As we begin another wrestling season, we want to take a chance to answer the question "Who is a beginner?"

When you are registering for tournaments, you will be asked to enter your experience level. Trackwrestling will give you 4 options: Excellent, Good, Average, and Beginner. The question is which one should you choose and why.

Which Experience Level Should I Choose?
Below is a list of the 4 experience levels and a general description of who should be registering at each level.
Excellent: Finishes in the top 3 places for their weight at many tournaments. Wins almost all of their matches.
Good: Finishes in the top 6 places at the larger tournaments. Wins a majority of their matches.
Average: Wins about as many matches as they lose. Typically has wrestled longer than 2 years.
Beginner: Wins only a few of their matches. This is the level where we get the most questions so we will try to help explain the different options for beginners. 

• Beginner Skill Level: Anyone can register as a beginner skill level. For kids that are newer to wrestling, we encourage you to rate them as a beginner so we recognize that they are new or are less experienced than some of our other wrestlers. In most cases, kids who have wrestled longer than 2 years will no longer be beginner skill level but we leave that up to you as the parents and coaches to decide. Please remember that this separation is to help and protect all wrestlers and should not be used as a way to get an easier bracket.
• Beginner Divisions: Some tournaments may have beginner divisions (i.e., 3rd Grade Beginner or 3rd Grade True Beginner). These divisions are for wrestlers who are in their first season. If your child wrestled previous to 9/01/16, then they do not qualify for beginner divisions at tournaments. Most tournaments will reserve the right disqualify without a refund any wrestler who is found to have wrestled before the September 1st cutoff.

Why does it matter?
For many of our tournaments we try to separate the excellent kids from the beginners. Our goal is to provide a high level of competition for all wrestlers but still make sure tournaments are positive learning experiences. Its hard to learn and grow when you have wrestled for 3 months and your first match is against a 4-time State Champion. There are occasionally instances where this cannot be avoided but in several cases it can. By doing your best to place your child in the appropriate category for each tournament, you will help us to make sure that they are placed with the group of wrestlers that will provide the most appropriate level of competition. 

If you have additional questions that the above information does not answer, please feel free to email your question to me at travisswallow@gmail.com.

We are excited for the season and hope you are too! We will see you on the mat!