Starting in 2019, Iowa will join 30 other states using TrackWrestling as a way to seed the traditional high school state tournament. The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced the decision last Monday to use the popular website to rank the top eight seeds of each weight class ahead of the competition, while the other eight qualifiers are chosen at random. In previous years, all 16 wrestlers were randomly drawn into the bracket with district champions paired up against district runner-ups in the first round. Among the factors that go into deciding the top eight seeds includes results of head to head competitions, winning percentage against common opponents, if you’re a returning state qualifier or place winner and others.

The Raccoon Valley Radio Network reached out to Panorama head wrestling coach Jason Kirtley last Friday for his reaction to the implementation of seeding for the Iowa High School State Wrestling tournament. He’s concerned how the seeding will affect his group of wrestlers. “We had guys go into this year’s (Iowa) State Wrestling tournament unranked, and we knew they wouldn’t be seeded, but we knew that they could place,” Kirtley said, “They (end up) beating a kid whose was 44-0 that was probably going to be a top-three seed, which is great, but it could’ve been the No. 1 seed. I guess I’m not for it, but I’m not against it either. I can see why they are doing it but, to me, the fun of the Iowa State Wrestling tournament is the random pairings.”

The unranked wrestler Kirtley’s referring to is recent Panorama graduate Trevor Carey. Carey was unranked entering the Class 1A 182 pound tournament against previously unbeaten Hunter Connors of Louisa-Muscatine. Carey topped Connors by major decision, 13-5, on his way to a fourth-place individual finish with a final record of 45-10. Connors left Wells Fargo Arena in February without a medal despite an overall record of 44-2. Hear all of Kirtley’s thoughts on the changes to the Iowa State Wrestling tournament on tonight’s Guthrie County PM Sports Page, starting at 6 p.m. on True County K 107.9.