For many children and parents, RJW is their first experience with wrestling. The organization, practices, meets, tournaments, etc. can be baffling and sometimes intimidating. The purpose of this guide is to help explain as many details of the program as possible so you and your child have a full understanding of what the experience will entail.
At RJW we emphasis:
Wrestling, like all sports, can be a very rewarding experience. But wrestling as a sport is unique in some fundamental aspects:
Each child will get as much or as little out of the program as they and their parents are willing to put into it. Whether your child never wrestles beyond grade school or has his eye on a college scholarship, RJW has something to offer them. We expect your little wrestler will have a tremendous time!
For more information, check our web page
frequently:
www.ridgewoodwrestling.org
Practices
How long is the season?
We begin practices in mid November. Our meets begin in January; with meets held every Saturday for about 8 weeks. There will also be District and Regional tournaments in March for those wrestlers who wish to participate.
When and where is
practice?
Practices will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at
What time is practice?
After we have a list of all registered wrestlers they will be broken into two groups, as even in number as possible. The younger boys will be in the first group, which practices from 6:30pm until 7:45pm. The older and larger boys will be in the second group, which practices from 7:45 until 9:00.
Can parents stay and
watch?
Absolutely. We do not, however, allow other children in the gym during practice. At meets and tournaments we love to have siblings, aunts, uncles and anybody else come cheer us on. But at practice other kids can be a distraction and a safety hazard and a risk to our insurance.
What to bring to practice
All wrestlers need the following equipment that is NOT supplied by RJW:
Note – Do not bring chewing gum, jewelry, or loose fitting clothes.
Headgear and Wrestling
Shoes
· Our policy is to wear headgear during practice and in competition for obvious reasons. We ask each wrestler to purchase their own, put their name in it and be sure to bring it with them at all times.
· Headgear is available at nearly any sporting goods store.
· All wrestlers need a pair of sneakers or (preferably) wrestling boots that are used only for wrestling. Please don’t wear your wrestling shoes to practice as they will bring dirt, snow, etc onto the mats. Change into them in the gym.
Meets
Where are meets held?
RJW is part of the Twin County
Wrestling League, consisting of approximately 50 towns in
How do we find the away
meets?
We will send an email to everyone several days before each away meet with directions, in addition to posting directions on our web page.
How are the meets run?
· Meets usually consist of 3 or 4 teams, with multiple matches going on simultaneously. Team scores are not kept.
· There are paid, certified referees and official timekeepers for each match. RJW coaches will be on the mat to assist your child when he or she wrestles.
· Depending upon how many wrestlers attend, there are usually about 100 or more matches throughout the day! Wrestlers need to be at the gym an hour before the meet starts. Their coaches will assign them a “Match Number” and write it on the back of their hand.
· Most wrestlers have one match per meet. Sometimes they might have two or three. On very rare occasions no suitable opponent is found. If that happens we will make every attempt to contact the parents a day before the meet.
· Meets usually run 3 to 4 hours. When a wrestler has completed his match he is free to leave, but we like to encourage our wrestlers to stay for a while to cheer on their teammates.
Who will my child compete
against?
· Wrestlers are divided into the following age categories:
§ Bantam – Age 7 or 8 as of January 1 of the current year
§ Midget – Age 9 or 10
§ Junior – Age 11 or 12
§ Intermediate – Age 13 or 14 (8th grade or below)
· In addition, each wrestler will only go against opponents of similar age, size, experience and ability. One of the best parts of our wrestling program is that each kid has an opportunity to win.
· First year wrestlers will only wrestle against other first year wrestlers.
*** Important! ***
As you can imagine, scheduling over 100 matches for over 200 kids – making sure they are all paired against an equal opponent – is a huge logistical challenge. If your child is going to miss a Saturday meet it is IMPERATIVE that you notify the coaches as early as possible. It’s a huge disappointment for a child to show up for a meet only to discover that his opponent isn’t there!
Tournaments
Regular season tournaments
·
Many Rec programs hold
tournaments each year as fundraising events.
These are usually held on a Sunday.
RJW typically participates in one or two of these tournaments each
season, with enough coaches to accompany all
· Tournaments require the athletes to “weigh in” one or two nights prior to the tournament date (RJW will attend the weigh-ins as a team). Wrestlers will be placed in weight brackets based on their ages, and wrestle in a single-elimination style tournament; so a tournament can be a very short day, or an all day event.
· Usually medals are awarded to the first three place finishers.
· Unlike Meets, tournaments are “open” so there is no attempt to match wrestlers by skill or experience – they are only grouped by age and weight.
