There is no requirement to seed competitors directly into the finals (bypassing a prelims or semi-final round) at any NYYL event. In addition, the contest organizer, in agreement with the head judge, may set forth additional criteria that is more limiting than what is described here or choose not to seed any competitors to the finals.

NYYL Pre-seeding Standards

State and Regional Contests may, with the agreement of the contest organizer and head judge, seed competitors into the finals freestyle (bypassing a preliminary round) for a particular division based on the following guidelines.

State Contests

State Contests may seed competitors to the finals in a Championship division with the following mechanisms:

• The previous years Champion from that state may be seeded to the finals. The State Champion is the highest placing competitor from within the State and may not necessarily be the 1st place competitor from the previous year.
• The previous years 1st place competitor may be seeded to the finals.

Regional Contests

Regional Contests may seed competitors to the finals in a championship division on the following criteria:

• State Champions within the Region may be seeded to the finals. The State Champions must be from the State Contest that took place after the previous years Regional Contest.
• The previous years Regional Champion may be seeded to the Finals. The Regional Champion is the highest placing competitor from within the Region and may not necessarily be the 1st place competitor from the previous years division.
• The previous years 1st place competitor may be seeded to the finals.