I agree this is strange. The young guys all wrestle the opens first semester so participation of those would drop way off. Are they trying to kill the opens at the beginning of the season? Are they trying to make this a one semester sport? Can a freshman wrestle unattached in first semester opens then just not be eligible to wrestle attached second semester? Will Opens like Cliff Keen and Midlands continue to fall off? Lots of questions.
They get 5 attached events for the whole year, and no unattached events in the first semester.
So you'll probably see freshmen wrestle attached in 2-3 early opens, save the other 2-3 attached events for potential dual fill-ins, and then compete unattached in smaller second-semester opens.