The good thing is it takes less years now, as semi-recently(within the past 5-10 years) they changed it to the 7 year minimum. Before that it would take 10-12 years to get a state tournament. When it was 10-12 years it really hurt a lot of people that wanted to referee, but didn't want to wait out 10 years to maybe get a state finals. That is basically telling a kid while he might be good enough, he can't go to state his freshman and sophomore years.
In all honesty, I want the best refs at semi-state and state and don't care if they have been reffing for two weeks or 50 years. If a guy is good enough to ref at state they shouldn't be handcuffed because they are young.
While there needs to be a "learning" period with the exposure people have to the sport now they can be well prepared to take the mat younger and younger. I would be in favor of having the advancement period allowing a minimum one year needed at each level to advance. Thus the first year a ref can do sectional, second year(pending votes and such) they can do a regional, 3rd year(pending votes and such) a semi-state, and 4th year a state. If the referee is good enough they should be able to advance faster with the coaches votes.