FAQ

• Wrestling is both a martial art and a combat sport where you learn skills and moves to control your opponent and ultimately try and pin them to win the match. 

• There are different styles of wrestling such as Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Folkstyle where each has different rules and moves. WWC teaches Folkstyle to our club members.

• This article explains how wrestling matches are scored.

• Wrestling matches are between 2 opponents and matches consist of 3 periods between those opponents that last about 1 minute long in youth wrestling. If the opponents do not pin each other, the match will go all 3 period and the wrestler with the most points at the end of the 3 periods is the winner. A pin ends the match immediately and determines the winner.

• While most tournaments are between 2 opponents at a time, there is another type of wrestling match where one team wrestles another called a dual team match. According to this site,  "Dual meets are competitions between two teams. Each team enters one wrestler per weight class, and he or she wrestles an opponent in that weight class from the other team. Team scoring is the idea behind dual meets, and the winning wrestler is awarded three to six points depending on the nature of the win. Individual points are totaled, and the team with the most points wins the dual competition."

The season typically runs from late October through March. While this is a long season for a youth sport, it should be taken into account the fact that much of this time has holiday breaks built in where there is no practice or tournaments.

Wolverine Wrestling Club is for kids ages 5-12 or grades K-5th. We typically do not have kids older than elementary grades simply because we want to encourage those kids to join the middle school & high school teams. If your child is from SC where 6th graders cannot participate in middle school wrestling until 7th grade, they are welcome to come to join the club. 

• Practices are typically held every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at the Tryon Elementary School Gym (see above for details about where practices are held)

• Kids come to practices in tshirt and athletic shorts and wrestling shoes. Wrestling shoes are not necessary, but are recommended. If your child is a beginner wrestler and you are not sure if they will like it or not, we recommend NOT buying wrestling shoes and just having your child practice in socks since wrestling shoes can be expensive. There is also a box of used wrestling shoes donated by parents every year that you can use for free (first come, first serve). 

• Practices begin with warm ups, and then coaches will go over specific skills. Then they split kids into partners or groups to practice the skill. Usually at the end of practice, there is a game that is both fun and utilizes wrestling skills. 

• Practices typically last 1.5 hours. 

The typical equipment is wrestling shoes, singlet, and head gear. 

• Kids do not usually wear singlets to practice in favor of t-shirts and shorts. Singlets are typically worn in tournaments.

• However, we provide participants with a singlet and head gear to use at tournaments during the season and then participants give them back at the end of the season. 

• We also have a stock of wrestling shoes that parents have turned back in to use over the years when their child outgrew them, so we definitely recommend you check our stock to see if there's a pair in there that your kid can wear for the season instead of buying a new pair since they can be pricey. 

• Some kids don't even bother with the wrestling shoes at practice (especially if they are new and just trying it out); this is just fine and they get on the mats in socks (socks are the minimal requirement to be on the wrestling mats). 

Definitely not! Wrestling is a unique sport in that it can be both a team sport (called duals) or individuals. Most of the tournaments we go to as a club are individual tournaments where we are not dependent on any one kid attending. Therefore, it is a sport where you are able to choose how much time you want to put into it with no pressure or obligation from the club. For example, we have some that just attend practice once a week and go to zero tournaments while others attend all the practices and go to all of the tournaments. 

If your child is brand new to wrestling, we recommend you talk to Coach Russell before planning to attend a tournament. Certain tournaments are geared towards beginners while others definitely are not; we want our young wrestlers and beginners to learn the sport but also have fun, even at tournaments!

Tournaments are a whole experience! Here are some quick facts:

• Bring cash. There is typically a cost for all non-wrestlers to get in and there are always concession stands there.

• They usually last several hours and sometimes even last most of the day. Depending on how the brackets are set up for each weight class and how many kids are in your child's bracket will affect the time of the tournament.

• In light of the previous two points above, bring snacks and entertainment! If you do not want to pay for food all day long, most tournaments allow you to bring in your own snacks. Entertainment items are always helpful for your wrestler or other kids you may have with you since they tournaments last a while. 

• Most tournaments use a website called "track wrestling" where the parents can view which matches are taking place and which matches are coming up in real time. Your child will be assigned "bout numbers" which indicate which mat they are going to wrestle on and the order that they will be wrestling in. I.E. if your child's bout number is 213, this usually means they will wrestle on mat #2, and that they are the 13th match that is going to happen. 

• It is a bit chaotic and it is crucial that you are in charge of your wrestler; the coaches are usually running around from mat to mat coaching the different club kids that are wrestling and they cannot be responsible for your child. 

• Tournaments are also FUN and this is where the "family atmosphere" of wrestling is built. The kids hang out and play together and the parents get to know each other quickly. The wrestling family is one of the BEST things about the sport! 🥰

• See the above question "Do we have to go to tournaments?"

• No one is taking attendance at either practices or tournaments and no one is obligated to attend tournaments! Wrestling is an individual sport most of the time and so you won't be hurting the team if you cannot attend.

• In addition, we have many kids that play multiple sports and since the wrestling season tends to overlap other sports seasons, we always have several participants that taper off early because of that. This is normal and totally fine!!

Absolutely not! Youth wrestling is about learning the sport and having FUN. Focusing on different weight classes for your child is discouraged at this age and may be unsafe. We do not condone or require losing weight to be in a certain weight class. 

The cost for the season is $100. 

• This includes a club shirt for your wrestler and the use of a club singlet and headgear for the duration of the season. 

• If you have more than one child that wants to be in the club, then $150 maximum fee covers all kids that want to participate.

• If you cannot pay, speak to Coach Russell. There are scholarships available.  

• You can pay online with a credit card through Apple Square: PAYMENT PAGE