Question if you go to a tournament and find that your wrestler is in a combined weight that puts him in a bracket with another wrestler that is 30 to 40 pounds heavier what can you do? If you bring it to their attention and they refuse to change it what can you do if anything?

Usually if you don't want to wrestle that kid cause it is outside the allowable USA Wrestling Guidelines then they will just offer you your money back and send you on your way.
Cause its their right to combine weight classes. When you get into the upper weights its usually more then twenty pounds.

Then you got to decide...
Pack up drive all the way home or wrestle the bigger kid.
It was alway worse in OK cause the max weight is 285.
We've drove all the way down to Stillwater and have had to give over FIFTY pounds or take back our money and go home.

Always watchout for the childs safety FIRST.
Other then that its all about mat time until we get to Subs so I say go for it and use it as a learning tool.

I dont mind giving up 20 pounds but it worries me when our wrestler weighs 100 we send him in at 110 and they combined him with a kid who weighs 170. I just dont think that anyone would stand still for them to combine 61 with 95. Those parents would throw a fit. I guess one thing that bothers me is the attitude that it is ok because they are big boys.

Move him up an age group? Might allow for a closer grouping.

it does seem like too much weight. what is your suggested solution?

both boys travel, weight in, collect medal and then go home?

i would think that as BLT stated that most tournament directors would be open to suggestions, but if they refuse there really isn't anything you can do.

maybe a good practice would be to call before making the trip, make sure they have someone there within your parameters, before you leave the house.

and yes it does stink because it's just because they are big. that isn't always a bad thing though. i still remember my first tournament, it was in OK, i was in the 7th grade 12u, weighed 135 (that was hwt in those days), my first opponent had a slight mustache, and the mark on his arm said 210!! my dad said we didn't come all this way to turn around and drive home, give it your best shot. i hung for 2 1/2 periods, then the difference was too much and i crumbled. my sophmore year i wrestled the same kid i weighed 195 (there wasn't a 215 class then) and this dude weighed 274, i was stronger, smarter, and definitley a better wrestler. i couldn't pin the big boy, but i used my speed, OR rather his complete lack there of, and won 9-2.

use YOUR better judgement then tell your wrestler, that you believe in him/her win/lose/ or "no contest".

I am learning to definately call ahead. Alot of the tournaments do not understand the weight classes in the heavier weights. Most think at 10 and under you go from 130 to heavyweight. They don't look at the USA rules and lump all kids above 130 together. I called on a tournament for next week and this was the case again. Once I talked to the gentleman about it he rebracketed them correctly. This is how it should work. I don't know about most years but there are alot of kids in the 130-150 class this year. No reason to group these kids with the 150-170 kids. It is a safety issue.

Personal Information removed.

Again you forgot to sign your name ALETHEIA.

That is one reason you can view the entries on line for the Oklahoma tournaments. The other reason is so you can see what weight a kid is that you want your son to wrestle that week. It makes for good match ups sometimes.Maybe Kansas could something like this in the future.

......RUN AWAY!!

This stuff makes me laugh. You people would die if you had to wrestle in OK or Missouri or on a National level. OK 10U goes 131lbs to 275lbs. We are 10U & 190+ and often give up 40-50lbs. You learn to adapt or get beat. Safety, while important is not the issue here. I've seen a lot of big weight spread matches and have yet to see anyone get hurt. Seen a lot of kids who were lighter and near or at the same weight get hurt though. I would be more concerned about the crap (literally) that is brought in on the mats from dirty bathrooms on the shoes and the fact that mats are not being sanitized frequently enough or at all. Now those are some serious health and safety concerns.

Another option for everyone worried about "safety" would be to forfeit the match against someone you think is too big or to talented to wrestle. You have that right.

If you think wrestling up is such a good thing all the time, then why bother at all with kids divisions. Pair'em up by weight then let'em go at it. See how long USAWKS lasts after you do that. We get plenty of mat time getting thumped by older boys at practice.

Your correct about asking before you enter your kids in a tournament in KS if you are over 130lbs. Most of the tournaments will try to work with you. However, you should expect to have to wrestle up an age group as the only real option.

One of the neat things about the way OK sets up their series tournaments is that you can see who is going well ahead of time and they do their cut offs on the Wed nights before the tournaments. Usually by then there are enough people listed to give you an idea of what to expect. That really helps if you want to go where you know there will be competition for your wrestler or not.

I think we should encourage tournament directors who use track wrestling to allow us as parents/coaches to be able to view who is going from the time people sign up with est. weights. That way you can make an informed choice wether or not to go to that tournament or not. This makes more sense to me than playing the "Who's here lottery" and then getting rebracketed after you show up. Kids are usually stressed up enough as it is about being there to wrestle, then you go and add they have to wrestle kids 2-3 years older than them or not at all. How is that fair to the kids involved? It isn't, it's about money and trying to pressure people into doing something just to get in some matches at any cost. We played that game for many years, not anymore. If there is any talk of moving us up we collect our money and go to the movies instead.

I saw a 75 pound kid (12U, I'm guessing) from JC last weekend at the Wamego open tournament that got bumped up into the 95 pound bracket. No complaints...he just went out there and wrestled. We was very competitive, too. I saw him go 1-1 but didn't catch any other matches. Kudos to him.

i don't think everyone should bump up, that's where YOUR better judgement comes in to play. the point is there are choices, rather than excepting the director's first decision.

and you are definitley right about the "crap" on shoes, skin, hair, etc.

