Why aren't my players being added to the table?

My players are not being added to the table "battling". It runs the loop and as soon as it exits it prints all are dead therefore ending the game.

while wait(1) do
        matchTime = matchTime - 1
        print("Run")
        local battling = {}
        while looptime > 0 do
            wait()
            looptime = looptime - 1
            for _, player in pairs (contestants) do
                if player then
                    local character = player.Character
                    if character then
                        local humanoid = character:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
                        local matchTag = character:FindFirstChild("MatchTag")
                        if matchTag and humanoid and humanoid.Health > 0 then
                            table.insert(battling, player)
                        end
                    end
                end
            end
        end
        if #battling < 1 then
            print("All are dead")
            break
        elseif #battling == 1 then
            print("We have a winner")
        elseif #battling > 1 then
            print(matchTime)
        elseif matchTime <= 1 then
            matchTime = timeConst
            break
        end
    end

Any help will be appreciated.

Here is the full script if needed:

wait(5) -- wait for players character to load

local intermission = 10
local timeConst = 120 -- this is the time of the match. It makes sure that the time is always correct
local matchTime = timeConst -- 2 minutes
local firstRun = true
local message = Instance.new("Message")

local ss = game:WaitForChild("ServerStorage")
local gear = ss:WaitForChild("Gear")
local maps = ss:WaitForChild("Maps")

local plrs = game:WaitForChild("Players")
local teams = game.Teams

while wait(1) do
    if firstRun == true then
        print("First Run") -- debug
        wait(1)
        firstRun = false
    end

    while true do
        print("First Loop Initiated")
        contestants = {}
        wait(1) -- allow time for all contestants to load
        for k,plr in pairs (game.Players:GetChildren()) do
            if plr and plr.Character then
                print("player and char")
                local humanoid = plr.Character:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
                if humanoid and humanoid.Health > 0 then
                    print("Humanoid")
                    table.insert(contestants, plr)
                end
            end
        end
        if #contestants >= 2 then
            print("contestants")
            wait(1)
            break
        else
            print('waiting for players')
        end
        wait(1)
    end

    ----------------[LoadMap]--------------------
    --local randomMap = maps[math.random(1, #maps)]:Clone()
    --randomMap.Parent = game.workspace
    -- The above is commented to be fixed later.
    -- For now I will use the map loading system that only allows one map
    ss.Maps.ForestMap.Parent = workspace
    print("Map should be loaded")
    ---------------------------------------------

    --------------------[Intermission]------------------------------
    while wait(1) do
        print("Intermission Loop Initiated")
        if intermission ~= 0 then
            intermission = intermission - 1
            message.Parent = workspace
            message.Text = "Game begins in: "..intermission..""
        elseif intermission <= 0 then
            message.Parent = nil
            wait(0.5)
            break
        end
    end
    ---------------------------------------------------------------

    local numofplayers = game.Players.NumPlayers -- loop once for every player
    local looptime = numofplayers -- This may be a bit buggy. May need to update it after the end of match.

    while wait(1) do
        if looptime > 0 then
            looptime = looptime - 1

        end
        for _, player in pairs (contestants) do
            print("Preparing character for match")
            if player and player.Character then
                print("Player and player's char loaded")
                -- I removed the torso variable as I couldn't see it's point
                local humanoid = player.Character:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
                if humanoid then
                    print("Humanoid detection")
                    humanoid.Health = 100 -- Not sure what the point of this is
                end
                matchTag = Instance.new("StringValue")
                matchTag.Name = "MatchTag"
                player.TeamColor = teams.Battling.TeamColor
                deathScript = ss:WaitForChild("DeathScript"):Clone()
                deathScript.Disabled = false    
            end
        end
        if looptime <= 0 then
            break
        end
    end

    for i, p in pairs (contestants) do
        p:LoadCharacter()
        matchTag.Parent = p.Character -- If the player dies the matchtag will be removed automatically. Saves a little work for me.
        deathScript.Parent = p.Character
        local allGear = gear:GetChildren()
        local randomGear = allGear[math.random(1, #allGear)]:Clone()
        randomGear.Parent = p.Backpack
    end
-- Problem begins here V--
    while wait(1) do
        matchTime = matchTime - 1
        print("Run")
        local battling = {}
        for _, player in pairs (contestants) do
            if player then
                local character = player.Character
                if character then
                    local humanoid = character:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
                    local matchTag = character:FindFirstChild("MatchTag")
                    if matchTag and humanoid and humanoid.Health > 0 then
                        table.insert(battling, player)
                    end
                end
            end
        end
        if #battling < 1 then
            print("All are dead")
            break
        elseif #battling == 1 then
            print("We have a winner")
            for i,v in pairs (battling) do
                if v.Character:FindFirstChild("MatchTag") then
                    print("Winner is "..v.."")
                end
            end
        elseif #battling > 1 then
            print(matchTime)
        elseif matchTime <= 1 then
            matchTime = timeConst
            break
        end
    end

    wait(5)
    for _, player in pairs (contestants) do
        if player and player.Character then
            local humanoid = player.Character:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
            local matchTag = player.Character:FindFirstChild("MatchTag")
            player.TeamColor = game.Teams.Lobby.TeamColor
            if humanoid then
                humanoid:UnequipTools()
            end
            if matchTag then
                matchTag:Destroy()
            end
        end
        local Backpack = player:FindFirstChild("Backpack")
        if Backpack then
            Backpack:ClearAllChildren()
            print("Backpack cleared")
        end
        if player.Character:FindFirstChild("DeathScript") then
            player.Character.DeathScript.Parent = nil
        end
    end
    game.workspace:WaitForChild("ForestMap").Parent = ss
end