A few weeks ago there was a post in regards to parents holding their kids back a year in hopes of them being more competitive in High School Athletics. There were many mixed feelings on the practice of doing such a thing. The topic was however noteworthy and worth discussion. There is something I would like some clarification on though. I spoke to a father from Minnesota who has a 13 year old son. He claims that his son wrestled varsity in High School as a 7th grader and is currently doing so as an 8th grader this year. I questioned him about his eligibility once in High School and he said that he would be able to compete at the Varsity level his entire tenure at that school. Is this guy for real? Do any other states allow this to happen? Someone please try to help me out.

When in Minnesota, do as the Minnesota folk do.

When in Kansas a high school student has four years of high school athletic eligibility.

There are several states which allow eighth graders to participate on the high school teams, and there have been instances I am familiar with in New York and Tennessee where there have been five time state champions.

Scott Coleman beat a 5x national champ from New Mexico to win a high school national championship.

SichardDRalyer--I believe you mean "There are several states which allow eighth graders to participate on THEIR high school teams..."

Please strive to be a reliable pursuer and presenter of proper spelling. There are children reading this forum.

Alot oklahoma kids get held back at early ages grade school or middle school mainly for athletic purposes.

I lived in Minnesota for two years, and this does happen. I worked with people who had kids in the 8th grade who played on their high school hockey teams. I believe this happens when ,1) kids are just that good, or 2)the high school team does not have enough players, thus allowing the younger ones to participate.

Bighead,

Yes some states allow 7th and 8th Graders to wrestle in high school. When we lived in New York (1997-2000), a wrestler on our club team moved to varsity 98lbs in 7th grade. He was required to have both a medical and physiological assessment prior to being allowed to wrestle.

Another example is Freshman Dan Bonte who wrestles for South Dakota. Bonte, a 4 X state champ, had a high school career record of 265-18.
He began his High School career in 7th Grade.

Check out his bio:

http://www3.sdstate.edu/Athletics/VarsitySports/Wrestling/Roster/BonteDan/Index.cfm

Mike Flynn

I noticed Prant mentioned New Mexico...what is up with everyone going to New Mexico for a year and then popping up elsewhere to wrestle a year later? Happend with some guys here in Kansas and some on Bishop Lynch team, and I believe they are listed as the same grade level? Any information?

Some states/schools are more lenient than others about holding kids back. In my school district, if you asked about holding a child back who was doing alright academically, they would tell you NO. I feel certain this would be the case in most if not all Kansas schools.