Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion Kids Folkstyle Age Divisions

I was just wondering if everybody thought of the age deadline being Aug 31st. Why can't we get it to be, the age you are the day of the State Tournament is the age division you wrestle, that only seems logical. Was just curiuos what everyone else thought.

S. Biddle, I dont think there is a correct age for this, you can twist and turn and some child is left in the cold, what about the boy/girl that has a birthday the day before the State Tournament as it is now you can have kids in three different grades wrestling in one age bracket, depending on whenthey started school. In AAU its the year of birth so a child born Jan 1 has a full year of maturity over a child born Dec 31 yet they still compete against one another. Good argument for just about any way you want to twist and turnthe age groups, someone is gunna get the shaft. I would like to see less weights and go to 1 year age groups like the AAU BUT it will never happen so i will live with what we have.

I agree with Jim that there will never be a perfect age cut-off for everyone, since there will always be someone who is just barely on the wrong side of that cut-off. I am curious about one thing, however. I have never seen an AAU competition where they used one year age divisions - all of the ones I've seen used two years. Personally, I think that a maximum 24-month range in birthdates is pretty reasonable; however, I would be curious to know how well it works at AAU events that use one year divisions.

Im sorry Mike i didnt mention it was AAU track & field that uses the 12 month age groups. I for one dont really care for the 24 month age groups, but we will suck it up, it works, for the simple fact the the 10U, 12U and especially the 14U there is a HUGE physical growth difference in some of those kids, There for a 12 month age group would really be fair, but WAY more time consuming for a tournament. so again the best way time wise is the 24 month age groups. Like i said though anyway its twisted and turned someone is on the edge. My son runs AAU track and is born Dec. 31 so he is the absolute youngest in his age group. it works out very good.

I think the age divisions are appropriate with the cut off date of August 31. Doesn't this fall in line with the school requirements? There are some children that have birthdates shortly after the cut off date, but have to wait a full year to start although they are more than ready. Yes, it is intimidating to be on the bottom side of the age bracket and facing an opponent that could be as much as 2 years older than you. It is a great accomplishment to win that match or to you gave the older guy/gal a run for their money. I would be interested in know how many wrestlers have been able to pull off state championships from the bottom side of the age division.

I think the age divisions are fine. As has been said earlier, there will always be those just short of the cutoff no matter when it is, so a two-year age group is a two-year age group. My son gets the good end of the cutoff in Kansas wrestling, going from the middle to the top of the bracket every other year with an Oct. birthday, but in the Nationals he goes from the bottom to middle as they go by year of birth. I agree with the vast maturity differences in 12 & 14U, but they might as well get used to it, many of our kids who've wrestled a long time will be wrestling seniors as freshman. It will happen again to those who are lucky enough to wrestle in college, so shielding them from older kids isn't really doing them any favors. I do have to laugh, though, when my son and some of his friends run to me at tournaments with reports of a kid in their bracket who is shaving or has hairier legs, underarms, etc.

Thats what I'm talking about, your son gets the good deal in Ks because he has a birthday in Oct. my son get the bad deal in Ks because his birthday is in Aug.

Yes your one kid gets screwed but your other one was born in September so he is still six. At least you had one child that benefited. All four of mine were born between April & August. It's set with School now and probably won't change back.

Here's one for you. My son's birthday is Sept. 1st!!! Some of the tournaments state "age as of Sept. 1" This requires my son to wrestle at an age bracket that is higher than the one that he will wrestle for state. KS rules are Aug. 31st. There has to be a cut off and setting w/school standards seems to me to be the best answer so no one gets confused (if there is going to be a date). Now, the tournaments that he has to wrestle in the higher bracket do not count when he is being seated for state. When he wrestles in the higher bracket he usually gets hammered and becomes very disappointed to a point that at times he wants to quit. He fairs well at the appropriate age bracket-(the one that all of his school mates are in). I think that if there is going to be cut off date then ALL tournaments in KS should also have there cut off date the same. As for the older brackets--if my son had started at the older brackets then he would have problems but by the time he got into highg school he would have wrestled some very tough kids and given him the excelerated knowledge he would have needed to compete in high school. I really wish all tournaments would stick with the age requirements that the state sets--reguardless of what they might be.