To address the question that Vince asks.
I am sure that it happens at kids tournaments just as it happens at middle school matches as well. I think how the kid will react is a reflection of his character. The kid usually knows he is going to wrestle a stud and get beat badly, but he understands why he got beat and realizes that he will not beat that kid for a few years at least. Many times they get inspired to become that good and I have seen a few succeed. I have had wrestlers that started in 7th grade take their lumps and are currently wrestling with the best of them in high school. Another aspect of this situation is coaching a complete stud that wrestles a novice wrestler. They learn sportsnmanship. I make sure they do not embarress or intentionally hurt a kid.

A novice wrester may get taken to the wood shed by another novice wrestler and quit. Lets face it, wrestling is not for everyone. Most novice wrestlers face other novices in B team competition anyway.

As far as moving the season goes if you do not start until mid febuary, when would it end. Sub-district begins in March. Right now many schools start in early January and end the first of March. The only movement I have heard of is moving the season so kids can wrestle and play basketball in the same year. No answer will make everyone happy, but I think that it is clear if all kids middle school age wrestled on the school team, than we would not have a problem with competition. For me, most kids do join the team after competing in kids in december. They may miss a few tournies, but they make it back for state and the qualifying tournies. In the meantime they do a little wrestling too.

The last point I will make is that Mid school is a transition time. Some great kid wrestlers will be surprised by the competition because of developmental issues. Early bloomers can catch up real quick at this level. This is the time to adjust to a high school type of wrestling. Some moves just dont work anymore. Maybe some kids coaches realize this, but I see many that continue to teach the same things. Gotta run