Hononegah Kids Wrestling Blog

 There are a number of registration deadlines for future tournaments in the upcoming weeks that everybody should be aware of.  Please review the detail below and talk with a coach if you have any questions about a tournament you are considering registering your son for. 

 Remember, coaches' recommend that all wrestlers compete in a minimum of four tournaments throughout the season.  Wrestlers with 2 or more years of experience often do more.  For parents of wrestlers who are only doing 4 or 5 tournaments, we strongly recommend that you spread the tournaments out over the course of the season.  This provides your son the opportunity to see progress over the course of the season and to validate the benefit of practice and hard work.  Even if the win/loss results don't differ too much, your son's improvement should be evident as you compare how he looks in his first tournament to how we wrestles at the end of the year.

Below is a listing of the remaining tournaments that we currently have on our schedule.  Please note the recommended levels as you consider whether or not to sign your son up. 

• Sauk Valley Wrestling Club Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 12/22/2008
  
• Date of Tournament: 1/3/2009
  
• Location: Newman High School, Sterling, IL
  
• Level: Open to all levels. This is the first year we are attending this tournament. It should be fairly beginner friendly
  
• Wolves WC Interstate Batteries Classic:
  
• Payment due by 12/19/2008
  
• Date  of Tournament: 1/4/2009
  
• Location: Prairie Ridge High School, Crystal Lake, IL
  
• Level: Open to all levels. Tournament will have a 1^st year division.
  
• Harlem Mid Season Preview:
  
• Payment due by 1/5/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 1/11/2009
  
• Location: Harlem High School
  
• Level: Open to all levels. Recommended for wrestlers who have had some success in early season tournaments (8 man brackets)
  
• Hononegah Beginners Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 1/6/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 1/24/2009
  
• Location: Hononegah Dome
  
• Level: All 1^st and 2^nd year wrestlers are expected to sign up and wrestle
  
• Marengo Cabin Fever Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 1/5/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 1/25/2009
  
• Location: Marengo High School
  
• Level: Open to all levels; Hononegah brought home a first place trophy from this tournament last year.  Let’s get a good turnout and repeat this year.
  
• Polo Wrestling Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 1/12/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 1/31/2009
  
• Location: Polo High School
  
• Level: Open to all levels; This tournament is very beginner friendly
  
• 3^rd Annual Blake Barrone Memorial 4 Man Round Robin Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 1/13/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 2/1/2009
  
• Location: Boylan High School
  
• Level: Great tournament for all levels. Last year, Hononegah had the most participants of any other club with 60+ kids wrestling (Let’s beat that number this year)
  
• DeKalb WC Kids Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 2/7/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 2/15/2009
  
• Location: DeKalb High School
  
• Level: Open to all levels; This tournament is relatively beginner friendly
  
• Dundee Highlanders 52^nd Anniversary Tournament:
  
• Payment due by 1/23/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 2/22/2009
  
• Location: Dundee Crown High School
  
• Level: Open to all levels; There is no Tot Division (6 and under) at this tournament.  This is one of only 5 tournaments in the state this weekend. As a result, participants from around the state often attend and competition can be tough. 
  
• IKWF Regionals:
  
• Payment due by 2/15/2009
  
• Date of Tournament: 2/28/2009
  
• Location: Stillman Valley High School
  
• Level: Open to all levels; This is the last tournament of the season for 8 and under wrestlers.  All wrestlers 9 and over should attend regionals.  Top 6 wresters in 9-10, Novice and Senior divisions advance to sectionals. 

There will likely be a few additional tournaments to compete in that we will bring to your attention.  For instance, Illinois Bantam State will be held on Sunday, February 15th in Chicago Heights, IL at Bloom Trail High School and will be open to all wrestlers ages 6-8.  This is a tournament that you might consider for your 6-8 year old son if he is having notable success in the tournaments in which he has competed.  We will provide you with more information on Bantam State as it becomes available.

Posted by hononegahkidswrestling at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many of you experienced your first IKWF wrestling tournament this past weekend, while others will experience it this coming Sunday.  The first tournament can often be a very confusing, stressful and chaotic experience for wrestlers, but it usually more so for the parents than the wrestlers.  The first thing I will tell you to ease any frustration you may experience is do not hesitate to ask questions.  Ask questions of your son's coaches.  Ask questions of tournament staff.  Ask questions of parents of more experienced wrestlers.  Do not stop asking questions until you get answers.  Other survival tips I can offer are:

1. Sit with other Hononegah parents and get to know them: You will likely be spending a lot of hours in gyms in the coming months.  The experience is much more enjoyable for everybody involved when there are people to talk to and when we all cheer on each other.
   
2. Pack a cooler with something healthy for you and your son(s) to eat: It definitely can be enjoyable to sample the fine cuisine at all of the tournaments your son attends, but you will also come to find that it can get rather pricey over the course of the season, especially on long days.  Also, concession stand food is not always the best way to fuel a young wrestler’s body.  Wrestling requires a lot of energy and junk food can make your son feel sluggish and tired.
   
3. Find out early in the day how the tournament will be run:
   
• Will there be a bullpen that wrestlers will be required to report to? or
  
• Will your son be wrestling on the same mat the entire day?
  
• Where will the brackets be posted?
  
• How many matches will your son have?  (Keep in mind your son may not have as many matches as other wrestlers if he does not have a full bracket)
  
• How many rounds of wrestling will there be? (Most tournaments will have 3 rounds, but this could vary up or down)
  
• Will awards be handed out matside after your son’s last match, or will he have to go somewhere else to get his award? (Be aware that the answer to this question sometimes doesn’t come until the final round approaches)
  
4. Learn how to read the different types of brackets that are used in wrestling tournaments.  Most tournaments use 4 man round robin brackets, where all wrestlers in a bracket will compete against each other over 3 rounds, where each wrestler has one match per round.  The other most common type of bracket is a 4 man straight bracket, where wrestlers are paired in 2 matches the first round.  In the second round the winners of the first round matches in a given bracket will wrestle each other, while the losers will also wrestle each other.   
5. Identify all of the Hononegah coaches that are present at the tournament.  As much as we would like for all faces to be familiar to your son, sometimes your son may be coached at a tournament by a coach he has not gotten to know in practice.  Please know that in spite of this, these coaches are willing and able to help your son and answer all of your questions.
   
6. Be positive TO your son and be positive FOR your son.  Wrestling can be a great experience for you and your son.  However, there are some growing pains that parents and wrestlers often have to experience.  A little patience and tolerance go a long way toward getting past these experiences.
   
7. Encourage your son to use down time wisely.  There is a lot of free time between weigh-ins and when the tournament begins and between your son’s matches. 
   
• Make sure your son participates in formal and informal warm-ups before the tournament begins. He should find a partner close to his own size and drill lightly before the tournament begins.  Coaches will encourage this with kids who are out on the mat before the tournament begins.
  
• Discourage horseplay.  Believe it or not, there is more opportunity for injury when kids are running around the gym and the school than when they are drilling on the mat.
  
• Encourage your son to watch his teammates compete while he is waiting to wrestle.  A lot of learning can take place by watching, too.
  
• Don’t hesitate to bring activities for your son to take advantage of in between matches (books, videos, mp3 players, video games, homework, etc.)
  
8. Help your son keep track of his belongings, especially his headgear.  He will need his headgear for every match and every tournament.  It is easy to misplace or mix up with someone else.