John,
I must admit I am not that familiar with Jr High/Middle School wrestling. My son just finished 6th grade here in MD and there do not seem to be any programs here. When we were in Olathe, I don't know how many programs were in that area either. If memory serves, Lawrence had a strong program, and if run properly I think it can be a benefit for the kids. As for the Novice 8 week concept, it's an idea. I think that the current Novice system needs updated. With an update, I would hope we could increase attendance and more importantly, increase retention. If we can do this, we increase our open folkstyle numbers, and freestyle/greco as well.