As the season progresses so does my frustration with the rule of wrestlers only being allowed to wrestle 5 matches per day. As a coach, it is so disheartening to go up to one of my wrestlers who just battled their way through their way through the back side of the bracket and tell them that they can not wrestle in their placing match due to reaching their limit on matches for the day. It is totally unfair to the kids to not be able to finish out a tournament after busting their tail all day and it is unfair that the other wrestler effected by this rule does not get to wrestle after working to get to the placing match. This past weekend I witnessed two wrestlers who had reached their one day limit and their match for 3rd/4th was decided with the flip of a coin, which is absolutely ridiculous. I have heard frustrations about this rule from other coaches, wrestlers, and parents. In my opinion, tournament brackets need to be set up to where this rule does not come into play, because it is really unfair to the kids. What are everyone elses thoughts on this?

Right on Lucas. It's a ridiculous rule. They can wrestle an hour straight live matches in practice but cannot wrestle six matches spread out over 8 hours on Saturday?

What needs to be done is an exception where the wrestler can wrestle their 6th match when it is to earn a medal after battling through the back side of a bracket. This would take care of the issue. They made it where forfeits don't count toward that limit, so that is a step forward.

We differ from the NFHS in a few areas and I believe that is why we have not made this a change for Kansas wrestling. However, this would be an acceptable solution. There is no good way to fix a bracket to avoid this. Usually a kid without criteria of some sort to be seeded comes all the way through the back side and runs into this issue and, I agree, it is hard to watch them miss wrestling for their medal.

Otherwise, I do understand the limit, but hate it every time we run into this situation. Yes, our kids can condition and wrestle more live than that in a day, but the rule is set up to protect kids from injury based upon fatigue. In days of solid competition across the board for a regular kid, 5 matches is a lot. I have no doubt all of our kids can make it through that many matches and at least one more--especially for the kid that walks through everyone, but it is not advisable to open that up to 6 or more matches per day per tournament, in my opinion, aside from the aforementioned exception.

Agree with the matches per day! Also, IMOP, we need to also fix a true 2nd. Yeah, some cry, this kid lost, this kid, won, so how is this fair. Well? Aren't they wrestlers? Wanna defend what you have or about to lose, then wrestle it. How many times do we see a wrestler, lose on the front and never get to wrestle the kid who took 2nd? Brackets ARE NOT, perfect. Seeds sometimes don't account, ability.
Oklahoma does it and so do a lot of other states.
But they waive they 5 match rule!
Kansas still holding our wrestlers back.

Especially when in many first round matches some may not go much more than one to two minutes total. Could there be a time on mat limit per day? There are no simple rules that will make all happy is the hard part.

Not having a True 2nd bout isn't holding our wrestlers back Spex. I think its dumb, unless you're trying to qualify for another tournament (See Wisconsin qualifier for state).

I always thought the match limit rule was dumb in high school and somehow its made its way into the college scene and its killing these one day open tournaments.

Reece, explain why a true 2nd is dumb? If you lost to the wrestler in the semis, who wins it, and never had a shot at the wrestler, who took 2nd, wouldn't you want to prove your worth? Like I said, not all brackets are perfect, at any level.
So if you're trying to qualify for State, there should be a true 2nd, to get a higher seed? Tournament is a tournament. Wanna be the best or 2nd, then we should look at doing it.

College got soft with a 30 minute break between matches and 6 match limit. I can understand time breaks for post season, but in an open where you might pin a kid in 50 seconds and you can't go again for 30? It slows down tournaments, and we are just getting to where rule changes have made it so tournaments are going way faster....this dumb rule added about 2 hours to a tournament that could have been over at 2pm instead of 4 that I attended....which is a lot when you consider tired coaches are the ones hauling kids to and from most of these duals...not bus drivers like in high school in most cases.


High School you need a true 4th for 4a and 3a for regionals.

Because brackets are set up to see who the champion is. The difference between 2nd and third is nothing as both most likely lost to the champion. True seconds drag on the tournament and the wrestler who has just won has a mental edge over the one who just lost with nothing to gain unless it is for a World Team or qualifying for some other reason. To me, it always has been and will be dumb to wrestle just to see who the true "first loser" is. If you ain't first you are last... BTW, RCC is Ryne Chance Cokeley. RAC is Reese Aaron Cokeley...

To qualify for State in Wisconsin you must take top 2 in your sectional. Therefore a true 2nd makes the most sense in that scenario. I wouldn't be opposed to a true forth place match for our regional tournaments to ensure that the best kids are qualifying for our state tournament, not to ensure a higher seed. Otherwise true 2nd matches just seem pretty unimportant. There is no true 2nd at any level in college and that is what we (as coaches) should be doing, preparing our athletes for the next level while helping them achieve their academic and athletic goals in high school.