Wrestling for 2Nd Grader

We put our kindergartener in wrestling last year. He loved it. He placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in almost every event. It is a big commitment, but it is such an individual sport. He grew so much confidence, and it really help him focus more at school.
It is long tournaments, but you get to know the other players and learn their strength and weakness. You get to know the other parents around you and start rooting for their kids too.
I would try it, especially if he has the desire. Good Luck.

My son participated in wrestling for several years. He will probably go back to it in another year - he struggled with sportsmanship awful lot, and has sat out the last 2 years while taking karate instead.

I think it's a great sport. Low incidents of injury, and the kids have to really focus or they'll not do well. It's amazing how technical it really is and how much practice can go into becoming a good wrestler. Starting young is instrumental in a child developing the skills needed to be competative in middle school. I like that they wrestle in their weight group so the smaller kids actually have a chance to succeed.

The tournaments can get very time consuming. It's a whole day gone each time. And then there's all the practice. I look at it just like I do karate - it's something of a lifestyle.

We just decided to let my five year old quit - he started just before Christmas. We had two hour practices three days a week, which was too much for him and he really didn't like it. It's a huge time commitment. Aside from practice, there's weigh-ins and tournaments. Some of those are an hour or more from us. It was also more expensive than I thought it would be. Shoes, headgear, and singlet were at least $100 and then you have to pay for memberships in the associations and there entrance fees and admission to the tournaments.

I didn't realize how expensive it was or how big of a time commitment otherwise I would have waited a year or two before we joined.

My 7y/o did it 2 years in a row. It was 'hurt more' than he thought it would, what with being thrown on a matt over and over again. He liked it though and didn't want to quit. i let him finish out his last season but am not registering him again this year.

My nephew, who is 17y/o has wrestled every year while in HS and I have decided that wrestling is just not a sport I am going to foster participation in. I do not think it is healthy for growing boys to be so focused on maintaing weight...I mean they are growing teenage boys, of course their weight is going to change, as it should...but these boys just get so caught up in wrestling in a specific weight class...not to mention that around here Wrestling season coordinates with the holidays and I think it is too much to have to go to practice ON Thanksgiving and the day after, as well as ON Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! *These were not 'mandatory' practices but my nephew said that everyone was expected to attend and everyone did in fear of repercussions from the coaches. It is just too much IMO. Not to mention that my nephew has contracted Pink Eye twice as well as athletes foot....GROSS!!!!

A distant family member has her 3 boys wrestling in the Carpentersville area. They LOVE it and are really good at it. I don't know of any injuries--she posts just about everything about their wrestling experiences on FB, so I am pretty sure she'd mention injuries too.

Do you have younger kids to consider as well, or just the 2nd grader? For her, she just brought her younger kids along with, and they grew up watching each other participate, and then wanted to do it themselves. They pretty much live there and in the car.