Kansas used to have a December 31 age cutoff until about eight years ago, when it was changed to the current August 31 date. I was the Kids Director at the time, and remember the state body meeting where it was changed. The issue had not been discussed at any of the Executive Council meetings leading up to that year’s state body meeting, and came as a motion from the floor. The principal argument in favor of the change was that it coincided with the school year, so kids would be wrestling the same opponents that they would meet when they reached high school.

It's a little frustrating to see the suspicions and/or allegations that the dates were somehow thrust upon the state by some "higher up." None of the rules in the Kids constitution may be changed without a majority vote at the state body meeting, where every club has an equal vote. If anyone has any special influence, it would be those members who are actively represented each year at the state body meeting.

As a few others have stated, there is no perfect cut-off date that will please everyone. Even the suggestion that it be based on your actual age on the date of the tournament will benefit the child with a birthday the day after the event, to the detriment of the child with a birthday on the date of the event. Someone will lose, while someone else will gain from any change. Therefore, it seems to me that using a school year has as much justification as any other date, perhaps a little more.

Oklahoma primarily follows an August 31 date, while Missouri uses December 31. Kansas uses August 31 for folkstyle and December 31 for freestyle & Greco Roman. One suggestion, if you are unhappy with the age cut-off, is to vary where you wrestle, and the style that you wrestle.

Ultimately, someone is going to be at the bottom of the age cut-off. All things being equal, this is a disadvantage to that wrestler. If this is your child, my recommendation is that you treat this as just one more obstacle to overcome. In the end, this could actually become a positive, as the wrestlers who learn to be competitive with slightly older wrestlers will be better prepared to handle much older competitors when he/she reaches high school.