Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion Kids Folkstyle 16 and just starting wresting

ok question here for coaches and dads and moms who have been with wrestling for a while what are some tips for a 16 year old who has seen his brother wrestle for 3 years and just wants to go to a tournament with hardley any practice under his belt he wants to give it a try in ottawa this coming week to see if he likes it or not i have to make my decision soon wether to let him go or not he has been pratcin at his house with his brother who is about 50 pounds lighter than him anyone have any tips on what i should do should i let him wrestle or have him wait?

Let him jump in and get his feet wet. What's it going to hurt. He will either love it or dislike it at that age.

I would agree my son just started and he is ten and he loves it. Some kids are just made for it, let him do it and see if he has a knack for it. At 16 he pretty much much has to be a natural but if he likes it then what the heck.

Don't reach back.

stay low. have fun!

thanks guys i especialy like the tip " dont reach back" haha u all been great help

Tell him to not get discouraged if it goes south fast. My 15yr old tried it his first time in 7th grade after watching his 7yr old bro do it for a yr. He was 6' 215 at the age of 13 so he got his licks from big boys that had been kids club wrestling since 6. It wasn't pretty, to say the least. He had made the decision to try it and I made him stick out the Jr High session. He uses it to help condition for football at this point, but he realizes the late start is what he's having to overcome. I will be in Ottawa with my young one, whats your boys name, I'd like to watch how he does.

Michael Meditz
Jr. Vikes Wrestling

The kids my nephew Brice Matthews he will be wresting 16u 150 for concordia he'd like to have some other people other than family watch him and give him a little advice so if you see him feel free to go tell him how u think he did or if you have some tips for him let him have it

so any of you coaches or dads or moms hehe wanna go up and give brice some adice after his match feel free

Tell him to jump right in I say. I was never exposed to kids club wrestling myself and only wrestled starting in High School. I loved it from day one. My only regret was not being exposed younger and kind of wrestling at a disadvantage against alot of more expierenced kids in High school. Fortunately for my son he will get to decide for himself. I just hope he wants to continue as much as I do.

Two of our top wrestlers in our high school, Chapman, both started wrestling for the first time in junior high. One started in kids federation when he was a 6th grader and lost every match that year. This year, he is a junior and was in the top 8 at state. Our other wrestler had never wrestled a match until 7th grade with junior high wrestling. He fell in love with it and is still going strong today. I think stories like this can serve as an inspiration to other's who start wrestling later in life. You probably won't have as much success early on as others who have "been around". But if you stick to it and work hard, one day you will be the one standing on top of the podiums.

btw: one of the most inspirational wrestling stories I ever heard happened at Phillipsburg a long time ago. They had a wrestler who was a four time champion from McPherson speak to the crowd. (sorry, I can't remember his name). He was originally from Phillipsburg and so was back for their tournament. What he said was this.(I am paraphrasing)..."I started wrestling when I was very young just like all of you wrestlers today. But unlike some of you, I didn't win very many matches. In fact, I never made it to state in all of the years I wrestled in kids. But I stuck to it and I continued to work hard. And now, I am standing in front of you as a 4-time state champion. Keep working hard and maybe you will see the top too".

hi wow thank you all for all your tips and advise he will defentaly be wrestling this weekend in ottawa