weight classes too, those are holding the lighter guys back! let em wrestle the big kids, it will toughen them up!

What? Who said anything about forcing high school kids to do anything? I was just saying if you know who your competition is and how they're training then find opportunities to out train and beat your competition.

All I know is Missouri 8th graders don't wrestle freshman and they've won the metro classic 6 years running, how do they do it?

Which is true but doesn't have anything to do with the point of this thread. But if we made the freshmen wrestle the 8th graders as a rule those 8th graders would be forced to get better as per your anecdote and soon we would have the best wrestlers in the USA!

And just how old are those 8th graders?

Kansas to enter kindergarten you must be 5 years old by Aug 31st of the upcoming school year

Missouri to enter kindergarten you must be 5 years old by Aug 1st of the upcoming school year

If the HS kids in your son's bracket had been held back and repeated the 8th grade would they be less talented wrestlers?

And if they are in fact older, would you ban them?

What would be the benefit of not letting High School Freshmen wrestle 14U? Most on this forum seem to agree with the way it is. Why should it change?

It has everything to do with this thread. You're complaining because you feel high school freshmen who are eligible and wrestle in the 14U division have an advantage over 7th graders and 8th graders. I'm telling you your feelings are wrong and giving you a solution to your problem.

Missouri doesn't have a HS division, and being in HS eliminates you from the Kids series. However, once the season is over Cadets wrestle Cadets, some are in HS, some are not.

I'd like to point out that those who are in favor of this have kids that have already experienced it. They have had their 8th Graders wrestle High School kids and welcomed the challenge. Doing so made the kids better in the long run. They had or are having great high school careers. Learn from the voice of experience and quit looking for the easy road for your child. Prepare the child for the path not the path for the child.

AMEN!!

I think the 7/8th graders have the advantage. They can go any where they would like to and get better. Wait till you hit HS. There is a ton of BS that holds the kids back. My son was a WAY better wrestler in 8th grade than he is not in 11th.HS training SUCKS in most schools.Not all of them suck but most do. When people get payed ,they only do what is expected and no more. I know some do but once A gin most do not.I have watched kids that where shooting 20 times a match in 8th grade go to hanging on the head the hole match.My son went to MANY MANY diff-rant spots to train.Only one wile the HS ,is going on. And it shows.

As a old timer that has seen kids go through this transition for years... I would add that you are generally talking about a smaller number of kids that were HS studs and wrestle 14U kids. Most are JV or lower level kids that struggle with the 8th graders or have some moderate success they have not had all year. Anyone wanting to basically protect these 8th graders is only setting them up to for a rude reality in 6 months. If you are worried about them wrestling kids that are in their age group, but got more experience, what are you telling them about 6 months later wrestling kids that are 4-5 year older in some cases? They should have had success in the year before the HS came into the division. Seeing what the next level is will help not hurt them.

I really like the perspective Beeson has in his last post. Many that have already been down this path see a bigger picture and have had kids (their own or ones they have coached) excel by hard work and seeking out the competition, not by trying to get a angle or shelter kids so they can be winners. Wrestling is a rough sport, kids wrestling is about getting better, and wrestling the best competition and getting the best coaching you can to position you for the next level.

To me it's less about this actual issue and more about we are looking for ways to make everything even or fair, when wrestling and life in general should be about if you want something go work for it. Most don't want to admit that is the core issue.

I am not attacking anyone, but I have seen it many times. JMO.

Well said Chad!!

The 14U division is incongruent with the other non-HS kids divisions. when setting up and maintaining a competitive league such a KS kids wrestling it is the function of the overseers to provide for the competitive integrity and congruency of the league. 14U does not meet that standard. It has less than nothing to do with me personally having a beef or concern whatsoever to "prepare the path" for mine or any other kid. I will feel the same way about this issue a year from now feel free to ask me.

"The 14U division is incongruent with the other non-HS kids divisions."

I am trying to understand this statement. The 14U division has kids born over a two year fixed time horizon. Which is the same as 10U and 12U. Both the 8U and HS divisions have kids born over a four year time horizon. With that, I could draw the conclusion that the 14U/8th-grade athlete is given a "more FAIR" playing field than many freshman and 5 year olds.

For those who don't speak crybaby, I think what he's trying to say, "It's Not Fair"

And, Good Point Mark.

I my sons situation he chose 14U over HS because it was more competitive. In the HS divisions he would have walked to state in one weight or only had to win a match in the other weight. I believe in his weight 2 8th & 2 9th are going to state.
Seeing your competition situation is really the same in HS our first match at HS regionals we had never even seen till that day. So many HS go to different tournaments throughout the year.