Some of you haven't done math in a while. There’s been some debate about whether the best matches happened in the semifinals rather than the finals, with some arguing that seeding didn’t properly set up the right matchups. However, when we break down the numbers in 4A, where the best wrestling overall happens, the data tells a different story.

The #1 and #2 seeds reached the finals in 9 out of 14 weight classes, showing that the best wrestlers were consistently making it to the championship rounds. In those finals, the #1 seed won five times, while the #2 seed won four times, proving that the top seeds were generally accurate in identifying the best competitors. If the semifinals truly featured the best matches, we would expect to see more upsets preventing the top seeds from making the finals, but that wasn’t the case.

Beyond the finals, seeding also worked well in determining placement matches. The higher-seeded wrestler won the third-place match in 10 of 14 weight classes, meaning that even when wrestlers fell short of the finals, seeding still predicted placement accurately. While upsets are always part of wrestling, and some brackets will have surprises, the results show that the seeding process effectively ranked the competitors and led to a fair, competitive tournament.