They separate returning national champions....but not returning All-Americans. A few years back there were three retunring All-Americans (Aurel Cuifulescu, OT Johnson and Keri Stanley on one side of the bracket and one on the other (Alex Hernandez).

Otherwise it is a random draw based on regional finish - 1st place Regional A vs ...etc. People from the same regional are not supposed to hit until the quarters except for wildcards - who receive no consideration in bracket placement.

I too hope Labette - or any other Kansas team - is able to bring home the title.....but Iowa Central and North Idaho are solid teams - plus they have the advantage of wrestling in weaker regionals - so they bring a bunch of regional champions in who get dropped into the bracket in more favorable location.....but that's the nature of the beast when the five teams in your region are always in the nation's elite.

Perfect example of how tough the west central region can be is Bryan Miller. He never won a match at regionals during his two years at Colby, but was a 2x wildcard selection into the national tournament. He went on to place 5th at nationals as a freshman and 2nd as a sophomore.