Tournaments
What to Expect at a Youth Wrestling Tournament:
- Organized chaos – lots of people, noise and excited kids
- Most tournaments have a 4-man round-robin format grouping wrestlers together by grade and weight and sometimes by level of experience. This grouping of wrestlers is known as the bracket.
- Positions are filled by volunteer parents and high school students. The referees are usually high school wrestlers doing their best – take it easy on them.
- Parents/fans wait in the stands until their wrestler is called to the mat for his/her matches.
- Some tournaments don’t allow parents/fans to watch mat side, only coaches.
- Most tournaments begin with Pre-K and work up through the remaining grade levels.
- Most tournaments charge an entry fee for spectators, some do not.
- Concessions and wrestling gear are normally available for sale.
What to do when you get there:
1) Register your wrestler and pay at the door
2) Go to designated room for weigh-in and skin check
3) Meet at pre-determined mat in gym for warm-ups
4) Listen for wrestler’s grade to be called then report to the staging area
5) Go with your wrestler and others in the bracket to your assigned mat where the matches will take place. Be sure to stay near the mat and listen for your wrestler’s name. Numerous brackets will wrestle on each mat to give the kids time to rest in between matches. Your wrestler needs to be ready to go when his/her name is called.
6) Go to the awards table after your bracket is completed to collect your award
7) Cheer on your team mates then go home and rest up for next practice
