One of the best experiences that my son had was going to the Middle School National Championship Tournament in Iowa. He didn't win, didn't finish 2nd, 3rd or even 4th at the Middle School State Tournament. He finished 5th and got invited on as an alternate. He came home with a gold medal winning his alternate bracket and got to wrestle two matches on the 4th team going 1-1, overall he went 7-1. No hoody, no trophy, but he did get a medal for finishing 5th. None of that mattered, the experience he got wrestling very good wrestlers from other states proved to him that he could match up with some pretty solid competition. I strongly believe that helped his confidence a ton going into high school.