Preliminary rounds, also known as pigtails, rattails, or qualifiers, are used when there are more wrestlers than available spots in a bracket. They allow wrestlers to qualify for the main bracket before tournament competition begins. Follow the information below to understand how preliminary rounds work, or watch the video below for an overview.
How Preliminary Rounds Work
Preliminary rounds are automatically created when the number of wrestlers exceeds the size of the bracket.
For example, if you have an 8-man bracket with 10 wrestlers, preliminary matches are created to determine which eight wrestlers advance into the championship bracket.
Important
Preliminary rounds are only supported on traditional, non-round-robin brackets.
Bracket Progression
Preliminary rounds use a double-elimination format.
- Wrestlers who win their first preliminary match advance to the championship bracket.
- Wrestlers who lose their first preliminary match can still advance to the consolation bracket by winning their second preliminary match.
By default, preliminary matches are randomly seeded and evenly distributed throughout the bracket.
Related Resources
Ready to configure preliminary rounds? See Set up Prelims
& Set Prelim Assignments.