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Q. How much is registration for the Wolves?
A. The registration fee for the 2022-2023 season is $300.
Q. What other expenses are there?
A. Wrestling as a whole is not an expensive sport because the equipment cost is low. Typically, you only need headgear, shoes, and a singlet (maybe kneepads). Our club also has a nice bin of gently used shoes and headgear to choose from if you are a beginner. If there are any overnight tournaments you choose to attend all travel/lodging expenses are your own. Your wrestler will also need a USA Wrestling membership - More can be found here for the steps to take for your wrestler.
Q. So you work hard for 6-8 hours every week, running, practicing, getting beat by the big kids (getting to beat the little ones), sweating and seemingly doing the same drills over and over... You may be asking, WHAT DO I GET OUT OF THIS?
A. Many of you may join wrestling because a friend, teammate or relative had suggested it and at times you ask yourself why? There are numerous reasons to become a wrestler and many of them may serve an immediate need like conditioning for another sport, challenging yourself in a new way, trying to get out all that energy, or establishing some self-discipline and respect. There is no better sport to prepare yourself for playing football and many other sports.
Many times, practices can seem like we are covering the ‘same things’ over and over again, this may be true because in order to find success with anything you must practice the fundamentals and use those as a foundation to build from. By the middle of the season, you will start to find that self-pride that comes from not only the physical work but the mental work that goes along with wrestling and you will start to find more confidence and self-worth because of all the hard work you have done compared to those that don’t wrestle.
Not only do wrestlers develop skills that are relative to the performance on the field or on the mat, but lifelong lessons that make many employers say that wrestlers make the best employees. Read the article that describes that here:
Q. Who will my child be wrestling with?
A. At practices, our coaching staff tries to make sure your child will wrestle with the kids closest to his or her weight/ability. In tournaments, your child will wrestle within his or her age group and usually within +/- 5lbs of his or her weight based on that morning's weigh-ins.
**** You may register for TrackWrestling to follow and keep track of their stats.
Q. Do you have girls that wrestle?
A. Yes, we have had numerous female wrestlers over the years. The sport of wrestling for females is gaining popularity each year. So much so, that girls have an opportunity to wrestle in an all-female tournament for a girl's state championship at the end of the year. However, for most of the season, all wrestlers wrestle kids in their age/weight division regardless of gender. Girls are required to wear a hair cap in tournaments and should wear a "sports bra".
Q. Will my child get hurt?
A. Serious injuries are uncommon in our sport however, wrestling is a contact sport that can lead to your child will be banged up, bruised and sore on occasion, this is normal. The coaching staff does everything possible to prevent serious injuries.
Q. Will my child get 'funny' ears many wrestlers get?
A. The headgear that is required in tournaments works to prevent 'cauliflower ear', our wrestlers are required to wear them at all times during practice and while on the mat.
Q. What should I expect from the first season?
A. Your child should return home from practice very tired. The coaches attempt to teach all the children various techniques, moves, and mental preparation at each practice. As mentioned before, wrestling is a physical sport, yet extremely rewarding. Our coaches understand and maintain the philosophy that to be successful in life and on the mat hard work must be exerted. While winning is fun and rewarding, success is not only defined by wins and losses. Many times our most successful wrestlers had a difficult time in the early stages of their career. Our coaching staff is extremely encouraging while helping kids find that inner drive to overcome the challenges they face, which in turn prepares children for an opportunity to learn in every situation.
Q. How will my child do in the tournaments?
A. Generally, first-year wrestlers don't win too many matches, some of them will, but many have to work hard to earn their first victory. Some tournaments try to match wrestlers with similar records, so be patient, with hard work your child will start winning. As mentioned above, success isn’t defined by wins and losses alone, our coaches always do their best to assess each wrestler at every tournament in order best help them learn from each tournament to improve throughout the season.
Q. Other sports my child does are very careful to not be too competitive at the younger ages is this a competitive sport?
A. Competition is a natural part of this sport. Our philosophy isn’t based on winning and losing, however, we do believe that competition can be healthy and a great learning lesson for children. In wrestling, like in many sports, a losing wrestler can still have wrestled a great match. You can't win them all. There is no way to wrestle without being competitive.
Q. What are the tournaments like?
A. Every tournament is slightly different, but they all are similar and you can expect the following: The weigh-ins are usually from 6 am to 8 am on the day of the tournament (usually Sunday mornings). Wrestlers are due on the mats usually at 8:30-9:00, for a warm-up with the team. Some may have only 6 mats, many will have 10 or more mats running matches at a time. Many tournaments start with the young age brackets being called to the 'bullpen', this is usually the same area that the weigh-in was held. All wrestlers called to the bullpen are sorted by weight. Groups of wrestlers will be led to a mat, the groups are usually their 'brackets', depending on age, brackets are usually 4man or 8man. After they wrestle their first matches there is sometimes a long wait for the second match and a similar wait for the 3rd match. The coach will be able to tell you how many matches there will be after the weigh-in (some brackets include byes). During this time spectators are required to be in the stands, we try to sit together as a team, usually, only coaches and wrestlers are allowed near the mats. Good tournaments have plenty of room in the stands, and the matches are run quickly and smoothly. Many parents will bring in a cooler with food and drinks because the end time can vary but most tournaments generally finish before 3 pm.
Q. Can anyone join the Wolves?
A. To be a successful team you need to have good members, while our club is open to anyone, a majority of our team members will eventually go to high school at Prairie Ridge. That’s not to say if you don’t live in the Prairie Ridge district you cant be part of the Wolves. In the past we have had wrestlers from nearly every surrounding area including but not limited to; McHenry, Cary, Johnsburg, Algonquin, Huntley, Wauconda, and many more areas. A successful team needs good members.
Q. Can I recruit people to join the Wolves?
A. Absolutely, a great team takes great people. There are a LOT of good wrestlers out there that don't even know it because they haven't even considered wrestling as a sport. The Wolves are much more than a wrestling club, we are a community, which means we all look out for one another. As part of the Wolves, we encourage you to find new team members and introduce them to the sport. That is exactly how many of our current wrestlers found wrestling. Sometimes they will need some friendly encouragement to give it a try. Tell them about the tournaments, show them your trophy case. Give them the website address so their parents can find out some information. Ask them to come watch a practice and talk to a coach. We love when new members find the same love we all share for wrestling.
Still have questions? We'd love to answer them for you please contact us @ admin@wolveswrestling.org