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Middle School Redshirting


doctorWrestling

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I'll just say this, my son & I were faced with this very decision his 8th grade yr. By not redshirting, we knew that we wouldn't be wrestling varsity as a freshman. The 2013/2014 Perry Meridian Falcons were a pretty darn good team, & there was just no way a 125/130lb freshman was gonna have a spot on that team...I mean, we couldn't cut, cuz there was Cottey a 120lb Senior, then you had Aiden Kenny 126lb Senior, we couldn't go up cuz then you had the likes of Brandon James & Cody Lecount. So honestly we had every (sports) reason to redshirt a year. Even still, we chose against redshirting. I mean, my son was an A/B student, he was already 18 months into puberty, so there was no undeveloped issue. The only issue was, we won't make the team. To me that just wasn't enough. Now here we are, Senior in high school, and I ask myself many of times, "DID WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE" ??? Well, here is my answer....Yes

Have we done everything we thought we could do in high school wrestling, no (we still have this year) but my son is a great student, an awesome person, and I wouldn't have him any other way. I believe the mentors he's had in the Perry wrestling program (Coach Schoettle) have helped me mold my son into a fine young man. There is a whole lot more to life than a State Championship. If you asked me, don't you wish you still had 1 more year to try to win that state title. I would tell you absolutely, but that's just not the case, you get 4 years and that's it. If you get it done great, if not, well we damn sure had fun trying, and we are still the same person with or without that title. Wrestling titles or none, has made my son the man he is today. And by God I have a strong feeling we will get the team title tomorrow, so that alone would be just fine with us. And I can guarantee you this, my kid will never go down without a fight. In wrestling or in life, and that is all I could ever hope for...I will add this 1 last thing, that was just our decision, I completely understand exactly why any father would choose the other route & redshirt his son in the 8th grade. It was a very tough decision for us but we decided against it. That don't mean I'm right, that just means, it was what was right for us....

If you did redshirt him, how old would he be at state finals his senior year? 18 or 19?

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I dont post often as our family is newer to wrestling. However most of what has been said I have experienced a bit of. We have four boys that now wrestle in our house. The oldest started wrestling this year as a frosh. The reason, his eyes were opened at a big ten baseball camp that he needed to toughen up mentally and physically. Finding out that the baseball team works out 3x a week at 6 am for their weight room time and that all athletes have classroom attendance videotaped was eye opening. That has helped drive him to wrestling. Although not being able to beat the next older brother for a couple years now due to wrestling since he was K might have something to do with it. My message is that this is a choice that should be talked about with multiple people. We all want our kids to succeed, but are you hurting future opportunities like college by holding back for pure sport reasons. When I have given job interviews and looked at people that graduated high school at 20 or 21, the question of intellegence comes up. There are always multiple facets when looking at this issue.

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I believe a college coach would much rather have a 20 yr old freshman over an 18 yr old freshman, so I would venture to guess the 8th grade redshirt would help in college recruiting...but this is just my guess, I have 0 facts/stats to support my statement....

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I can also tell you this, I had what most call an "accident child" or "change of life child"...but I think all kids are change of life...but either way, he definitely wasn't planned, but I have already been thinking about his future and as of now, I'm leaning towards just starting him in school a yr late...but what if he ends up not being too bright (lol) & happend to flunk a grade, that would cancel out his Senior yr of wrestling, so again I'm torn on what to do...the good thing is, I have several yrs to ponder on this as he is only 2 yrs old now...

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What if a kid was held back at a younger age (grade school) for acedmic reason? How would you be able to tell a kid who would be 19 his senior year who was never "redshirted" for athletic reasons he couldn't compete?

Yes

If we did, he would have been 19 at that time...

Some kids are young for their grade. They are still 18 at State Finals with a hold back.

I think you did the right thing.

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I was 17 at semi state and got beat by a kid who was 19 my senior year.

 

I still hold a grudge against my parents for not starting me in school a year later. Lol

 

I'm okay with a senior being 19, but 20 is too old. there are many positives when holding a kid back not just athletically, but academically as well.

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