Dunlap - Chillicothe Youth Wrestling Club

Helpful Information

Practices:

• 5-8-year-olds:  Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-7 p.m. 
• 9-14-year-olds:  Sundays 3-5 through December, Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-8:00 p.m.

• Location:  Richland Church, 2114 Richland Avenue, Chillicothe (approximately 2 miles north of Cedar Hills Dr. off of Galena Rd)
• Wear:  shirts/shorts, bring your wrestling shoes (do not wear wrestling shoes outside—important to keep them clean/germ-free), bring headgear & water.
• There is a water fountain.
• Parents of 5-8-year-olds are required to stay at practice. Parents of 9-14-year-olds are not required to stay, but should ensure they arrive at practice prior to end time in case the practice ends early.
• Kids will do general conditioning, learn skills, and pair off and work on the skills. · 

Tournaments: Schedule will be posted in early November, but tournaments are at various high schools in the Peoria area on Sundays.  Your child is welcome to wrestle in as many meets as you like. Your child can also wrestle at other meets outside of this schedule (view all meets on the www.ikwf.org website) but is required to have a coach, so please check with the coaches prior to signing your child up for any other meets. It is the parent’s responsibility to sign up their child for the meets.  Most do allow day-of registration, but many do have a max capacity. If your child has braces, mouthguards are not required, but recommended. Wrestlers will wear a singlet or compression shirt/shorts, wrestling shoes and their headgear in the match.  Girls typically wear some type of compression shirt underneath the singlet if wrestling in singlet. We will provide a link for uniforms, along with the deadline for ordering soon.  Your child must have an USA/IKWF identification number prior to wrestling in a match.  The club will receive the cards and distribute.  When you register your child for different meets, you will have to include their USA/IKWF number.  All kids will wrestle other kids in their age division and weight (+/- 3 pounds).  Following those requirements, most tournaments will do their best to pair the kids into brackets with kids at the same experience level.  Age brackets (age as of 9/1):  5&U, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-14  Boys and girls do wrestle each other.
Weigh-ins:  All wrestlers are required to weigh-in typically 2 hours before the beginning of the tournament, although many tournaments have optional weigh-ins the day prior, which is nice.  Your child (boys) will have to show their back and chest to ensure they do not have any skin issues.  Girls also are checked for skin issues, but are not showing their chest/back.  Your child will also need to have their fingernails clipped prior to the weigh-in.  They will then stand on the scale in their singlet (or shorts/compression shirt) without shoes on to get their weight for the tournament. Girls should have their hair tightly braided or in some type of wrestling cap. Tournaments typically start later than the start time due to the weigh-in and building the brackets.  Your child will be placed in a bracket of 4 kids and will wrestle 3 times (once against each kid in their bracket).  They will have a mandatory 1-hour break between each match.  Each match can be up to 3 rounds, 1 minute each round.  Wrestlers win either through pinning their opponent or through points. It is not uncommon for 1st year wrestlers to get pinned very quickly in the first round. Bring something for your child to do during tournaments.  Tournaments can be very long, crowded, with a lot of down time.  Bring snacks (all tournaments sell concessions as well).   All wrestlers will have a coach on the mat with them.  Parents are not allowed on the mat, unless they are registered as a coach with the IKWF.  See the coaches if you are interested in receiving your certification.  After the weigh-in, the brackets are typically posted outside of the gym (some online).  Parents should find out their child’s bracket (typically just take a picture with your phone) and you will be responsible to ensure your child is at his mat when it’s time for his bracket.  Some tournaments have the kids wrestle on the same mat every time, others rotate. This can be confusing for new parents, so other parents can definitely help you!  All kids will receive a medal/trophy at every tournament based on how they did in their bracket (1st through 4th place).  Please continue to cheer on your child and encourage them.  Especially for new wrestlers—it can be intimidating and easy to quit when you lose your first match (matches).  It is not uncommon for kids to cry (it is so common that no kids make fun of other kids at wrestling for crying) because of the adrenaline and emotion involved in wrestling.  As they progress, they will learn new techniques and develop the mental stamina, so just be their biggest cheerleader!