First of all congratulations to all the 7th and 8th graders that competed at 14U and qualified for state. This is not really an issue of age or grade but level of competition. This age group includes kids club competitors,high school state placers, and every level in between. I agree it does give the 7th, 8th, and first year freshmen a step up in competition as my son has greatly improved having wrestled high school qualifiers and state placers the last two years.Each wrestler has a pretty good feeling as to what level of a wrestler they are and whether they choose to challenge themselves or not is up to them.