Here are the KS State Novice Tournament Guidelines:

*Must be a first or second year wrestler
*Can not have placed in MORE than 4 Opens
*Can not have won an Open
*Can not have won more than 4 Novice Tourneys

They are listed as guidelines and not rules. There are exceptions. As coaches, we have the responsibility to make the right decisions on this issue. One real example is this.... A first year wrestler last year had 4 guys at his weight at Subs. He then got a scratch on the backside at District and qualified for State. He now has moved up to a new age bracket and has not won a match this year. He has potential to become a good wrestler, but he needs the competition from the novice tournaments to accomplish this. He now will be wrestling some novice tournaments and I'm sure there will not be an issue with it. It's the right place for him.

The purpose of these tournaments is to build the beginners wrestling knowledge, experience, mat time, confidence and ease them into the competition aspect of wrestling.

Kansas has a great platform for Novice tournaments. Keeping it that way should be a high priority.