What to expect at a Washington Little Guy Tournament

  Each tournament will be slightly different because of the degree of autonomy given to clubs by the league. Each club runs their tournaments a little different, but they generally follow a familiar pattern.  Tournaments will have between 300 – 600 participants and at least that many parents and family members. The locations will be full and loud. The year-end Jason Crawford Memorial Tournament in Spokane will have over 3000 participants. 

 At the tournaments each club, ours included, is expected to provide workers to man a scorer’s table. You will be expected to participate and help with this task so that some parents don’t have to spend the whole day, every week working a table.  

 Headgear, Singlets, and wrestling shoes are mandatory for all wrestlers. If wearing braces on their teeth you must have some form of protection on them (top and bottom), all long hair (male or female) will be worn under a WIAA approved cap, fingernails must be short and trimmed.  

 REGISTRATION & WEIGH-INS 

Wrestler weigh-ins begin at 7:00 and end promptly at 9:00 AM. Plan to arrive sometime during that two-hour period. The later you arrive the longer the lines. The gym also fills up as wrestlers arrive. Our club will have an area that we will try and reserve, but we have to have bodies to fill the seats. Upon arrival you will find the registration table. They will check in your wrestler and take your entrance fee.  Sometime s a wrestler's name doesn’t appear on the list. When this happens, please contact the coaches immediately. After check in the wrestlers age will be written on their hand and/or shoulder and they will be sent to the weigh ins.

2024 weigh-ins will be held at Thursday night practice. The $10 tourney fee will be collected. It is important to commit to a go-no-go decision. The coach will be responsible for team and wrestler check-in at 9am Saturday. At weigh-ins the fingernails/hair/fungus check occurs and will be rechecked prior to the first match Saturday. Don’t forget you are also required to check in and out with the coaches upon arrival and before leaving.  

BRACKETING  

 Bracketing takes place Friday and adjustments may be made during the hour after check-ins. Bracketing is when wrestlers are placed in appropriate age and weight groups for competition. Our league mandates that wrestlers cannot compete outside of a 5-pound range our outside their age division without prior authorization. They will contact a parent/coach to obtain this authorization.  Wrestling will start at 10:00 AM each Saturday. Sometimes complications occur and delays happen. Be READY TO WRESTLE at 10AM. 

 PAIRING  

When bracketing has been completed the first age group will be called to the pairing room. This is usually the 5/6-year-olds. The announcer will point out where the pairing room is, but if you miss it don’t worry. Just follow the stampede of little bodies. Most of the tournaments allow a parent in the pairing room with the 5/6-year-olds. With the older age groups parents are not normally allowed to accompany them because it becomes too crowded if there are a lot of parents. In the pairing room the wrestlers' names will be called out and they will be “paired” with their opponent for the round.  

 STAGING  

 The two wrestlers that have been paired will take a bout sheet with their names on it to the staging area. This is normally a section in the bleachers. The wrestlers are moved one pair at a time from the staging area to the announcer’s table and are then taken to a mat.  

 MATCHES  

 Each mat will have a number. Most tournaments will use 10-12 mats. The announcer will announce each wrestler's name, their club, and the number of the mat where they will be wrestling. The wrestlers will then be taken to that mat. The bout sheet is given to the scorekeeper at the table. Typically, a match will already be going on the mat and wrestlers will wait at mat side for their turn. Two people (coaches) are allowed mat-side per contestant. Matches should not start without a coach present. Reactor coaches try to be on the lookout for our club’s wrestlers. If they are not present when the match starts refuse to begin until one is found.  

 One or both of the wrestlers will be asked to put on a colored ankle band. The wrestlers will shake hands and the referee will begin the match. When points are earned, the referee will hold up a hand indicating the points. The hand that he uses will have a wristband corresponding in color to the color of the ankle band of the wrestler that earned points. At the scorer’s table score is kept on the bout sheet.  There will also be a timekeeper. A score is displayed on the front of the table, but it may not always be up to date. The score that really matters is the one on the bout sheet.  

 The 5–12-year-old wrestlers compete in three 60 second rounds (three 90 second rounds for the 13–14-year-olds wrestlers). The match will end at either the end of three rounds or when one of the wrestlers is pinned or wins by Technical-Fall (more then 15-points). When the match is over the wrestlers will return to the center of the mat to shake hands and the referee will raise the hand of the winner. Each wrestler needs to shake hands with the coach of their opponent. The winner of the match signs the bout sheet and makes sure that his name is circled correctly.  

NUMBER OF ROUNDS

Pairing will generally take place sequentially by age and weight. While one age group is on the mats wrestling, the next group will be headed to the pairing room. This helps to keep things moving with minimal down time. Washington Little Guy uses a standard double elimination format when possible.  Sometimes due to the number of participants your wrestler will be in a round robin tournament. You will generally be guaranteed 2 matches.  

 POSTING BRACKETS

After the wrestling begins; the brackets for each age group are usually posted on a wall somewhere near the gym. It is important to check the bracket sheets to ensure that the information about the wrestler is correct. Things to look for include the age and weight bracket, spelling of the name and the club. After the first round the bracket sheets need to be checked to ensure that the winners and losers of each match have been recorded correctly. If an error is found, please NOTIFY A COACH so steps can be taken to correct it. It’s best to catch the errors as soon as possible.  

ELIMINATION FROM THE TOURNAMENT AND PLACING  

Wrestlers are eliminated after two loses. If you are unsure of whether or not your wrestler is done for the day, please check with a coach before leaving. After all the wrestling has been completed there will be an awards presentation with medals for the top three placers. After the consolation round wrestlers   that have either no loses or one loss will be called. The final round will determine first (gold), second (silver) and third (bronze) and fourth place.  

BEFORE LEAVING THE TOURNAMENT  

 You must check out with the club for safety and accountability. Coaches need to make sure that all results are recorded correctly and that wrestlers only leave with a parent or another authorized adult.  We are a team we will look out for each other.  A typical tournament will be finished at about 4-5 PM. There will be a coach or representative there until the very end to pick up medals and make sure all our wrestlers are safe and home.