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"If you think universities aren't sending their scouts to State competitions, that's insane.  Even regionals.  It is most definitely not just satisfaction to be earned. Especially if he were to qualify as someone who started as a sophomore, you can guarantee he'd have eyes on him.  \nAnd to add:   \n \nI mean, I can [maybe?] fathom if, being real with yourself, you and the whole neighborhood knew your kid is just a crap wrestler.  But not even entertaining the idea your own progeny who you claim is very athletic, determined, and has worked hard these past three years might progress to States or even just initial county-level qualifying is truly baffling to me.  Like are you watching him go through all this and just thinking, \"that's adorable?\"  You don't have to be one of those parents who vicariously and abusively pushes their kid in excess to be happily prepared should he excel.  \"This is the regular season and this is when qualifying tournaments are afterward\" really isn't a whole lot to factor in when making something like wedding plans.   \nWhile we're all here calling him a great young man, he isn't a man.  He's a son and teenage dependent; definitely not nearly as capable of responsible decision making as we're ceremoniously giving him credit for.  You can't force him onto the bus, but I certainly hope you went far beyond \"you shouldn't do this\" and both expressly and assertively emphasized how much more it would mean to you personally for him to participate in the competition than for him to give up the opportunity.  And that's at the bare minimum.  Whether we colloquially refer to him as a man or not, he still needed and needs a parent and a leader more than a bunch of anonymous admirers on a forum.  His decision is heart-warming on its face, but at the end of the day, it's still a child needlessly sacrificing well beyond what should be expected and what's needed.  It brings a tear to our eye now, but we'll just as readily be ****ting on him in a couple years when his girlfriend's here posting about how much of a self-sacrificing momma's boy he is.   \nAgain, I'm not trying to proverbially curb stomp anyone.  If it's done, it's done.  I just really hope you take in the significance and use the lesson as motivation to truly invest effort, interest, and especially hope in his passion and goals.  Bottom line is this is a decision he shouldn't have been in a position to make.  But you'll have plenty more opportunity as he enters young adulthood. "
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