While the feelings and emotions associated with state tournaments are the same across the country, how exactly these events are conducted is not. This feature will examine some of the key aspects of each of the state-level championships throughout the country. These include 43 states that have their own season-ending tournament; the New England Regional Championships -- which include Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont ... as well as the National Prep Championships.
In addition to the New England Regional and the National Prep Championships, seven other state-level championships are one division events; this includes those held in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas. The other 36 champions have multi-divisional formats ranging anywhere from two to six different classifications based on enrollment -- except for Tennessee, which has separate tournaments for public and parochial schools.
Thirty-one of these championships have two, three, or four different divisions. The championships contested in Arizona involve six divisions. Those held in Georgia, Oregon, Utah, and Washington have five. Fifteen states have three divisions, nine have two divisions, and seven have four divisions.
Most of these tournaments, 88 when you break it down by divisions, involve 16 wrestlers competing for an individual title. Only 37 tournaments have some other format. This ranges from the 16 tournaments that have 8-man brackets to the 40-man bracket used by the state of California, which admittedly is a single-class tournament for the biggest state in the country.
Over the years, the full double-elimination bracket has become the prevailing format of these individual state tournaments. Only those tournaments in Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee (for Division I only -- two division state), and Wisconsin do not use this format.
In Hawaii (20-man bracket) and New Jersey (24-man bracket), the first round losers are eliminated, and it becomes double-elimination at that point. In Illinois (big-school Class 3A), Minnesota, and Wisconsin -- only those wrestlers that lose to a state semifinalist are eligible to wrestle-back for third place. In the 32-man bracket used for Division I wrestling in Tennessee, only those wrestlers that lose to a quarterfinalist can wrestle-back to third place. Only those that lose to a finalist in Illinois' classes 2A and 1A can come back and compete for placement.
Most uniquely, the Indiana 16-man bracket is most like a single-elimination tournament. Those losing in the first round are out of the tournament, wrestlers that lose in the quarterfinal compete for places five through eight, while the two semifinal losers wrestle for third place.
With the exception of nine tournaments from the 125 that are considered state-level championships, there are either one or two levels of qualifying tournaments. Indiana has three levels of tournaments prior to state, while certain districts in Pennsylvania have to advance through three tournaments in order to make it to state. On the other hand, state championships in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee (Division II only) are truly “open” tournaments.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, these qualifying tournaments will create a “symmetrical” state bracket. Most commonly this is a “4x4” system in which four wrestlers exit each qualifier to form a 16-man state tournament bracket. All four quarter-brackets have an individual from each of the qualifiers, as well as one that took each of the four places at those qualifiers.
While the ultimate goal in each of these state brackets is to take home the championship, every tournament will recognize a certain number of wrestlers with all-state recognition (i.e. placing at the state tournament). Depending on the state and tournament -- four, six, or eight individuals earn the honors.
Six wrestlers placing at state is the most common number, with 77 state-level tournaments utilizing this format. Eighteen tournament brackets place only four wrestlers. This includes all but one of the 17 tournaments that involve eight or nine wrestlers (Georgia Class 1A places six from an eight-man bracket), and also the 12-man bracketed tournaments in Illinois classes 1A and 2A. The remaining thirty state-level tournaments have eight wrestlers earning placement honors. Notably this includes the tournaments in elite wrestling states such as California, Iowa, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; as well as at the National Prep championships.
The vast majority of these state championships (38 out of 45) will officially crown a team champion; only those in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Wisconsin do not have an official team score kept. All seven of those states crown team champions through a separate dual meet tournament.
Ten other states have state-sanctioned dual meet championships as well -- Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
In determining those teams that eligible to qualify for dual meet state, four states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin) use the first level of qualifying for the individual state tournament to set the field. Only Michigan and North Dakota have a tournament bracket in which every single team battles for the state title, like you would see in basketball. The other 11 states have varying qualifying criteria for dual meet state and/or to make it into the qualification tournaments for dual meet state.
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