturday) due to there being no chance of exceeding the limit of five matches in a day per NFHS Wrestling Rules.  

District Awards/Advancement – The top four place finishers at each weight class will be awarded medals and advance  to the Sectional tournament.  

2. SECTIONAL TOURNAMENTS: There will be 4 sectional tournaments in each boy’s classification (Classes 1,2,3,4) and  girl’s classification (Class 1) to serve as qualifying tournaments to the state tournament. Each sectional tournament will  have 8 (or less) wrestlers per weight class which will result in a reduced number of participants at each sectional site;  therefore, reducing the number of competitors which also reduces the overall attendance at each site. A reduced  attendance at each site will also reduce the number mats (space) and number of workers required at each site.  
3. SECTIONAL HOSTS/SITES: MSHSAA will coordinate the selection of host sites for the boys and girls sectional tournaments in order to speed up the process for securing locations for the sectional tournaments and moving forward  with planning the details for sectional tournaments. Any schools that have a desire or interest in hosting a sectionals tournament and would like to be considered for selection should email Greg Stahl immediately, greg@mshsaa.org.

NOTE: It is preferred that a sectional host site has a venue/facility that can permit spectator attendance (2 spectators  per participant); however, the ability to permit spectators is not mandatory. Should two schools in the same sectional desire to host the sectional tournament, the ability to permit spectators will be a determining factor. 

1. BOYS AND GIRLS SECTIONALS: 

Sectional Assignments – Sectional 1 (District 1 & 2), Sectional 2 (District 3 & 4), Sectional 3 (District 5 & 6) and Sectional 4  (District 7 & 8).  

Sectionals Dates – TBD – please note Postseason Considerations chart on page 3 of this document.  Since none of the sectionals have more than 8 entries per weight class, all boys and girls sectional tournaments will be a  one-day tournament (Saturday) due to there being no chance of exceeding the limit of five matches in a day per NFHS  Wrestling Rules.  

Sectional Bracketing/Sectional Place Finishers/State Qualifiers – Wrestlers will be paired in the first round of the 8  person bracket as follows: (Example – District 1- 1st place vs. District 2-4th place, District 1- 2nd place vs. District 2-3rd place,  District 2-1st place vs. District 1-4th place, District 2-2nd place vs. District 1-3rd place). No medals will be awarded for  placing at sectionals. The top three place finishers at each weight class at sectional will advance as state qualifiers to  the state tournament. NOTE: Due to Covid19 restrictions and limitations, the state tournament must be a one-day  tournament for all boys classifications and girls. If the top four from each sectional were to advance, the state brackets  would consist of 16 wrestlers; therefore, the tournament could not be completed in one day due to wrestlers  exceeding the maximum limit of five matches in a day by NFHS Wrestling rules.  

3. STATE TOURNAMENTS: There will be 5 one-day state tournaments (Boys Class 1, 2, 3, 4 and Girls Class 1). Each of  the five state tournaments will consist of 12 state qualifiers per weight class to ensure the ability to begin and end the  state tournament on the same day.  

State Assignments – TBA – It is undetermined at this time what venue that each classification (Boys Class 1, 2, 3, 4 and  Girls Class 1), will be competing at. Attempts are being made to stay at Mizzou Arena, Hearne’s Center or a combination  of the two venues; however, no confirmation has been received at this time regarding official venue availability.  

State Dates – TBD – please note Postseason Considerations chart on page 3 of this document.  

State Brackets/Draws/State Place Finishers – Three separate bracket rotations will continue to be used and randomly  drawn for each weight class (boys and girls). The top six place finishers at each weight class (boys and girls) will be  awarded medals and the top four teams in each of the four classes of boys wrestling and one class of girls wrestling will  receive trophies. 

POSTSEASON CONSIDERATIONS – BASED ON VENUE AVAILABILITY 

Below are contingencies for the 2020-2021 Wrestling postseason calendar. There is no preference to a particular  option/schedule as all aspects of the postseason will be weighed once the availability of final sites can be determined.  

		Option A	Option B	Option C
District	Girls	January 29 – 30*	February 5 – 6*	If University of   Missouri facilities  are unavailable  reach out to other  venues or high   schools to host each  state championship  tournament  All aspects TBD
	Boys	February 6	February 13
Sectional	Girls	February 6	February 20
	Boys	February 13	February 27
State	Girls	February 17 – 20  Use of 2 Venues  All Genders/Classes assignments TBD	March 2 – 6  Use of 1 Venue  All Genders/Classes assignments TBD
	Boys

 

NOTE: Due to the possibility of potentially moving some postseason competitions to traditional regular season  calendar dates, the MSHSAA will grant relief of bylaw in order to permit wrestling schools to extend the end of the  wrestling season to March 20; therefore, wrestling schools would be permitted to schedule or reschedule regular  season competitions to occur “after” the state championships if they choose to do so.