Here's something for everyone to think about. I'm from western Ks. There's no novice tournaments out here. Everyone gets thrown to the wolves out here unless you travel east or to wichita for the novice tournaments. Kids have all different kinds of skills. Some pick up wrestling skills quickly and some take a few years. Some do great early and others struggle. I have 3 boys. (skill levels are a wide range) My oldest won 11 open tourn. and a trip to state his first year. And has had success every year after. My middle son went 0-15 his first year which included two novice tournaments we traveled to. His second year he went 1-22 with 2 novice tournaments and the only reason he won was because the other wrestler locked his hands too many times. We always attend the WWC open/novice tournaments at the beginning of the season. I entered him as a novice again and he took 2nd, he ended up winning 25 matches last year wrestling in all open tounaments. Was I wrong? I was just trying to get him confidence. Now, this year he looks like he should be wrestling novice again. My youngest son wrestled his first tournament this weekend went 2-2 and took 3rd in an open tournament. He wrestled two kids with the same skill level and he was buzzsawed by the other two. So, is he a novice wrestler or should he stay in open tournaments???? If I'm able to get back east or to wichita we'll probably wrestle novice. Am I wrong?? It's about skill level, confidence, and keeping them in the sport of wrestling. Parents and coaches should have enough common sense to know when and what type of tournaments to place their wrestlers in.