It is assumed that the selection of gifted children aged 13-14 years old is dominated by those with accelerated biological development. A better understanding of this problem can greatly improve the selection process for gifted children. The paper aimed to determine the differences in motor, functional, and sport-specific skills between children with different levels of biological acceleration. The study was conducted on a sample of 26 wrestlers aged 13.8±0.74 years old selected from the city of Zagreb. The participants were divided into three groups according to the acceleration of biological development (early maturers, n=9; normal, n=10; late maturers, n=7) and tested with a battery of 10 tests (6 motor, 1 functional, and 3 sport-specific). As was expected, even though there were no differences in experience and placement, the groups differed in all physical characteristics (Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA: age p=0.01; body mass, p<0.01; body height, p<0.01; sitting body height, p<0.01; body mass index, p=0.02). The groups differed significantly in two sport-specific tests and one motor test (Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA: wrestling bridge flexibility p=0.02; flipover p=0.04; medicine ball throw p<0.01). Although these were selected wrestlers, not all of them were classified as early maturers; rather, they were evenly distributed in different groups. We can assume that late maturers had technical-tactical advantages that compensated for the early maturers` advantage in explosive power. Early maturers were better in terms of explosive power, but the late maturers were better at sport-specific flexibility, as expected.
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