Tournaments
There are tournaments on Saturdays in various locations that many of us will attend, see tournament schedule. We recommend a tournament for your child once you think they have enough experience. We will have coaches at select Saturday or Sunday Open tournaments. It is suggested once you feel your son has had enough practices they should enter a tournament to give them a better understanding of wrestling. The tournaments are optional and generally will cost anywhere from $8-15 per tournament plus a USA Wrestling Card if it is a state qualifier (See below). We will meet on the mats 30 minutes prior to tournaments starting to have the kids warm up.
Parents will need to get wrestlers to registration and weigh-ins. Please have your kids wear Iron Mustang Shirts so we can identify them. We may have many kids at a tournament and only so many coaches, so parents, be ready to sit matside or ask a coach or another parent with experience to help your child out. Tournaments seem overwhelming at first, but kids generally love to attend them. We strongly encourage tournament participation.
Open tournaments:
Open Tournaments and State Qualifiers use scratch weight, generally pairing the four closest competitors in weight with each other if possible by grade or Age group (for ex: 4 - 1st graders weighing 54-56 lbs). The wrestlers will wrestle each of the three other participants in their bracket. Awards are generally given to each of the competitors.
State Qualifiers and State Tournament:
Some of the tournaments we attend will be qualifiers for the MN/USA State tournament held in Rochester, MN, March 9-11. The qualifiers are run in the same format as the above Open Tournaments. The state tournament is a large event and a great experience for the kids. We will block hotel rooms for our club in a nearby hotel for any qualifiers who choose to participate.
MN/USA has a state qualifying process. Please see their site under "Links" for more info. Our tournament schedule on the website will designate which are Opens and which are Qualifiers.
The state tournament and some qualifiers use an Age and Weight Division Chart. For example, a wrestler born in 2002 or 2003 is in the bantam division. Weight classes run every 5 lbs. A link to the 2010 Age and Weight Division chart is linked on our website.
**In order to compete at a MN/USA State Qualifier, club members must purchase a USA Wrestling Card for $36 through USA Wrestling's website OR at any of the qualifying tournaments. It is probably easiest to buy your USA card at the registration table at one of the qualifying events. A Wrestling Card is not required to wrestle in the open tournaments only those designated as State Qualifiers. The online membership application process is linked on our website.
Tournament formats:
Most tournaments are run in pretty much the same format. There is a weigh-in and registration an hour or two before starting. The kids are then paired in groups of four, if possible, by weight and grade. When wrestling begins the kids will be called to a staging area by their grade and weight division. Parents should go with their wrestlers to the staging area. In the staging area they will pair the 4 wrestlers together and then bring them out to the mat they will wrestle all 3 matches at. There will be a table at each mat that keeps score and time with a referee. Each wrestler will wrestle the other in the 4 man bracket. When all 4 have wrestled eachother, they will be walked together to the awards area.
All tournaments are voluntarily run and each club is asked to help run a table and provide a referee. We will need parents, siblings, etc to run a table at each tournament. As a MN/USA club, we are required at MN/USA events to run a table and provide a referee, so get out the stripes someone!
Wrestling singlets are the uniforms worn during competition, but a wrestler can wear shorts and T-Shirt as well. If you are interested in purchasing a singlet we will be selling a Black Iron Mustang singlet at practices for $40.
Match format:
Matches are divided into 3 periods (1:00,1:30 or 2:00 minutes depending on age and tournament). Score is kept through out, the wrestler with the most points at the end of 3 periods is declared the winner. If a wrestler records a pin, the match will end at that time. Winners from each match will then wrestle winners from another match in their weight class. If a wrestler loses they will wrestle again against the wrestler who lost in the other matches. Most tournaments award Trophies, Medals or ribbons for place winners.
Parent help:
There are a few ways parents can help out. *If you have wrestling experience, feel free to talk with me about helping out on the mats. *If someone could help organize groups to go to tournaments and get kids to meet on mat before tournament that would be great. Maybe get them doing some warm ups. * Volunteering to help with a table at tournaments. *Volunteering to be a referee at tournaments * Someone to keep track of how our wrestlers do at tournaments by tracking their results.