For parents

Your parent guide

Find your practice group, get ready for day one, and look up what you need throughout the season.

26/27 Season registration is OPEN · 1st Practice Starts Oct 12th · Nutrition guide

Which practice group?

Kindergarten–3rd grade

1-hour practices
6:00–7:00 PM

4th–8th grade

2-hour practices
6:00–8:00 PM

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday · First practice October 12.

Check the practice schedule and location for current details. Tournament age divisions are separate from these grade-based practice groups.

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AAU age & weight classes

Tournament parent guide

Find their division. Feel ready.

Start with your wrestler’s birth year or school grade, then find the reference weight classes below.

Find by birth year

Boys’ divisions

2026–27 ages

Boys

6U

Tot

Birth years · 2026–272021 and later

Reference weights lb

35
40
45
50
55
HWT max 75

Boys

8U

Bantam

Birth years · 2026–272019–2020

Reference weights lb

40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
90
HWT max 125

Boys

10U

Midget

Birth years · 2026–272017–2018

Reference weights lb

50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
103
112
120
130
HWT max 175

Boys

12U

Junior / Novice

Birth years · 2026–272015–2016

Reference weights lb

60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
112
120
130
140
175
HWT max 205

Boys

Middle School

14U / Schoolboy

Birth years · 2026–272012–2014No ninth graders

Reference weights lb

70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
145
152
160
171
189
220
HWT max 250

Looking for girls’ divisions? ↓

Find by school grade

Girls’ divisions

3 grade groups

Girls

K–2

Kindergarten–2nd grade

School gradesKindergarten–2nd grade

Reference weights lb

42
50
58
65
73
HWT max 90

Girls

3–5

3rd–5th grade

School grades3rd–5th grade

Reference weights lb

50
58
65
73
82
91
100
112
HWT max 135

Girls

Middle School

6th–8th grade

School grades6th–8th grade

Reference weights lb

75
84
93
100
107
114
121
128
135
145
155
180
200
HWT max 225

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A couple of helpful things

HWT = heavyweight. “Max” is the posted upper limit in pounds. These are competition classes, not weight-loss targets. Ask a coach which class fits your wrestler.

Practice groups are separate. Our club practices together by grade: K–3 from 6–7 PM; grades 4–8 from 6–8 PM, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Sources & season notes

From the web, checked September 17, 2026: TNAAU 2026–27 ages and girls’ groupings and the TeamTN 2025–26 handbook (Word document). All weights shown are from that handbook, not a confirmed 2026–27 weight chart. Tournament and dual-meet classes can differ; the event flyer and your coach should guide registration.

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Day one

Three things, and that's the whole list.

For their first practice your child needs shorts, a shirt, and wrestling shoes. Nothing else. Shorts and shirt with no zippers, no buttons and no pockets — those hurt when somebody lands on them. Send a water bottle too; the room gets hot.

If the shoes haven't arrived yet, come in socks or bare feet — that's fine for a first night. Headgear is not needed for practice; it's only required if they decide to compete, so there's no rush on it. Don't buy anything beyond the three things above until they've had a few practices and told you they want to keep going. Plenty of kids try wrestling and decide it isn't for them, and that's a completely fine outcome.

Trim fingernails before every practice. This is the single most common cause of a scratched face in a youth room, and it costs nothing to prevent.

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Team store

Find Rockvale Wrestling Club gear and apparel in our team store. Ask a coach if you need help choosing gear for your wrestler.

Shop the team storeRockvale Wrestling Club gear and apparel Back to topics ↑

Homework between practices

Optional, short, and never stacked on top of a hard week. Here's the plan by program, and what a session actually looks like.

Wrestling homework isn't a punishment and it isn't a requirement. Its job is to keep them moving on the days they're not in the room — better balance, a stronger stance, more confidence in their own body. It can't replace mat time with a partner, and no kid falls behind for skipping it.

How much, by program

Program	A normal week	Tournament week
K–3 AAU 3 practice nights · 1 hour each	One or two sessions of 10–15 minutes, on a day without practice, while they're still fresh.	Skip it. Practice plus the tournament is already the week.
4–8 AAU 3 practice nights · 2 hours each	Optional easy movement on a day without practice: 10–15 minutes for grades 4–5, up to 20 minutes for grades 6–8, when rested.	One short session early in the week at most, then rest.
Rockvale Middle School 5 nights	Nothing assigned. Strength and conditioning happen at practice; a day genuinely off is the point.	Nothing. Sleep and food are the homework.

Playing another sport this season counts as training too. Count it, and take a session off.

