I would like to take a moment to tell everybody about a problem we had with the OAC.Our son wrestled at a district and qualifed as an alternate (5th place). We registered him like we were supposed to. We waited and watched to see if the top 4 placers were interested in wrestling at the state tournament. They all registered. I found out Tuesday that the 4th place kid from our district dropped out. OAC never contacted us to inform us of the opening, as a matter of fact they filled the opening with a kid from a different district and weight class. When I questioned this matter I was told that our son would be put in a rat tail with another alternate or if someone did not make weight. The kid that was from the other district and different weight class would stay where he was in the bracket. Even though it states in there RULES that you must wrestle the weight at state that you qualified at. When I questioned this, I was told by OAC management that they can change the rules at ANY TIME. So basically being an alternate to an OAC event means absolutely NOTHING. They can pretty much but any kid in any bracket at any time. So if you child doesn't place in the top 4 at a qualifier they are not guaranteed anything even if there is an opening. So I will not support the OAC in anyway, and I hope that this was an isolated incident but I'm afraid it probably happens more often than you think. This was our first year attending a district qualifer and unfortunately my son will never be a grade school state participant because I will never spend one dime of my hard earning money supporting this crooked operation. I had to teach my 8 year old son some hard life lessons this week.... LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS FAIR, AND ADULTS DON'T ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RULES!

Spend your money on private lessons, camps and open tournaments. A lot less BS to go through...

hang_loose wrote: Spend your money on private lessons, camps and open tournaments. A lot less BS to go through...

And probably a lot more effective at creating a good wrestler.

Do OURWAY.
We always did Ourway and did OAC Jr High State.

the top 4 of each district is guranteed qualification. the other alternates are not guaranteed anything, and it dosent matter which guy dosent attend. even if its the kid from your district that pulls out, that alternate is not guaranteed anything.

highschool has this rule in effect, to where the alternate from the district that the kid pulls out from is entered.

personally i have never had a issue with OAC and it is by far the most recognized and deepest tourny of the year in the state of ohio!

OAC and Ourway are both excellent experiences for the kids!

Tony Mead wrote: the top 4 of each district is guranteed qualification. the other alternates are not guaranteed anything, and it dosent matter which guy dosent attend. even if its the kid from your district that pulls out, that alternate is not guaranteed anything.

highschool has this rule in effect, to where the alternate from the district that the kid pulls out from is entered.

personally i have never had a issue with OAC and it is by far the most recognized and deepest tourny of the year in the state of ohio!

OAC and Ourway are both excellent experiences for the kids!

Tony Mead wrote: the top 4 of each district is guranteed qualification. the other alternates are not guaranteed anything, and it dosent matter which guy dosent attend. even if its the kid from your district that pulls out, that alternate is not guaranteed anything.

highschool has this rule in effect, to where the alternate from the district that the kid pulls out from is entered.

personally i have never had a issue with OAC and it is by far the most recognized and deepest tourny of the year in the state of ohio!

OAC and Ourway are both excellent experiences for the kids!

Tony,

The point is they didn't contact any alternates regardless of district in this case. They took a kid that wrestled 55 lbs. and qualified as an alternate and put him in the 60 lb. bracket over the 60 lb. alternates. How does that work, sorry it doesn't comply with their rules that they set-up. It states in the rules and again we have an email from management at OAC that you must wrestle the weight you qualified at in the state tournament. Not only did my son lose out at a shot so did the other alternates. The 55 pounder doesn't belong in the 60 lb. bracket period. But they make the rules and they decide when to enforce them.

No alternates qualify. The way the rule is written a 55 pounder moving into the 60 pound bracket as an alternate does not break the rule of qualifiers being required to wrestle at the weight the qualified in.

Hey Con Alma, what's your deal? You work for the OAC?? Here is a copy of the email sent to me by the "Operations Manager" of the OAC stating their rule to clarify for you...

This will be the final announcement for entries to the Grade School State. The weight classes below are the only ones with vacancies in the bracket. We will accept participants to these weights only via email to [email protected]. The wrestler must

a) Have wrestled in an OAC District qualifier

b) Compete only in the same weight class (plus 2 lbs.) that competed in at District



We will be making the final posting of brackets to the web site on Monday. After Monday the only changes to brackets prior to Friday weigh in will be corrections to any errors that may appear. All district participants may weigh in on Friday night 6:30 – 8:00pm. They will be added if a confirmed wrestler fails to appear or fails to pass weigh in procedure.

PLEASE NOTE RULE B Would you like to change your response now???

Here's another one for you in case you don't believe me...

State Alternates (5th and 6th placers)



Please complete the same process as the qualifiers. Once all of the qualifiers have had the opportunity to claim their spot in the state tournament, we will fill the open spots with the 5th and 6th placers who have indicated they would like to participate at state by filling in yes on the online form.


Also, there are two kids who are not listed as alternates or placers at any district on the 60 lb. bracket. How is this following the rules. They never contacted alternates and just filled the openings with whoever they wanted. In this case a 55 lb. 5th place alternate, and two kids who are not alternates or placers at all. How can this tournament be classified as the "best of the best" when they allow anyone to participate? Really this tournament has turned into a huge joke. Just another "open tournament" in my book. Just one that costs more.

Something I have learned over the years.... when you start to become overly frustrated or overly angry about any given situation, it is time to Take a Break! Go do something fun with your kid (non-competitive). Have a mom&pop weekend without the kids... Do something that is not at all related to wrestling. You are getting angrier than this is worth.

OAC is not perfect. They also have no investment in your kid at all at this point. They don't care who they put in the spot, but they would like to sell the spot. That's reality. The other side of reality is that we have a fairly strong competitive Jr. High state tournament for middle school kids that we would not have if it were not for OAC. We have a pretty good series of tournaments for elementary kids of all ages which includes a state tournament which we would not have if it weren't for OAC. I know they don't always follow their own rules, but they bring a fairly high quality product.

I know when it seems like your kid is getting cheated that it makes you angry and frustrated. Walk away from it. Tell your kid that next year, he needs to be in that top four so that "they" cannot keep him out. Take him to something out of state, just for fun, semi-vacation. You want tough competition, try something in Pennsylvania. Don't waste time or energy being angry and frustrated. It won't solve your problem. And please let the OAC people know of your issues -- when you are not angry.

2concerned parents

What's my deal?? I don't even know what that means.

No. I do not work for the OAC.

I never said I didn't believe you. I never said anything about you at all. I expressed my opinion on the issue.

I would not like to change my response. Nothing you posted changes my opinion on the issue. What you are showing is the process of alternates being considered. I don't see rules be broken based on the process for people who did not qualify. All things are taken into consideration before the decision is made by the OAC and that decision is based on what's best for the tournament and the kids. They have the ability to make the decisions they feel will make the tournament better. You are acting like this is some sort of public school tournament whereby every kid should get treated equally.

I don't know if this tournament is "classified" at all much less classified as the best of the best. There are many, many people that believe it is the deepest tournament in the state of Ohio. It's an opinion. Nothing more.

I'll repeat my opinion on the issue.

No alternates qualify. I repeat no alternates qualify.

No rules were broken.

The way the rule is written a 55 pounder moving into the 60 pound bracket as an alternate does not break the rule of qualifiers being required to wrestle at the weight the qualified in.

My last opinion and it's just an opinion, the OAC isn't for your family. The tournament has been defined as a "complete joke'' by you and that's probably not a tournament that would make sense for your family to enter in the future. There are just too many differences in place for it to be an ideal experience for you....which is unfortunate because many, many kids have benefited from their experience over the years.