How to Qualify for State
In April of 2026, the THSSDL Board of Directors adopted a new format for qualifying for state. Rather than students qualifying by attending and placing in the top 4 of their event at district tournaments, students will now be accumulating "Bid Points" across the tournament season.
The number of Bid Points students receive at a tournament is determined not only by how the student places at the tournament, but also on how many other competitors were in the event. For example, a student will earn more bid points for winning a tournament with 20 competitors than they would winning a tournament with 7 competitors.
The new Bid Point System also defines how well a student needs to perform at a tournament in order to receive Bid Points. For Example, at a tournament with 1-7 competitors in an event, Bid Points are only awarded to the 1st place champion. However, at a tournament of 8-14 competitors in an event, the top 3 students will receive Bid Points. To see how many Bid Points are awarded based on entries and placement, please consult the table below.
To qualify for the state tournament, students are ranked by the sum of their four highest-scoring tournaments. Excess Bid Points outside of a student's four highest are not calculated into their Bid Point Total. Bid points are live-updated and can be viewed here. The top 18 students in each event will qualify for the state tournament.
Bid Points Awarded
Based on Number of Entries and Final Placement
Final Placement | 1-7 Entries | 8-14 Entries | 15-21 Entries | 22-28 Entries | 29-35 Entries | 36-42 Entries | 43-49 Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First Place | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 |
Second Place | 0 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 | 48 | 56 |
Third Place | 0 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 42 |
Fourth Place | 0 | 0 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 |
Fifth Place | 0 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 28 |
Sixth Place | 0 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 |
Semi-Finalist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
Items to Remember
01
Only events that are using official THSSDL rules can qualify students for Bid Points.
02
Only the top 4 Bid Point scores will be used to qualify a student for state.
03
Bid Points are live-updated on the THSSDL website only when tournament directors submit final ranks.
04
The state qualifiers will be the 18 competitors with the highest number of Bid Points at the end of the season.