Well the season is here and many schools are preparing for the first tournaments/meets of the season. In doing so many of our boys are wrestling off to "Defend" their rightful spot on the roster or to earn a spot on the varsity roster.

I know a lot of coaches frequent these forums and even referees and parents with some insight. Out of curiosity, how does your school/team deal with "wrestle offs"?

1. Are they done in private with a referee?
2. Are they in a gym or somewhere more accessible to the public?
3. Are they officiated and timed by team captains?

Ours were always done right at practice. Officiated by the coaches while the rest of the team watched.

My son's team already had their public intra-squad scrimmage. Those match-ups count in the wrestle-offs that dictate the starting lineup. They hire a referee to come in for that.

The beginning of the season wrestle-offs consist of the best 2 out of 3 matches unless you are pinned. The intra-squad scrimmage counted as one of those matches.

Done in practice with Head Coach officiating while the rest of the TEAM runs, lifts...

1_beast;992947 wrote:Done in practice with Head Coach officiating while the rest of the TEAM runs, lifts...

I agree with this and its the way its been done where ever I have been. You don't want kids cheering for or against their own team mates. Usually keep the other kids out of the room with at least 2 to 3 coaches in the room and confer on any close or questionable calls. These kids are already stressed out about fighting for a position against one of their own teammates and friends. Keep it low key and save the cheering for the real competition. I like best out of three if 1st match is less than a major. still do best in 3 for a pin because flukes happen when kids that wrestle all the time go at it. JMO

We always wrestled off during practice while the rest of the team was wrestling live. The head coach would usually ref the match.

teays valley had wrestle offs tonight in front of the youth team ,it was a great time

theviking;993500 wrote:teays valley had wrestle offs tonight in front of the youth team ,it was a great time

Awesome idea.

Con_Alma;993526 wrote:Awesome idea.

Terrible Idea IMO but to each his own. Not at this developmental stage and big disparities in skills and confidence. Possible train wrecks in front of peers ....Thinking mostly about newer kids to sport...Not a good Idea.

theviking;993500 wrote:teays valley had wrestle offs tonight in front of the youth team ,it was a great time

What's the lineup look like?

Orange does prelims in the room officiated by coaches. We did final match-ups tonight. They were open to public and we had officials brought in (thanks, Refman).

There were quite a few matches heavily contested, so I liked the officials to verify.

falcon81;993691 wrote:Terrible Idea IMO but to each his own. Not at this developmental stage and big disparities in skills and confidence. Possible train wrecks in front of peers ....Thinking mostly about newer kids to sport...Not a good Idea.

I see no problem with high school kids having wrestle offs in front of teammates or the youth team. They are big boys, if they can't handle it they probably don't have the right mentality for wrestling anyway.

We did them back in HS in the room head coach ref'd no one else in room. It wouldn't have mattered either way to me if team was there or not. As an official I have ref'd teams wrestle offs both in empty room and in a gym full of parents and teammates.

falcon81;993691 wrote:Terrible Idea IMO but to each his own. Not at this developmental stage and big disparities in skills and confidence. Possible train wrecks in front of peers ....Thinking mostly about newer kids to sport...Not a good Idea.

AGREED!!!

knightflyer150;994171 wrote:Orange does prelims in the room officiated by coaches. We did final match-ups tonight. They were open to public and we had officials brought in (thanks, Refman).

There were quite a few matches heavily contested, so I liked the officials to verify.

Big fancy dancy schools....wrestleoffs need done in the room....if you arent capable of FAIRLY officiating your wrestle offs.....you are an incompetent coach IMHO....wrestle offs are amongst team members competing for a spot...there isnt a need for cheerleaders, fan, public or referees...

justincredible;994288 wrote:I see no problem with high school kids having wrestle offs in front of teammates or the youth team. They are big boys, if they can't handle it they probably don't have the right mentality for wrestling anyway.

This coming from a guy asking "how should I run youth practice"............

the wrestling room is for wrestlers...as wrestle offs...IMHO

A little harsh, 1 Beast. It's fine to have a differing opinion, but to call Knightflyer an "incompetent coach" and to attack Justincredible is unnecessary. Why not just state your opinion without attacking others.

Great responses,

I was curious and I personally think they should be open to the parents - why not make a event out of it to showcase our boys. Ohio State does it that way.

Well ours were handled a little differently, but as I see from many of the posts above - there really is no set format for doing it. For some strange reason one of the wrestle offs took place on monday - perhaps because there was an opportunity for one of the boys to drop a class had he lost.

