should a kid that is not enrolled in high school be able to wrestle the high school division?

I have mixed feelings on this one. Homeschooled kids yes. Drop outs are a touchy subject. If they dropped out and are trouble makers that are not really going anywhere I don't like it. If they have other issues and dropped out but wrestling is something that is keeping them out of trouble, I'm all for it. To cover everyone, I think they should be allowed to enter. I think it does more good than harm to allow them in.

If you have a "red shirt" 8th grader you don't have a choice. There are some 8th graders that turned 15 before September 1.

I agree with Beeson that there is a grey line on if someone that is not enrolled in school (home schooled, private school, public school) should be able to participate in the HS division. But where do you draw the line. I think this goes into the club making the right choice. If the kid is appopriate for thier club, and is in good standings with the club I say let him in. Wrestling may be the only positive this youth has in life.

How do we know that any of them are enrolled in school?

luv2wrestle2- Are we talking about kids wrestling up from 14s or HS age kids not currently enrolled?

Publius- Are you suggesting we need to check everyone?

we're talking about kids that should be 9th graders that are not currently enrolled.

Absolutely not! Just thinking out loud... is enrollment status tracked at all? Common sense would say yes, but do the bylaws state enrollment is required to participate?

The importance of a high school and/or a college degree should be strongly encouraged. That will open many more doors for all student/athletes.

Is there a problem with the existing format? Is someone needing a SPECIFIC answer or are we going to be trying to drum up another paragraph or page of blah-blah-blah in the Bylaws that really adds ZERO value, a change that doesn't work towards improving anything...

I value the feedback of anyone on this forum but it spears that maybe we are just skirting around someone's specific problem.

Maybe they shouldn't have "red shirted". Life is full of choices and if they chose to "red shirt" they now have to deal with the results of those choices.

Don't some states have repercussions if your red-shirting 8th grade for only athletic purposes rather than academic?

Well, I kept from posting on this because I thought it was going to be handled properly. The wrestler in question is Mason Turner from District 1. I don't like how this was handled for several reasons. 1. He is from District One wrestling in District Two. I guess next year I'll just grab a couple of guys from Newkirk Oklahoma and Ponca City and put them on the Ark City team. 2. I am disappointed in the Young Guns for taking him on so late in the season. I would like to know if he even had one practice in your room. Tainted Gold may still be Gold I guess. 3. Either the rules were broken allowing an 8th grader to participate in the High School Division or Mason just lost his red shirt year. To say I am disappointed and feel betrayed is a severe understatement.

Is there a rule stating you must live in the district you wrestle? There is a rule that states you can't wrestle up an age group unless you are 6u. If mason wrestled high school and he is in 8 the grade he broke a rule. It should be handled. If my son wrestled 12u it would be forced to change.

I thought you were allowed to wrestle up at any tournament including State. Is that not correct?

This post really doesn't matter because the kid in question is a homeschooled freshman. No rule broken.

You cannot wrestle up an age division at the State Tournament. This came up a couple of years ago when some kids were to big for the heavy weight division. The parents wanted to just bump them up an age division but were unable to. The only way to bump an age division is for a High School wrestler who is in the 14U division to enter in the High School division. The wrestler must be in High School to be able to do this.

So he will be a sophomore next year. Right?or will he be back in school as a freshmen? Kinda sketchy

As an old coach if we can help a kid and give the kid a good structured atmosphere then let the kid wrestle if the kid ends up being a trouble maker simply ask them to leave Lets keep wrestling alive and numbers up I have coached a few kids that were troubled kids and it changed their lives Don't know what kid who is trying to wrestle high school and not enrolled but I feel every kid needs a chance.Wrestling makes leaders and installs dicipline

As for the home school thing....we homeschooled a couple years ago for a semester due to a move and in order to re-enroll in a public school we just had to test in order to determine what grade we were in. You also have to factor in whether or not the accepting school will take the credits you have received in the homeschool. So it really depends on several factors whether this kid in question would be a freshmen or a sophmore next year. I don't think it is sketchy at all....it sounds like personal business with this kid. I know it is a very messy process to count credits, etc. If he does indeed have to repeat his freshman year so what. Are we going to go through and check to see how many other kids are passing or failing? Are we going to require grade card checks? I know there are lots of kids that end up having to repeat a grade. We are crossing the line here, I believe. The kid is a homeschooled freshman wrestling high school division...Where is the problem?