K–3 session · 10–15 minutes

3 minWarm up. March in place, reach overhead, easy skipping, shake everything out.
8 minRotate through bodyweight squats, wall push-ups, bear crawl and crab walk across the room, balance-and-freeze on one foot, and 15-second holds in their wrestling stance. Four to six good reps of anything, then switch. Short rounds, not a nonstop challenge.
3 minCool down. Walk it off, easy stretching, done.

Grades 4–8 · up to 20 minutes

For grades 4–5 and new wrestlers, use one easy round and finish in 10–15 minutes. Keep the warm-up and cooldown.

4 minWarm up. Easy jogging in place, arm circles, hip openers, a few squats.
12 minUp to two easy rounds of: squats, push-ups (wall or floor, whichever they can do cleanly), split squats with a hand on the wall, glute bridges, dead bugs, and a 30-second stance hold. Start around six reps and rest whenever they need to. The clock wins over finishing every set.
4 minCool down. Walk, stretch, breathe.

Rest day, any age · 8 minutes

OptionalThree minutes of easy walking, three of gentle stretching, two of sitting still. Or send them outside to play instead — that counts, and most weeks it's the better choice.

Not at home

Leave these for practice, where a coach can watch and correct: neck bridging or any forced neck resistance, throws, takedowns on a sibling, pulling on a door handle or railing, step-ups with a loaded backpack, and any workout run to exhaustion. If a home session ends with a kid limping, dizzy or in tears, it was the wrong session. Nothing here needs weights, and nothing here should hurt.

Progress one thing at a time. Cleaner movement, a bit more control, or one or two more reps — not all three in the same week. A missed session doesn't need making up, and nobody owes a workout because they rested.

Full home workout programOptional routines by practice group, with a checklist Mat-side move referenceLook up any move they mention

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Meal prep ideas

Cook once, eat all week. Practice nights are short and tournament mornings are early — the whole win is having food already made.

Sunday, about an hour

A big pot of rice or pastaThe base of half the dinners below. Keeps all week in the fridge.

A tray of roast chickenThighs or breasts, seasoned simply. Slice it once it cools so it's ready to grab.

A dozen hard-boiled eggsBreakfast, snack, or thrown on top of anything.

Fruit washed and cutBag it in single servings. Cut fruit gets eaten; whole fruit in a bowl often doesn't.

Five snack bagsFruit, a granola bar, pretzels, string cheese. One per day, already packed.

Water bottles filledIn the fridge door, ready to grab on the way out.

Practice-night dinner, on the table in 15

Burrito bowlsRice, beans, the roast chicken, a little cheese, salsa. Everyone builds their own.

Chicken fried riceLeftover rice, an egg, frozen peas and carrots, the chicken. One pan.

Pasta with turkey marinaraBagged salad on the side and you're done.

Baked potato barMicrowave the potatoes, top with chicken, steamed broccoli and cheese.

QuesadillasChicken and cheese, with rice and fruit on the side.

Tournament morning, 2–3 hours before the first match

Overnight oatsOats, milk, banana and a little honey, made the night before. Eat it in the car.

Bagel with peanut butter and a bananaThin layer of peanut butter so it isn't heavy. Sunflower seed butter if there's an allergy.

Scrambled eggs and toastSimple, familiar, easy to digest.

Banana-oat smoothieBanana, milk, oats, a spoon of peanut butter. Blend it into a travel cup.

Whatever they eat on a school morningTournament day is not the day to try something new.

The bag, packed the night before

Two full water bottlesOne to drink, one to refill from. The gym will be hot.

Bananas, grapes, orange slicesHalve the grapes for the little ones — whole grapes are a choking hazard.

Half a bagel, pretzels, granola barsSmall bites between matches, not a full plate that sits heavy.

String cheese or a small yogurtIn a cold pack. A little protein is fine between matches.

One sports drinkNice to have on a long day. Water is still the default.

Something to sit on, something to doThere will be long gaps. Plan for them and the day goes better.

This is fuel, not a diet. Rockvale doesn't cut weight, and no youth wrestler should be skipping meals to make a bracket. If you have a question about your child's eating or growth, that's a conversation for their pediatrician, not the mat.

Full nutrition guideMeals by age group and a snack-bag checklist

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Your first tournament

Longer than you expect, and mostly waiting. Plan the whole morning.

Get there earlyDoors usually open well before wrestling starts. Find your club, find the mat your child is assigned to, and get them warmed up with the team rather than alone.
Check in and weigh inThey step on a scale, usually in their singlet or shorts. That number puts them in a bracket with kids close to their own size — that's the whole purpose of it.
Brackets go upOnce every wrestler has weighed in, the event builds brackets by weight and age. Find your child's bracket, note their mat number, and check when their first match is up.
Wrestle, wait, wrestle againMost youth events run three or four matches per wrestler across several hours. There will be long gaps. Bring snacks, water, something to sit on, and something to do.
Between matchesKeep them moving a little, keep them drinking water, and let the coaches coach. The most useful thing a parent says between matches is "what did you see out there?"
Going homeShower before anything else, and put the singlet and gear straight in the wash. Ask one thing they did well before you ask anything else.

