When I started wrestling back in '73 at the age of eight, from my knowledge, there was no such thing as a novice tournament. I spent most of my first two years getting throttled (maybe 5-6 tournaments each year). My parents didn't push me into the sport (might have been an older brother that did), and they both worked so much I don't think they came to many of my tournaments when I was wrestling on the Kids' circuit. I managed to continue wrestling all the way through high school and had a decent career. Wrestling was a sport for me, but the reality is, I can't make it be a sport for all my kids (although I have tried).
There is a place for novice tournaments in wrestling. The biggest problem is kids wrestling novice that should be wrestling open. From a previous post by me last night, I admit being one of those parents/coaches that kept one of my sons in novice too long. The other two that have wrestled, well, they may not wrestle in an open tournament because they may not be the type of kids that have what it takes to be wrestlers. That is what I have come to understand. Wrestling is not for everyone, and if was easy, a lot more kids would be doing it.