Mr. Cokeley,

Believe it or not, I understand the reasoning behind this bracketing technique. I have been involved with bracketing club tournaments, middle school tournaments, and high school jv tournaments and have grouped according to ability. And I do believe if there are 5 or less in a weight class it should be a round robin, and I am all about getting expereince. What I am saying is that if over 70% of 6U wrestlers quit, maybe it is time to look at something different. Wrestlers entering an Open tournament should already have 2 years of experiencing success and defeat and should be ready to compete with ALL oncomers.

When weight classes are split into abiltiy, wrestlers like my son are at a disadvantage. He should be in the "A" bracket, but is at the bottom of it and will have more defeats then successes. If he is put in the "B" bracket he wins more but does not get better and when it comes to qualifying tournaments in March he is not ready. If the 2 brackets were combined he would have both success and defeats.

Due to a GREAT coaching staff and I hope good parenting (mostly from his mother), my son has a great attitude and understands that it is all practice until March. But if it is practice, and the state series is double elimination, maybe it should be simulated in the weekend tournaments. If weight classes have 6 or more wrestlers why not put them in an 8 man bracket and gain experience. In an 8 man bracket there are only 2 wrestlers that will get 2 matches, 5 wrestlers will experience some success and defeat, and 1 will experience success only. After 2 hard fought loses during the day it is hard for these young wrestlers to get up for the 3rd match, maybe it is time to go home.

Thank you for listening.