If you are new to the sport or just curious, please click here to see exactly what is the big deal about wrestling
Preseason Information
A mandatory parent/athlete meeting will be held on October 9th at
3:00 PM. At this meeting, we will have a LOT of information,
medical forms for parents to fill out (they can be downloaded from
the link below and and completed ahead of time), and we need to
meet you face-to-face. We will also size your wrestler for his
singlet on this day. This will also be the last day to pay
registration fees.
Practice will begin on the 2nd or 3rd week of October but it's
perfectly fine is your child can not make some practices due to
football. We will not get into full swing until football season
ends so don't worry about that.
Registration Information
Registration has ended for the 2016-2017 season. If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please follow the registration link below and you will automatically be added. If a spot comes open before the 11/5/2016, we will contact you with details and payment information. Both the initial registration and payment may be completed online. The required medical paperwork can be downloaded so it can be completed ahead of time and turned in at the preseason parent/athlete meeting.
To begin registration, just CLICK HERE then follow the step-by-step instructions
If you only need to download the USA Wrestling medical information paperwork that will need to be turned in at the parent/athlete meeting CLICK HERE
2016-2017 Season Information
Please drop off your wrestler with enough time for him to get his shoes on (please don't wear wrestling shoes anywhere but the wrestling room) and be ready to practice at his assigned time.For safety, you must sign your wrestler out after practice so please park and walk in.
All parents and coaches have schedule and budgetary considerations so everyone cannot be available every weekend. We will not attend every tournament on the list as a team so we need to know which ones we need to schedule. To do this, we need to coordinate wrestler and coach schedules.
For wrestlers who want to compete in tournaments this season, coaching will be provided during at least four tournaments to each wrestler in addition to the State Tournament in Houston.
Please sign your wrestler up for AT LEAST SEVEN tournaments that you can attend before the State Tournament. We will then work to get your wrestler scheduled for at least four of them and get a schedule back out for everyone ASAP. If you wish to attend less than 4 tournaments, that is OK. Just make sure you pick at least six to choose from, though.
Most local tournaments will have Rookie & Novice brackets along with the Open brackets. They very often combine Rookie & Novice to make sure there are enough wrestlers. Rookie is for first year wrestlers, Novice is for 2nd year, and Open is for 3rd year and up. Wrestlers may "wrestle up" but not down. In other words, a Rookie may register to wrestle in Rookie, Novice, or Open brackets but an Open wrestler may not wrestle in the Rookie or Novice brackets.
The club will register the wrestlers online and collect the fee from the parent before registration. Registration fees will be due to the club on the Tuesday before the tournament. The local tournament registration fees usually run around $15. The larger (Ironman/State/National) tournament fees run $30-$35.
Our team will be required to work a table at the Cotton Bowl tournament in Ft. Worth on the first weekend on February. Please consider volunteering before you are asked. It's easy and fun to do. Also remember that all tournament travel, lodging, and food is the responsibility of the parent or guardian. Click the "Wrestling Expenses" link in the menu bar at the top of this page for more information on potential costs.
Practices will normally be held on Monday, Tuesday, & Thursdays from 6:00 PM - 8:00PM
Please click through all the links in the menu bar. There is information on other pages that will help you understand what to expect and what we are all about.
We are still looking for a few good volunteers to help work with us this season! This is a great opportunity to learn about wrestling, work with the wrestlers, and give back to the community! You do not have to know wrestling to help out with the team but there are a few requirements. If you think you might be interested contact Mike Laborde at (903)975-1116 so he can answer your questions.
Eight Reasons Why Your Kid Should Wrestle
This is taken from: https://mitcharnold.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/eight-reasons-why-your-kid-should-wrestleIn the next few months, many children will have the opportunity to participate in wrestling for the first time. Just like the kids, many parents will embrace the opportunity, while others will resist. Because of the timely life lessons wrestling teaches children, I urge everyone to seriously consider trying the sport, if only for one season.
Usually, those who resist wrestling are unfamiliar with the sport. Wrestling can be an intimidating sport, but it’s also one with great potential to develop young adults, both physically and mentally.
My own son resisted until seventh grade. “I don’t want to roll around with a bunch of sweaty guys,” he told me, echoing the popular mantra of basketball players everywhere. My wife, with her medical background, wasn’t very supportive either, citing the skin rashes she saw wrestlers bring to her clinic. I had wrestled in high school – I wasn’t very good, but I wrestled – and I knew what it could teach kids, so I persisted until both agreed to a one-year trial season.
That was four seasons ago – two in junior high, one on the junior varsity team and last year’s varsity season. In that time, he’s experienced extreme highs and extreme lows. There were times that he enjoyed wrestling almost as much as football, and there were times that he talked about quitting. There were dominating wins and puzzling losses, weeks when nothing could go wrong and weeks when everything went wrong. More important than all of that are the lessons that have helped him develop into the young man he is today.
1. There is no entitlement in wrestling. It doesn’t matter where you are ranked or whether or not your coach likes you, your value as a wrestler depends on your most recent performance on the mat. Last year, I watched a wrestler, who spent most of the season ranked #2, lose two tough matches in the district tournament and fail to qualify for the state tournament. He was a senior who had placed at the state tournament the previous year, but that and his ranking didn’t matter – only what happened on the mat. In a matter of minutes, his season was over. In wrestling, you must constantly earn what you get.