It was officiated by a team captain and there were other kids in the room, no big deal - I agree our boys should be able to deal with the stress of having your teammates there watching. However the rest of the wrestle offs took place on Tuesday in the gym - technically not open to the public and there was an official present for 90% of the matches.

zambrown;994468 wrote:A little harsh, 1 Beast. It's fine to have a differing opinion, but to call Knightflyer an "incompetent coach" and to attack Justincredible is unnecessary. Why not just state your opinion without attacking others.

Agreed zb.
Is there truly any "wrong" way?
I know many who use officials especially when there are closely competitive contests.
Whose to say that the coach doesnt have a slight bias towards a certain kid??? I know they shouldnt and blah blah blah but...maybe they are a little quicker to swipe or call stalling or stalemates. Maybe a kids parents are very involved with the program/boosters and the other kids parents arent it would eliminated any perceived favoritism whether its warranted or not. Wrestling is the great equalizer in sports. You win your wrestle offs you are the starter. End of story! Just saying.

1_beast;994342 wrote:This coming from a guy asking "how should I run youth practice"............

the wrestling room is for wrestlers...as wrestle offs...IMHO

And your point? I had been out of the sport for 10 years and have never coached or really been around youth wrestling. My apologies for trying to improve myself as a coach.

And I stand by my opinion. I didn't attack anyone else's opinion, not sure why you felt the need to attack me.

1_beast;994342 wrote:Big fancy dancy schools....

Jealous white trash is jealous.

1Beast, You're an interesting fellow. Kind of a jerk, but I'm feeling generous today, so I'll just call you grumpy.

We have a lot of kids in the program. There were at least four weights where two returning starters were wrestling off. I wanted it as fair as possible.

We wrestled off in the room, it was a small group of parents and the team. You can think whatever you want, certainly, b/c this is the internet, but we did it the right way for our program.

1_beast...In your humble opinion, are the Coaches at Ohio State incompetent?

There is no right or wrong answers here. What is good for Ohio State is not necessarily good for a young developmental HS or youth program. Whats good for the fans and coaches are not always good for the kids. To much mocho man attitude where your crushing a kid in front of friends and family isn't much of a team builder . Most wrestle offs in HS can be lopsided and awkward for parents and wrestlers at the HS level where fans are neighbors and friends. College is all veteran state champs from around the country getting paid in tuition to fight for that spot....A totally different ball game. I have seen many macho man very very good wrestlers and very knowledgable and highly technical wrestler coaches blow out their program and depth by catering just to the top wrestlers while crushing the rest.... Lets remember wrestling is to develop all kids and build them all up at what ever level they happen to be coming in....Please be mindful of that... I have never let my son's wrestle till 5th grade because most youth rooms are out of control, they didn't lose a step by 7th grade.We are not big time WWF promoters. Great opinions on this all around no absolute right or wrongs because bad people could mis handle either scenario and a good coach could make either work with adjustments if he had too.
At youth level There is only one purpose and one objective , to create a love and fondness to the sport for all kids, state titles at that age mean nothing and can even ruin a kid long run. If it builds them ALL up do it, But at youth age they are little boys there is plenty of time for "Tough Guy" the rest of their lives. I have a secret Video I got from one of the premier former Soviet Union developmental coaches. An awesome training video on how they train and select their young wrestlers. Zero competition till they are 12. Gymnastics, core training, flexibility and fundamental drilling and technique only. if you ever come to a camp I'll show you this, it would change some of your minds on how to get your kid ready for HS.

People seem to forget that it is also the start of the season for officials too. Officials have asked to do our wrestle offs strickly for early season mat time and to dust off the rust. We also give them an opportunity to go over the new rule changes. Nothing fancy about it. We help each other out. In mid season wrestle offs the coaches officate. We have done them in a small practice room with columns in the middle of the room and in an open gym. The kids are indifferent and feel they are getting a fair shake. Parents are welcome to watch, but there is to be absolutely no coaching or cheering allowed. We have never had an issue.

Great post Falcon!

We always did them in the room with coaches refereeing. The rest of the team would be drilling lightly as they watch. Nothing wrong with teammates watching. No cheering was allowed.

Also, why not have referees come in? Gives the opportunity to see any rule changes and how they are being interpreted.

We did this in college football. scrimmage against ourselves with real refs. After game, refs would talk to us about what was emphasized and allowed us to ask questions about situations.