· All information about upcoming tournaments will be sent in a newsletter a week or two before the tournament.
Post Season tournaments
The Twin County Wrestling League conducts District and Regional tournaments every March, as well as a Novice Tournament.
Districts
The fifty or so towns in the TCWL are divided into five districts of about 10 towns each. Each district will conduct a tournament run in a manner similar to regular season tournaments. Wrestlers who finish first or second in the district tournament are eligible for the Regional Tournament.
Wrestlers are “seeded” in districts based upon prior accomplishments in previous Novice, District, and Regional Tournaments.
Regions
The top two wrestlers for each
age/weight category at Districts qualify to wrestler in a Regional tournament,
usually held in
Novice Tournament
Any wrestler in their first or second season of wrestling who has not won a medal in a tournament (other than Novice tournaments) is eligible for the TCWL Novice Tournament. This gives newcomers to the sport an opportunity to compete in a tournament setting against other kids of similar experience.
The Novice Tournament is held prior to the District Tournament, and
wrestlers who earn a medal at the Novice earn seeding points for the District!
Other useful information
Post Season Banquet
In April we have an Awards Banquet at which trophies and awards are presented. The coaches call up each wrestler individually and say a few words about their accomplishments during the season; it’s a really nice evening for the kids.
Volunteers for home meets
Home meets require lots of volunteers, and it’s expected that all families will do at least some small part in assisting. Some of the needs include:
· Concessions
· Hall monitors
· Set up mats the evening before
· Generally setup that morning
· Scorekeepers
· Cleanup
Please watch for newsletters when we ask for volunteers.
Mat Cleaners
One of the most important parts of practice each night is cleaning the mats thoroughly in order to prevent skin diseases. We are always looking for volunteers who can show up at 6:00pm a few nights out of the season to help clean the mats. It just takes a few minutes, but it is a big help to the coaches.
Communication
We are trying to move most of our communications to our web page and through email newsletters. Please check www.ridgewoodwrestling.org on a regular basis for information regarding practices, upcoming events, etc.
*
Important - All communication will be through email – Please the following! *
If your email has spam protection make sure you add the following addresses to your “Guest List”:
If you do not begin receiving email newsletters in November please let us know so we can double check your email address in our database.
Other wrestling
opportunities
If your child develops a keen interest in wrestling there are opportunities to supplement your local Rec program with practices and tournaments all year round. USA Wrestling organizes state tournaments, and there are clubs and camps throughout the area. Our web page includes links to various local clubs and camps if you are interested.
Folk Style Wrestling Rules
Overview
The object of the sport of
wrestling is to put your opponent on his back -- to pin your opponent. A pin (or fall) is when you put your opponent
on his/her back with any part of both shoulders or both shoulder blades of your
opponent in contact with the mat for two seconds. When you pin your opponent, the
match is over and you are the winner.
If nobody gets pinned, the winner is the wrestler who has scored the most
points during the match. There are five ways to score points in a folk style
wrestling match: Takedown, Escape, Reversal, Near-Fall, and Penalty.
|
MATCH SCORING |
||
|
Move |
Points |
Description |
|
Takedown |
2 Points |
From a neutral position
(both standing with neither wrestler having control) a wrestler gains control
over his opponent down on the mat. |
|
Escape |
1 Point |
When a defensive (bottom)
wrestler gains a neutral position and his opponent has lost control. |
|
Reversal |
2 Points |
When the defensive wrestler
comes from the bottom position and gains control of his opponent, either on
the mat or in a rear standing position. |
|
Near Fall |
2 or 3 Points |
When near fall criteria is met for 2 seconds. Near fall criteria is:
If near fall criteria is met for two continuous seconds, 2
points are awarded when the defensive wrestler is out of the predicament. If
near fall criteria is met for five continuous seconds a 3 point near
fall is awarded when the defensive wrestler is out of the near fall
situation. |
|
Penalty |
1 Point |
A wrestler is awarded
point(s) for technical violations or infractions of the rules committed by
his opponent. These points are awarded according to the penalty chart. |
|
PENALTY CHART |
|||||
|
Infraction |
Warning |
First |
Second |
Third |
Fourth |
|
Illegal Holds |
No |
1pt |
1pt |
2pt |
Disqualify |
|
Stalling |
Yes |
1pt |
1pt |
2pt |
Disqualify |
|
Technical Violations (unsportsmanlike conduct,
et) |
No |
1pt |
1pt |
2pt |
Disqualify |
These
rules apply to the type of wrestling done in the
Recap of Important Notes
If you don’t read this entire document, please make a note of these
items: