I think that the "unoffical" rule of thumb is a 2 year maximum wrestler that has not placed in open tournament with more than 4 wrestlers. We need to keep in mind that "Novice" is set up to help build confidence and skills for those kids who aren't up to competing in the "Open" tournaments. If you enter a kid who can compete in the opens into novice tournaments, you really aren't helping either side. The novice kids will get frustrated and quit, and the better wrestler doesn't get any better by wrestling novice kids.