A word on weight. At this age, kids wrestle at whatever they weigh — the bracket exists to match them fairly, not to be gamed. Rockvale does not do weight cutting, and no youth wrestler should be skipping meals or dropping weight for a tournament. If you have any question about your child's growth, weight or eating, that's a conversation for their doctor, not the mat.

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How a match is won

Three ways it can end. The first two stop the match early; the third is just whoever is ahead when time runs out.

1. Pin — the match stops immediately

Also called a fall. Hold both of your opponent's shoulders on the mat for a two-count and it's over, whatever the score was. A wrestler losing 10–0 can still win with a pin. This is why we teach every takedown chained through to a turn.

2. Technical fall — too far ahead to continue

Get 15 points clear of your opponent and the match is stopped and awarded to you. Some youth events use a smaller margin, so check the event's rules — but the idea is the same: a big enough lead ends it early.

3. On points — ahead when the whistle goes

If nobody pins and nobody hits the tech fall margin, the wrestler ahead at the end wins. How much they win by has a name: decision for a 1–7 point win, major decision for 8–14. Both are wins; the bigger margin is worth more to a team score at a dual meet.

Where the points come from

Enough to follow your kid's match. Youth events follow high school folkstyle rules with shorter periods — usually one minute each instead of two.

What happened	Points	In plain English
Takedown	3	From both on their feet, one gets the other down and controls him.
Escape	1	The bottom wrestler gets free and back to a neutral, facing position.
Reversal	2	The bottom wrestler goes from underneath straight to on top.
Near fall	2–4	Holding the opponent's back toward the mat. Longer hold, more points.
Penalty	1–2	Illegal hold, fleeing the mat, repeated stalling.
Pin (fall)	Win	Both shoulders held to the mat for a two-count. Match over.

Takedowns became 3 points in high school folkstyle starting with the 2024–25 season. Some youth events still score them as 2 — if the number on the scoreboard doesn't match, that's why. The event's own rules always win.

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What they're all saying

The words you'll hear from the mat and the stands. Type to find one.

FolkstyleThe style wrestled in American schools and youth clubs. Rewards control and riding time. Freestyle and Greco-Roman are the international styles, wrestled mostly in spring and summer.

NeutralBoth wrestlers on their feet, nobody in control. Every match starts here.

Referee's positionThe start where one wrestler is on hands and knees and the other is behind and on top. Second and third periods usually start here.

Top and bottomWho is where in referee's position. "He's on bottom" means he's the one underneath trying to escape.

ShotAn attempt at a takedown, usually driving in at the legs.

SprawlThe defense against a shot — hips back and down so the attacker can't get the legs.

StallingNot trying to score. The referee warns first, then starts giving the other wrestler points.

Back pointsSame as near fall — points for turning the opponent toward his back.

Riding timeTime spent in control on top. Matters in high school and college, not usually in youth matches.

FallA pin. Both shoulders held to the mat, and the match ends there.

Technical fallWinning by a 15-point lead, which stops the match early. Some youth events use a smaller margin.

DecisionWinning on points by 1 to 7. A major decision is winning by 8 to 14.

BracketThe chart of who wrestles whom. Winners advance across it; most youth events also give losers more matches.

ByeNo opponent in that round, so the wrestler advances without wrestling. Luck of the draw.

Weight classA range of weights grouped together so kids wrestle others their own size.

SingletThe one-piece uniform. Many events now also allow fitted shorts with a compression top.

AAUAmateur Athletic Union — one of the organisations that sanctions youth tournaments. Rockvale's club season runs through AAU events.

Dual meetTwo teams wrestling head-to-head, one match per weight class, rather than a full-day bracket tournament.

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Skin, hygiene and staying on the mat

Wrestling is a contact sport on a shared surface, so the room takes skin seriously. The routine is simple: shower soon after every practice, wash the gear after every use, and don't share towels, headgear or water bottles.

Take a look at your child's skin now and then, especially face, neck, arms and shoulders. If anything new turns up — a rash, a red ring, anything that looks like it's spreading — keep them off the mat and see a doctor before the next practice. Getting it looked at early usually means missing one session instead of two weeks, and it protects everybody else in the room.

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Where everything else lives

Find the club schedule, registration and contact details below, along with more resources for your wrestler.

Practice & event scheduleWhen and where RegistrationSign up for the season Contact the clubQuestions this page didn't answer Tournament nutritionWhat to feed them, and when Home workout programTheir homework, with a checklist Mat-side move referenceEvery move, searchable

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