Build individual weight-class brackets

Use fixed weight-class brackets when entrants compete in declared classes and advance toward placements. Each division can have its own weight classes, match settings, and bracket formats.

Before opening Brackets

Confirm these items first:

1. The event includes Individual competition.
2. The applicable division uses Fixed weight classes.
3. The division has its weight classes and match settings configured.
4. The event roster contains the expected wrestlers.
5. Weigh-ins and scratches are current, or you are preparing provisional brackets before weigh-ins.
6. Each wrestler is assigned to the correct division and weight class.
7. Any required final seeds are applied for the affected weight classes.

A fixed division with no weight classes cannot accept registrations or create useful brackets. Open the event’s competition setup to add or edit divisions and classes. Use the Wrestlers or Weigh-ins page to correct assignments before building.

If the event uses records, placements, points, or qualifications to calculate its order, complete Manage seeds for a weight-class tournament before creating the brackets. Applying a different seed order later does not rearrange an existing bracket.

Choose the division

Open Brackets and select the division at the top of the page. Brackets, unassigned wrestlers, build status, and published-match warnings are scoped to that division.

If the page shows published matches for the division, entering Edit mode asks for confirmation. That warning means changes may require a bracket rebuild; it does not mean the whole event must be rebuilt.

Set the division’s automatic bracket formats

On the selected division’s mode line, Bracket Types shows From event or Custom. Open it to control which format families Snapdown may choose when it creates populated brackets by weight class or resizes a bracket after a wrestler move.

Leave the selection empty to inherit Individual Bracket Formats from Event Configuration. A custom selection replaces that event-wide automatic-sizing list for this division, so one division can use four-person round robins while another uses placement brackets or a different size ceiling. WB-3rd and WB-5th are separate families; Top 4, Top 6, and Top 8 are not separate choices here.

Set the event’s Bracket Places under Scoring & Placements. A division can inherit that value or override it in Divisions. Snapdown combines the selected family and effective placement depth when it generates the concrete bracket. See Set bracket places and team-scoring places.

Create brackets from the weight classes

Choose Add Brackets, then use one of these paths:

• Add Populated Brackets by Weight Class groups the current division’s wrestlers by assigned weight class, chooses a compatible bracket size, and places the wrestlers into the new brackets.
• Add Empty Bracket for Every Weight Class creates the class structure first so you can assign wrestlers manually.
• Add Brackets opens the bracket-format picker. Choose the quantity, format, and name, then fill the brackets yourself.

Snapdown warns when weight-class brackets with the same names already exist. Creating another set after that warning produces duplicates, so review the existing brackets before continuing.

Prepare brackets before weigh-ins

You can build fixed weight-class brackets ahead of weigh-ins using each wrestler’s registered weight-class assignment. Add Populated Brackets by Weight Class places the current roster into those classes. Check assignments before building, and treat the brackets as provisional until attendance and actual weights are confirmed. Divisions using automatic grouping can generate from registered weights; see Choose a matchmaking format and generate matchups.

After weigh-ins, open Roster and filter Not Weighed In. Confirm who did not arrive, then select one wrestler or all filtered wrestlers and use Actions → Scratch wrestlers with the No-show — did not arrive reason. Keep Also remove from brackets selected to clear their bracket spots. Review the result counts and any offered bracket downsizing before finalizing and publishing matches. See Run your tournament from weigh-ins to results for the event-day sequence.

Choose a bracket format manually

The manual format picker follows the event’s Individual Bracket Formats list. It groups logical families into round robins, small medal brackets, elimination brackets, pigtail formats, and pool-to-bracket formats. Placement variants are collapsed: for example, 16-person WB-3rd appears once rather than as separate P4, P6, and P8 rows. Types already used in the event appear at the top.

Choose a format that can hold the number of wrestlers in the class and follows the advancement path your tournament needs. Bracket Places supplies the placement depth. WB-5th has a minimum depth of Top 6 because that family inherently wrestles for fifth and sixth. If too many wrestlers are assigned, the bracket displays a capacity warning and must be resized before it can be built.

The division’s automatic list does not prohibit a deliberate one-bracket exception. If moving a wrestler would overfill a bracket that Snapdown can resize, and none of the division’s automatic types is large enough, Snapdown asks you to choose a larger compatible format or cancel the move. A format chosen as that exception is not automatically changed back to the division list later.

See Bracket formats and crossover rules for format behavior and placement details.

Review wrestler placement

Turn on Edit mode to adjust the bracket roster. Depending on the bracket, you can:

• assign an unassigned wrestler to a bracket;
• add a wrestler to an open slot;
• drag wrestlers between compatible brackets;
• move a wrestler to another bracket;
• swap two wrestlers; or
• remove or scratch a wrestler who should not compete.

Moving a wrestler across divisions updates the event’s division membership as part of the move. A wrestler cannot be placed twice in the same destination bracket.

Explicit seeds are placed before unseeded wrestlers. Lower seed numbers have higher priority. For unseeded wrestlers, Snapdown preserves the applicable ranking or manual order and can separate teammates when the bracket has enough positions. Review any same-team warning before building; some small fields cannot avoid a teammate matchup.

Build and review

Select one or more brackets and choose Build, or use Build All when the division reports several out-of-date brackets.

The status badges mean:

• Not Built: no current match structure has been saved;
• Out of date: the wrestlers or bracket structure changed after the last build; and
• Built: the saved matches agree with the current bracket.

Building creates or updates the matches, but it does not finish scheduling the event. Preview the bracket, confirm its entrants and advancement, then open Match Publishing to assign bout numbers and mat queues.

The separate Show and Hide actions control whether a bracket is visible to fans. They are not substitutes for building or publishing the match schedule.

Make changes before matches start

Before any affected bout starts, you can change wrestlers, resize a bracket, or change its format. Build the changed brackets afterward, then use Publish changes in System-Managed Scheduling or the applicable rule in Director-Managed Scheduling.

Snapdown tries to retain surviving bout identities and warns when a structural change requires replacing matches. Always review the repair preview.

Review bracket downsizing after a scratch

Removing a no-show can leave a bracket with empty slots. Snapdown can offer Review bracket downsizing after a scratch, and the Brackets page offers the same review for the selected division. The review shows each bracket’s current format, a smaller compatible format when one is available, and any reason it should stay as it is. Choose only the brackets you want to resize.

A bracket with started competition keeps its format. A director-chosen format outside the automatic choices, a team or pool format, or a bracket with fewer than two wrestlers may need individual review. After approving a smaller format, Build / Review updates on Brackets and reprint any affected brackets. If matches were already published, review the schedule changes before returning the bracket to the mats.

Make changes after competition starts

Active and completed bouts are competition history. Snapdown blocks ordinary restructuring when it would leave a partial bracket or detach a recorded result. Use withdrawal and targeted repair tools instead of deleting or renaming the event entry.

See these task-specific guides:

• Add a late wrestler after publishing
• Fix a duplicate wrestler or wrong weight class
• Change brackets after publishing matches

Next

• Use automatic match scheduling across mats
• Create a custom tournament flow and finals schedule