2. Wrestling teaches toughness. I got my first bloody nose in youth boxing at the age of 7, and never forgot it. At first, I wanted to cry and get out of the ring, but something deep inside me brought me back to the fight. Too many kids make it through childhood without a bloody nose. In wrestling, we have “blood time.” Wrestlers get their mouths smashed, their noses bloodied, their eyes blackened and their joints twisted. Wrestling teaches athletes how to work through pain and discomfort. Wrestling teaches toughness.
3. Wrestling teaches discipline. Because they have to make weight and need to be in superb shape to succeed, successful wrestlers maintain their bodies like finely tuned machines. Even away from practice and competition, they can’t forget that they are wrestlers. When their friends are feasting on fast food and sodas or staying up too late, wrestlers have to make decisions that will help them on the mat. They know that slipping on discipline will have negative consequences on the mat.
4. Wrestling instills confidence. It takes courage to walk out onto the mat. Once you overcome the fear of competition and the loneliness of being on the mat, everything else in life seems easier. Famous collegiate and Olympic wrestler Dan Gable says that 80% of wrestling matches are decided before the first whistle blows. “One competitor already knows he’s going to win, and the other knows he’s going to lose before either steps onto the mat,” he says. Once wrestlers develop confidence, they learn how to use it to give themselves a competitive edge.
5. Wrestling teaches self-reliance. Too many kids look outward for blame when they experience failure. When you are on the mat, no one is going to come save you. You have to decide how hard you are going to fight to win. If you fail, you have no one else to blame. You can’t blame your teammates, your coach’s play-calling or officiating. You win or lose on your own.
6. Wrestlers don’t go pro. Yes, I know that professional wrestling still exists, but very few wrestlers have professional aspirations. Contrast that with other popular sports. Many basketball, baseball and football players believe that they are going to make millions in professional sports, so much so that they plan for it at the expense of education and other preparation. Wrestlers are under no such illusions. They compete for the sake of competition, not fame or money.
7. Wrestlers come in all shapes and sizes. Height and weight are large factors for success in several popular sports, like basketball and football, but they don’t mean much in wrestling. Wrestling is a sport where small kids or heavy, but relatively short kids can be extremely successful. Where else can a scrawny 106-pound or short 250-pound kid win a state championship?
8. Wrestlers learn to respect their opponents. There is a lot of down time at wrestling events, and many wrestlers will compete against each other multiples times in one season. In that down time, they get to know each other, and will even cheer each other on. Not all of them are friends, but they all know what goes into a wrestling season, and they respect each other because of that shared sacrifice.
Even if your child never wins a match, he’ll learn a lot about himself and how he fits into the world. While it’s true the other sports can teach most of these lessons, the intensity of a wrestling season is hard to match. When you sign your child up for a wrestling season, you give them a competitive edge that will help them succeed in life. Don’t miss that opportunity.
Anybody Can Wrestle
This is taken from: http://wrestling.isport.com/wrestling-guides/the-benefits-of-wrestling-why-you-should-wrestleWrestling doesn’t discriminate. No matter your body type — height or weight — there is a place for you in wrestling. In some sports, only certain body types are able to succeed. In wrestling, as long as you are tough and have the desire to win, nothing else matters. Weight classes ensure fairness amongst the competitors, so you’re never too small or too big to participate.
Our club doesn't cut their athletes for lack of skill or talent. As long as you have the desire to be a member of the team, that’s where you belong.
Personal Growth & Development
Sports are a great way to establish and reinforce positive personality traits and characteristics. Wrestling, in particular, embraces and teaches an array of life lessons that may not be as strongly promoted in other sports:
Self-confidence
When you wrestle, you can’t rely on anyone but yourself. You have to be accountable for your own successes and failures. For this reason, wrestlers must be confident. Without a positive attitude, there will be no success. From the onset, wrestlers learn to count on themselves, gaining confidence on and off the wrestling mats.
Discipline
Waking up before the sun rises for early morning runs, fasting to meet a desired weight, sacrificing a social life in order to train and compete —these are only a few of a wrestler’s duties. One of the most beneficial lessons a wrestler will learn is that this sport requires an insane work ethic. Sometimes, you have to do things that aren’t that “fun” to reach your goals.
Mental Toughness
Wrestlers learn to be both physically and mentally tough. It takes a tremendous amount of toughness to pick yourself up off of the mat when you’re losing, and it takes incredible will power to lose that last pound before a weigh-in. You’ll never be able to name a successful wrestler with a weak mind because, well, there isn’t one.
Sportsmanship
People who have never wrestled have a hard time understanding how mentally and physically taxing it is on competitors. Because of this, wrestlers develop more than just a sense of respect for each other — they develop an admiration. They know how difficult it is to win.
Opponents are always required to shake hands before and after each match. Nevertheless, it’s not uncommon to see foes turn into friends after the final whistle blows. Matches often end with embraces, and sometimes the loser will even raise the winner’s hand!
Competitiveness
Every sport teaches its athletes to be competitive. However, wrestling is different because your team essentially becomes your opponent. In order to stay on the team, you must survive the practices. In order to compete for the team, you’ll need to beat everyone on your team who is in your weight class. To win in competition, you need to train harder than your opponent. You need to want it more. No matter how you look at it, the odds are going to be stacked against you. Relax! You’ll soon thrive on good competition.