Official Guide
2026 The Doug Dix Memorial Bracket Challenge Rules
Everything you need before picks lock on Thursday: eligibility, scoring multipliers, category bonuses, and submission details.
The Doug Dix Memorial Bracket Challenge
Competition Portal
Entry & Eligibility
- Entry fee is officially $150.
- Eligibility is limited to William and Mary alumni wrestlers. Friends in attendance may also enter.
- No wrestler or team may be repeated in another category (e.g., Mitchell Messenbrink may not be a pick for both #1 seed and OW.
- No more than 4 wrestlers from any school may be selected across all categories.
- This is a winner-take-all competition.
Winner's Duties
- The winner is responsible for buying drinks on Saturday night.
- The winner hosts the Champion’s Dinner in St. Louis before the 2027 tournament starts.
- If the winner is not in attendance, they receive a guaranteed invite into the Box the following year but must buy tickets like everyone else.
Scoring Categories
Outstanding Wrestler (OW)
- OW scores regular advancement team points.
- Correct OW pick earns an additional 25 points.
- If multiple wrestlers share OW, selecting any awarded wrestler earns points.
Most Pins in Least Time
- Your pick scores 6 points per pin.
- If your pick wins the award, you earn a 25-point bonus.
Team Placement (2nd, 3rd, 4th)
- 10 points for each correct team in the correct place.
- 25 bonus points for picking all three in exact order.
- All three correct teams in the wrong order earns no bonus.
Cinderella Pick (Seed/Place Differential)
- Score is 3 × differential between seed and placement (positive or negative).
- If your pick does not place, a deduction of -15 points applies.
- Pick must be a wrestler not selected elsewhere.
Detailed Scoring Structure
- Individual Weight Class: 20 wrestlers required, with 2 different wrestlers per weight class.
- Include one selection from each top seed 1–16 plus 4 additional selections from seeds 17–33.
- The four seeds below top-16 may repeat seed numbers (example: all four can be #20 seeds).
Multiplier formula: (Advancement + Placement points) × multiplier
- Seeds 1–16 → ×1.0
- Seeds 17–21 → ×1.5
- Seeds 22–26 → ×2.0
- Seeds 27–31 → ×2.5
- Seeds 32–33 → ×3.0
Unlike prior year, a 32 or 33 seed no longer needs to win the rattail to score points.
Submission Rules
- All entries and fees must be sent to The Commissioner before tournament start.
- Multiple entries are allowed, each requiring a separate entry fee.
- Submission time is determined by electronic date stamp for both entry and fee.
- Save your file as "JID - your name" and email it back.
- Pay via Venmo (@DaveMeyrowitz), PayPal (@davemeyrowitz), Zelle (@631-241-0703), or in person before start.
- Late entries do not count and the entry fee is awarded to the winner.
- Entry fee and picks may be submitted at different times, so long as both arrive before action begins Thursday.
Tie Breaker Rule
In light of the advancing age and deteriorating physical state of most entrants, the tie breaker of top/bottom 30 second wrestle-off is henceforth retired. The new tie breaker criteria will be 1) Most points scored from top 16 seeded picks. If still tied, the next tie-breaker will be 2) most points scored from the seeded picks from non-Penn State wrestlers, if still tied the final criteria will be 3) a best of 3 game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Appeals & Questions
Commissioner 2.0 is open to reasonable pleas, concerns, and questions from rational individuals. Commissioner 2.0’s decisions are final, and lawyers rank below drunkards in determining rationality.
Administrative Portal
Tournament Controls
The Entry portal is currently locked down. Scores & Results stay visible to everyone.
Current state: Unlocked
CSV Data Ingestion
Score CSVs are found in TrackWrestling Hub using classic view: open the tournament, click Results, then Individual.
Registered Users
Visible only to Admin. User credentials are stored in this browser.
Manage Submitted Entries
Review all submitted entries, track payment status, and edit or delete entries.
Existing Entries
Select any saved entry to review all picks, then edit or delete it.
Competitors CSV
Relevant headers: Weight, Seed, Name, Team. All others are ignored.
Teams CSV
Relevant headers: Team, ABBR, Count. All others are ignored.
Individual Scores CSV
From Individual stats, select Most Team Points, then export each weight class separately.
Relevant headers: Current Place, Wrestler Name, Team, Team Points.
Most Pins Least Time CSV
Select Most Pins Least Time and do not select a weight class.
Relevant headers: Place, Wrestler Name, Team, Pins, Total Time.
Cinderfella Placements
Set each picked wrestler's final place to score the Cinderfella category. Scores use (seed - place) × 3 or -15 for DNP.
Team Scores CSV
Click the Teams tab and copy/paste the table into CSV format before upload.
Relevant headers: Place, Team, Abbr, Points.
Past Champions CSV
Upload the champions list with two columns: Year and Name.
Outstanding Wrestler (OW) Winner
Most Pins Least Time Winner
Bracket Entry Portal
Entries are closed. This page remains available only to review the locked form layout.
Scoreboard
Scores & Results are public.
Leaderboard
Entrant Pick Breakdown
History of The Belt
Explore the story behind The Doug Dix Memorial Bracket Challenge belt, from its founding traditions to the moments that made it a year-over-year point of pride for competitors.
Past Champions
Review prior winners of the challenge and celebrate the entries that set the standard for precision picks, strategy, and tournament insight.