Jethro Tull would be proud

No, not these guys... ...this guy.

Of 252 wrestlers that placed in the top six all of the weight classes in the three divisions, 33% of them placed exactly where they were seeded. The seeding committee picked the exact two finalists 29% of the time. The table below indicates, per place, what percentage of wrestled seeded 1-6 placed exactly where they were seeded: Seeded & placed 1st Seeded & placed 2nd Seeded & placed 3rd Seeded & placed 4th Seeded & placed 5th Seeded & placed 6th 69% 48% 19% 21% 24% 24% The table percentage of wrestlers seeded 1-6, per weight class and including all three divisions, that placed exactly where they were seeded:: 106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 22 285 28% 39% 56% 39% 50% 22% 11% 39% 28% 28% 39% 50% 33% 17%

Number and percentage of seeds that won state championships:

Two lessons to be learned: 1) do not seed Live Oak wrestlers second - they will just take first and prove you wrong;  2) do not add insult to any injuries to returning state champions by seeding them 7th.

* Percentages do not combine to make 100% due to rounding.

It is worth noting that if seeding committees were correct 100% of the time little reason would exist to have a wrestling season.

Lucky 7?

Basile's Trenton Pelloquin, despite a very good record and the fact that he won the Division III state championship at 170 lbs. in 2012, was seeded seventh at that weight in 2013.  That eighth-seeded sophomore Matt Adams of Fisher reached the finals was a surprise, but Pelloquin winning it again simply was not.

Unlucky 7?

Nineteen 2012 state champions entered the tournament.  Twelve repeated while seven were dethroned.  Two had to be as two divisions had weight classes which included two returning state champions.  All but one placed second or third.

* Forced to withdraw during the quarterfinals due to an injury.

It makes sense, but...

If everything goes according to the seeding then in the quarter finals the matches are as follows: #1 vs. #8, #2 vs. #7, #3 vs. #6 and #4 vs. #5.  The last pairing, #4 vs. #5, via real simple math, consists of the match in which both wrestlers are deemed the closest in talent to one another than in the other scenarios (i.e., a #1 seed is expected to be much better than a #8 seed).  As such, #4 vs. #5 matches should provide the most seeding upsets, and that held true in this tournament as 15 of the 42 matches were won by the 5th-seeded wrestlers.  Three of those #5 seeds went on to win, but only one #4 seed walked out with a state championship (Pembo-D III 220 lbs.).

When you least expect it...

Three fifth seeds won state championships.  Senior Sidney Rodriguez, filling in for Catholic's injured 145 lbs. starter Reid Burns, defeated top seed Tyler Frame of Rummel in the semifinals 9-3 and third seed Efosa Eboigbe of Jesuit 5-4 to win a state championship for the Bears.  A little later, St. Louis junior Lehrue Stevens, IV., after defeating #1 seed Travis Thibodeaux of Teurlings Catholic, prevailed 5-3 in an "Ultimate Tie-breaker") match against #3 seed Austin Doyle of Holy Cross.  Lehrue won the first of three consecutive championships for the Saints.  Also in Division II, Sam Houston's #5 Cameron Ferguson beat #4 Travis Santiago of Teurlings Catholic, #1 Reginald Markray of Huntington and #3 Jordan Showalter of Holy Cross to win a state title.

Records are made to break something

The state championships at the Pontchartrain Center set a new attendance record again:

x = Data unavailable as of "press time."

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