How do I withdraw an injured wrestler mid-tournament?

When a kid gets hurt or has to leave partway through, think of it as two jobs. The table records how this bout ended. A withdrawal then settles everything after it, so their opponents can keep moving.

What a withdrawal does

Withdrawing is the “they’re done for the day” action for someone who has already wrestled. In Snapdown it’s the same Scratch… you’d use for a no-show. It works one division at a time, and what it does depends on whether they’ve wrestled in that division.

Once they have, everything they’ve finished there stays on the record. Every bout they still have in that division is handed to the opponent as an injury default or a forfeit, depending on the reason you pick, and those opponents advance just as they would after any other win. If a future bout doesn’t have an opponent yet, the wrestler’s spot is simply emptied, and whoever gets there advances on a bye.

The brackets keep their size. Nothing gets downsized or rebuilt, and the wrestler stays on the roster, marked scratched in that division. Their other divisions aren’t touched.

Duals work differently. A scratched wrestler’s remaining dual bouts aren’t forfeited, because a forfeit there scores team points. Their lineup spot just empties so the coach can send a substitute, and whether to forfeit stays a Close Out Dual decision at the table.

As for team points, anything the wrestler already earned stays with their team. Their opponents get full credit for the forfeit, injury default, or DQ wins. Under NFHS rules that’s 2 activity points each, plus advancement where the bout earns it. The wrestler places wherever the forfeits leave them, so a finalist who withdraws before the final finishes second. See How team points are scored for the full scoring table.

Recording the bout at the table

The table records the referee’s call like any other result. When the scorer submits the match, they pick the opponent as the winner and choose the result from More results: Injury Default, Medical Forfeit, Forfeit, or Disqualification are all there.

If the referee stops the bout for blood or an injury first, the timer button beside each wrestler (the stopwatch and bandage icons) has injury, blood, and recovery timers. Starting one stops the match clock. In folkstyle, a fifth stalling call ends the match as a DQ once the table confirms it.

Have the table submit the bout before you withdraw the wrestler. Snapdown won’t withdraw anyone while one of their bouts is in progress on a mat, so finish or stop that bout first.

Withdrawing the wrestler

Open Roster and choose Scratch… from the wrestler’s ⋮ menu. Then pick a reason. Injury records their remaining bouts as injury defaults; No-Show, Overweight, and Withdrawn record forfeits. Before you confirm, Snapdown spells out each division: what stands, what gets forfeited, and which divisions they’re still entered in.

There’s no medical forfeit option on a withdrawal. If your rules call for medical forfeits on the remaining bouts, have the table record each one as it comes up instead.

To withdraw several wrestlers at once, turn on Select Wrestlers on Roster and choose Actions → Withdraw wrestlers…. You pick Injury, Disqualified, or Other, and every selected wrestler leaves all of their divisions in one step.

For a DQ, have the table record the DQ, then scratch them with Withdrawn so the rest become forfeits. Any team point deduction for misconduct is a separate step. See Deduct or add team points.

One division or several

A kid entered in two divisions can be scratched from just one. When there’s more than one, Scratch asks which: the division of the row you opened is checked, and you can tick others. Only the checked divisions change. Their brackets, results, and entry in any other division stay exactly as they are.

Scratch… on a wrestler’s menu on Brackets works the same way, starting with that bracket’s division. The no-show option on Weigh-ins starts with every division checked, since a kid who didn’t show is usually out of all of them.

Later bouts are settled too

A forfeit loss can drop the wrestler into another bout, like a consolation or placement bout. The withdrawal follows them there and settles that bout as well, so one withdrawal covers the rest of their tournament.

Withdraw, scratch, or remove?

These three get mixed up. Scratch and withdraw are the same Scratch… action now; Snapdown decides per division based on whether they’ve wrestled there.

	Use it when	What happens
Scratch	They haven’t wrestled in that division yet. Byes don’t count, and a kid hurt warming up is a scratch too.	They come out of that division’s brackets. A queued bout can go to the opponent as a forfeit or become a bye, and Snapdown offers to downsize brackets.
Withdraw	They’ve wrestled at least one bout in that division.	Results stay, remaining bouts become injury defaults or forfeits, and brackets keep their size.
Remove	The entry should never have existed, like a duplicate or a test entry.	The entry is deleted. It isn’t allowed for registered entries or anyone who has wrestled.

For how scratching works, see Wrestlers who miss weigh-ins. For duplicates, see Fix a duplicate wrestler or wrong weight class.

Undoing a withdrawal

Undo Scratch on the wrestler’s Roster row puts them back in that division, but it doesn’t touch bouts. Bouts the withdrawal already recorded stay recorded, and opponents who advanced stay where they are.

Withdrawing their registration on Registrations does the same job and forfeits their remaining bouts in that division. So does a refund where you choose Withdraw [name] instead. See How registrations reach your roster.

Related

• Score matches at a table
• Review registration changes before updating the roster