The MPRB provides a singlet and t-shirt to all registered athletes. Each wrestler will need to provide their own wrestling shoes (street shoes are not allowed on the wrestling mat).

Headgear, mouthguard, and/or kneepads are encouraged, but are entirely optional.

Wrestling is a combat sport - there is pushing and pulling and clubbing and shoving, which does carry inherent risk.

Wrestling mats are surprisingly soft, most explicitly harmful actions (punching, kicking, biting, scratching, etc.) are illegal, and coaches and referees take great care to limit situations that might cause injury.

As a sport, wrestling has an extremely low rate of serious injury. When it happens, most of the time we see a bumped nose, twisted ankle, or a mat burn on the knee. Our coaches are trained in first aid, and wrestlers always have the final say in whether or not they are fit to start, end, or continue participation.

We've all seen the sitcom wrestling episode where the new kid has to wrestle the state champ and ends up in a sling. That's not how it works here.

We match wrestlers up by age (within 1-2 years), weight (within ~5 lbs.), and experience. It's not always perfect, but we try very hard to make sure new wrestlers compete with new wrestlers, wily veterans compete with wily veterans.

That's not to say there won't be the occasional tough match, but as we learn about our athletes, our goal is to put them in situations where they can grow and succeed whether or not their hand is raised at the end of a match.

No. We do not have weight classes at this age. We record each wrestler's weight at the beginning of the season and operate on approximately +/- 5 lbs. of variation when we pair them up for competition.

While we encourage a healthy diet and hydration (water and snack breaks throughout practices and competitions), our athletes are here to grow, get stronger, learn the sport, and have fun without worrying about what they weigh.

Because having fun in wrestling is so dependent on having a partner/opponent who is close to your size and ability level, within reason, we do ask our wrestlers and parents to try their very best to make it to all of our practices and meets. (Obviously, there are exceptions for illness or family commitments.)

For a first-year wrestler, that amounts to 23 practices, 5 dual meets, and 2 Saturday tournaments. Experienced wrestlers who wish to attend advanced practices could add 9 additional practices. Altogether, over the course of a Minnesota winter, that's between 30 and 40 days of wrestling.

For our younger wrestlers (and their parents), that may be the most action-packed activity season they've ever done. On the other hand, for what MPRB charges, that amounts to about $1 per day for a whole winter of supervised physical activity!

It honestly might not be for everyone, but we try our best to keep it light, fast, and fun so that by the time we make it to March, our athletes are counting down the days until next season.

Absolutely. Besides our MPRB administrators, this team runs entirely on volunteer efforts from parents and community members, and meets are refereed by volunteers from the Roosevelt HS and Augsburg College wrestling teams.

Whatever your expertise and/or interest may be, whether it's helping coach, running concessions, chaperoning a team activity, or starting a cheer squad (Longfellow did it last year and I must admit I was kind of jealous) - we'd love to have your support.

Reach out and let us know what you'd like to do, and we'll make it happen!