This seems to be an ongoing problem. Some of the blame is with the parents and some of the blame rests on the coaches.
If the tournament directors would check their results from the previous day alot of these problems would be solved. The problem lies mainly with the money. If they disqualify a wrestler for placing in an open they should refund the novice entry-that's probably not going to happen!
The ultimate responsiblity is with coaches. They should know when their wrestler is not a novice.
The "Rule of thumb" states 2yrs. experiance and not have placed in an open. The "not have placed" part of the equation is not valid as many of the open tourneys are 3-4 man round robin and
all a kid has to do is make weight to place. I have had kids who love wrestling, but will always be novice level no mater how many years they wrestle. So I have allowed them to compete at the novice level regardless of how many years experiance they have, with no complaints.
In my opinion it is the coaches descresion as to if the wrestler is novice or not-he should know.
The clubs having novice tournaments should police this better also. They can check the wrestler against his/her registration as to years wrestled. (This would create more work-probably not going to happen)
If the problem persits submit your concerns to your Dist. Rep.


COWBOY UP!