I tried to get my son (8th grade) to play golf this summer like in the past but he would not do it. Wanted to keep focusing on wrestling. I don’t want him to burn out, and thought it’d be good to mix it up as we have in years past, but he sees that freshman year coming up.
As far as middle tier kids not being as high in numbers... my guess is that this phenomenon is happening in other sports as well with the rise of specialization. It may correct as parents who got burnt are having kids and won’t allow their kids to do it.
But the ideas posted here before about about bringing more hype to duals and wrestling in general—lights, music, recognition in publications. I think this is key to bringing new kids into the sport. Also, getting year-round kids to do some recruiting along with coaches. My son talked his friend into joining the team at school and my son wasn’t even on his team. This kid is now an 8th grader, gonna wrestle again this year and will probably wrestle in high school. Seems like adding 1 or two kids to a program a year is not too lofty a goal, and the hype should help retain if implemented.