Tournaments

As Dan Gable has said about wrestling, “What is good about wrestling is it teaches us about life. In wrestling you have to learn
to stay off your back and in life there will continually be times when you feel you are about to be pinned.” 

We will announce tournaments well in advance and we will have the season’s schedule posted for easy reference.
Which tournaments you attend is your choice. Tournament registration fees are paid by the parents. 

Tournaments are organized by weight, age, and experience. There will be a weigh in conducted prior to every tournament,
weigh ins are handled differently for each tournament. Some tournaments allow a satellite weigh-in,
which be held at DCHS in the wrestling room or they will weigh wrestlers in at check in the morning of the tournament. 

We recommend that if you foresee transportation being an issue to tournaments for your wrestler,
please network with the many supportive wrestling families in order to develop a ride-sharing system.

For parents, particularly in competitive situations where it is easy to get overly consumed by your child’s successes or failure,
please remember that our wrestlers come in large numbers, many shapes ages and sizes,
sometimes they shoot and sometimes they fall but more often than not they shine, they are stars.

Additional Tournament Information:

• Wrestling tournaments are usually minimum 6 hours long, and can involve as many as 500+ wrestlers.
Doors to tournaments usually open between 6 am - 7 am. You will want to get there early for a good seat.

• Bring items to keep everyone occupied during the downtimes. Handheld games, books, tablets, coloring supplies are usually best.

• Most tournaments are ran through Trackwrestling (a bracketing site).
You will spend a lot of time checking your phone and will want to have portable charges with you. 

• Tournaments seating is never the same. Some will have bleachers for families, others will not.
You will want to bring a bleacher seat or foldable chair. 

• There will be concessions available at each tournament, but plan to pack a lot of snacks. 

• No parents are allowed on the mats during tournaments, only registered coaches.

• You cannot drop off your child and leave them at tournaments.
All wrestlers must have a parent or family member there with them. There will be NO exceptions to this rule.

• Always have your child notify a coach when they are “on deck” to wrestle.
(“On deck” means that the wrestler’s match is next on the board and will take place very soon.)

• No child should ever wrestle without a coach at their match.
If there isn’t a coach, request the ref to not start the match until you locate a coach.

• Always let the coach handle any problems that occur during a match.
This would include point disputes and injuries. The coach will let you know if your assistance is needed.

• It’s great to cheer for your child but please refrain from profanity or speaking negatively about any opponent.

• Be responsible for helping your child keep up with when and where he needs to be.
If your child isn’t at the mat when his match is ready to start, the official will disqualify him and award the opponent the win.

• Tournaments can be very chaotic, so be sure to bring lots of patience.
If you have questions at a tournament, find a fellow Highlander or coach for help. 

• When the match is over, wrestlers shake hands with their opponent, referee, and the opposing coach
and then return to their coach. When the coach is done discussing their match, your wrestler will come back to the stands. 

• Trophies or medals are typically awarded to the top 4 wrestlers in each bracket.