Fini

Seeding always upsets some people.  Most of the time it is because people do not know what the seeding criteria used by the seeding committee are.  As stated in the LHSAA State Wrestling Championships bulleting, seeding criteria, once a wrestler has become eligible for seeding, are as follows:

1. Head-to-head records;
2. Record against common opponents;
3. Place finishes in common tournaments wrestled in the current competitive year;
4. Place finish in the Louisiana State Wrestling Tournament from the previous competition year;
5. Overall win percentage against the Division (excluding forfeits);
6. Overall general win percentage (excluding forfeits).

The following determination in the Division I 152 lbs. scenario is simply an example of what the seeding committee considers.

Division I 152 lbs. - Joey Foret (Holy Cross) over Clint Brownell (St. Amant):  This is not surprising but I thought I'd show the reader what the seeding committee might have had to consider:

The previous year's place at the state tournament criterion may seem like an "easy out," but as the editor spent over an hour using two computers for the one match-up above, consider doing it for nine seeds per weight class in Division I or eight per weight class in Divisions II and III.  But do not stop there.  Multiply that time by 14 weight classes, and then multiply that by three divisions.  In the very rare instances in which seeding methods do not produce clear-cut placements, the seeding committee votes.  Please consider these issues before chastising the seeding committee (and not only because it is a waste of time at this point to do so).  The committee has a monstrous task and performs it extremely well.  Would anyone like to wait until Friday after weigh-ins to learn the seeds?

Questions will no doubt still remain as to why certain wrestlers are seeded in certain places.  In the pages linked below the editor will offer his best opinion on a few situations in which the raison d'etre of certain seeds may not be clear.  Please know this is strictly the editor's opinion on how the seeding committee arrived at their decisions and, as such, may be incredibly wrong:

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