Parkwayred,
Actually my son wrestled 5 Novice Tournaments (5-1st Place finishes). He also attended 7 Open Tournaments (4-1st Place, 1-2nd Place, 1-3rd Place, 1-No Place finish @ Liberty Nationals (went 3-2, lost to the same kid twice). All in all he finished the season 37-5. The reason he started attending Open Tournaments was because he wasn’t being challenged and we thought it would be a good ideal for him to see how he would do in a Open Tournament. To be quit honest, the toughest Open Tournament that he wrestled at on the KS side was KS TOC. He lost (4-2) to an outstanding wrestler by the name of Dayton Will from Salina who eventually won his bracket and my son finished 3rd. Taking my son to the KS TOC and Liberty Nationals made us realize that my son wasn’t were he needed to be if he was to attend those types of Tournaments and was a good experience for my family. Topeka Tournament wasn’t a high caliber challenge for my son, no offense, I’m ONLY referring to his bracket ONLY, which was a (A) Bracket. My son had 3 matches and had 2 pins and a Dec (12-0), no points scored against him in any of those matches.

I know that parents can push their kid to fast. Keeping my son in Novice Tournaments just didn’t seem right because of the way he was winning. If he was being challenged and winning or losing close matches, he would’ve done Novice Tournaments all year. His average win was by Decision was 12 points, if he didn’t pin them (in both Open and Novice). I know it sounds like bragging and it maybe it is, I’m just a proud parent. Your statement “Get hooked up with someone that’s been down this road before you and ask these people what’s best for this age kid.”, I took those people’s advice and that is why I took my son to KS TOC and Liberty Nationals. When people kept saying take your son to Liberty Nationals, I thought they were crazy. But it turned out to be a good decision.

Parkwayred I’m going to try a cherish these wrestling days with my son. I’ve filmed every match his first season. Even if he decides to stop wrestling today, I’ll at least have those tapes. Someday when we are both old and gray, we can pull up the tapes and have a stroll down memory lane.