All of those are good ideas. Some of you realize that some kids already wrestle kids who are two or three years older. If they are a young 10 and under and they are wrestling a old 10 and under you could have a 9 year old wrestling a 11 year old. Question are the weight rules something that has to be followed or are they just guidelines or suggestions. As for moving up in age I really don't feel like telling a second year kid that he needs to move up to ten and under just because someone doesn't know the rules. i want it to be fun not scary and painful. Wish there was a easy answer but I know there isn't. guess will we just keep working on it.

Guess I must have missed something on the way to the wrestling mat. I was always under the impression that wrestling is or was supposed to be kinda scary and painful. Bumps, bruises, black eyes, sprains, broken bones and bloody noses are all a part of this sport.

Wrestling is a form of martial arts. That means close quarters hand to hand physical combat w/ a few rules kicked in to keep'em from actually killing each other. If you want to have fun try dance classes. They still might require some physical contact but it's usually in a nice friendly manner. So, if you have a problem emotionally and physically with getting beat up once in awhile or possibly frequently, then wrestling is probably not your sport.

Honestly, don't kid yourself. This is and can be a very dangerous sport regardless of what rules are in place. It only takes 6 lbs of pressure to break a bone in an arm or leg if applied properly.(I got a whole bunch of other simple neat ways to be injured, but for brevity I will refrain from that list.) So it doesn't really matter how big or small you are. You still run the risk of an injury any and every time you step on the mat against anyone, irregardless of the weight differences.

I do respect the kids for their efforts. It takes a ton of guts to dedicate themselves to a sport where they go out on the mats week after week for sometimes 6 to 9 months of practices and/or at tournaments. Fighting all those little natural instincts to run away from confrontation/pain/public humiliation and getting physical with people they often don't know or at best know little of. Toss in the occassional injury and a diet loss regimen and you have one tough kid. Funny thing is, we don't often stop to acknowlege that and see them as they really are.

Three seasons ago my son wrestled Top of 8U 110 and only weight a shade over One Hundred.
Week in and week out they would combine brackets. We always wrestled kids Ten to THIRTY pounds bigger then us. When the state series came around and all we had were kids our own weight class [But still ten pounds bigger] it was rather easy for us. He knew that always wresting bigger kids made him a lot stronger.
Now we are TOP of Ten Under and he only weighs 6 pounds more then he did back then. He has grown into a very different kid physically. But we still sign up every few weeks for an upper weight class to help us stay stronger.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is make the most of it. Use it as a tool not hand cuffs. Take pride that you wrestle bigger kids and hold your own. Cause I promise that three weeks of the year we are all on a level playing field and your son will be much better off for it.

don't get hung up on the age matter, that will never change. in high school you will have young immature 14 year old kids wrestling, 18 year old men. it's not just a wrestling thing either, when your son graduates from college he will be interviewing for jobs, and competing against men/women that have 5-10 years of "real world" experience too!! the thing to do is get it in your head that such is life, and learn to help your child deal with it.

there's rules in place, but tournaments reserve the right to combine weights. that won't happen at the qualifying tournaments or state, but it will everywhere else. the only way is to WORK WITH the director, if NEITHER is willing to compromise, A LITTLE, then there won't be a solution. that will also be there for the rest of time, WE ALL have to give a little to get a little, in life.

THERE IS NO EASY WAY, IN WRESLTING, OR IN LIFE- look at it as a life lesson that you are passing on to a child, as difficult as it is, the earlier those lessons are learned the EASIER it will be to deal with those "real world" /"life" situations that come up.

the trick to all of this is making it understandable to a 10 year old- a few things to try:
-"that which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger" tell him that bumping up in age/ weight is going to be hard,don't sugar coat it. and that you don't expect him to win, but you do expect him to try as hard as he can, and never give up.
- "a victory no matter how small or insignificant is still a victory"
tell him if you go out and get pinned in the 1st period, say i know it's tough, but we need to work on these few things so you can do better. if he makes to the second period and gets pinned the next time. treat it like it's the state championship. great job son you tried hard, did what we worked on, and you did better than last time. i am so proud. see it's not easy but you can do it.
- i've coached for 15 years had kids excel at a young age and had kids who didn't succeed until the were seniors, and had kids that never really had the success we all hoped for, but this has always kept kids on the team. all of those kids even those THAT DIDN'T STICK WITH IT were better young men/women than before. I AM PROUD OF EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM. I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY.

I am not a beginner at this by no means and do love the sport. I am dealing with parents who have a problem with a kid 50 to 70 lbs heavier. This kid has wrestled kids 30 pounds heavier all year. He has done good with this guys. Did lose to a kid that was 45 lbs heavier. The mom is worried and they have pulled him when he was up agaisnt a state qualifer that was 50 lbs heavier which is their right. Hey Hossu i know about the pain of wrestling I had to pick some teeth out of my oldest sons head one time. It is a hard physical sport and I know this. Trying to help newbies better understand the sport.

so is everybody else on here

I will say this about wrestling heavier kids. my son is one of the 10 and under hwts. this has been my experience. we have wrestled up in age for two yrs. not a good deal. both times i put him in this situation, he had to face kids a fooot taller and more proportionate in weight to their age. it was a bad choice from an inexperienced parent. in his normak age division, we have given up 30 lbs and been beat real bad having 30 lbs on our side. the smaller guys have an advantage. they are faster and more agile. just because a kid has 30 lbs on another kid doesn,t always mean the have the advantage. we must teach all kids to know how to wrestle the lighter kid versus the heavier kid. I would not bracket 130 lb with 170. that was a big mistake. if you are hosting a tournament in kansas, you should know better. i do believe the 10 and under rule is 20 lbs maximum. 8 and under 15 lbs maximum. unless it is agreed upon by both coaches.