Almost every weight class in high school wrestling just got heavier, starting with the bottom weight class moving up three pounds from 103 to 106.
I wrestled 98 pounds as a junior back at Barnesville, Minn., in 1977 and 105 as a senior; I had planned to wrestle 98 and had already cut 10 pounds from 120 to 110 at the time of our doctor’s weigh-in after our second practice, but he signed me for 105. Our second-lowest weight class then would be lower than the lowest weight class now. And less than a decade before my time, the bottom weight class was 95. So we’ve added two classes, from 12 to 14, yet dropped the bottom 1 1/2 weight classes in the last 40 years.
The top weight below heavyweight back then was 185 pounds. Now there will be classes at 182, 195 and 220 before we get to heavyweight (a maximum of 285 pounds).
The 14 weight classes for next year will be: 106 pounds, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285.
The only onces that aren’t changed are 145, 152 and 160.
I like the return of 126, 132 and 138, traditional weight classes from my age, although they each now come one weight sooner in the lineup.
I understand the reasoning for the change; the National Federation of State High Schools wants the 14 weight classes to be distributed to spots where each represents roughly 7 percent of the male high school population. Sounds reasonable.
But if one of the major problems in this country is obesity, especially childhood obesity, I say it’s wrong to keep increasing the weights just because kids are heavier now. They SHOULDN’T be so much heavier. It’s not like they’ve grown that much taller since the weight classes were last bumped up in 1988. Just heavier.
And one of the great things about wrestling is that it was a sport for people of all sizes. We’re full of sports (basketball, football, etc.) where being big is a huge advantage. Wrestling is about the only one that actually rewarded you for being small. Or at least could reward you.
Oh, well. I imagine most coaches will applaud this move. They certainly did the last time the weights were bumped up in 1988. And the vast majority approved of the 215-pound class being added in 1998. And I don’t hate it either. I’m not a fan yet, but if it leads to more kids wrestling and fewer forfeits, I will grudgingly approve of the move. But until I see that increase, I’ll be mildly against it.
Dakota coach Pete Alber, a former 98-pound state champ and the uncle of two recent Dakota 103-pound champs, has no problem with the move.
“I’m not in real big favor of getting rid of the light weights; that’s the great thing about the sport, it lets little kids compete,” Alber said. “But 106 isn’t that bad. It just can’t go any higher than that.”
A couple of other moves were announced in the NFHS news release:
I didn’t like making a figure four leglock on the head illegal. I used to use that sometimes. The easiest way to turn a wrestler when you have him in an arm bar or single chickenwing (we called it the Fridley ride, because it was popularized in Minnesota by Fridley High School) was to step over and put your foot behind his head as a lever. Then, when he turned, you could let go of the arm and slide into a figure four. I never saw anyone ever get hurt with that, but the NFHS disagrees:
“This move was being used by high school wrestlers more and more on the head, so to minimize the risk of injury, the committee voted to outlaw the Figure 4 on the head as well as around the body and both legs,” said Bob Colgate, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee.
A long, long overdue move was to make the boundary line inbounds. The mat is already too small, especially with so many wrestlers liking to circle the outside of the mat, enabling them to get out of bounds if they get in trouble. Previously, a wrestler was out of bounds if he or she was touching any part of the 2-inch-wide line which marks the wrestling area. If this move cuts down on wrestlers going out of bounds by even two or three times during a match, it will be a huge boon. Alber loves that change.
The NFHS reports that wrestling ranks sixth among all sports in number of boys competing with 272,890 wrestlers at 10,363 schools during the 2009-10 season. There were an additional 6,134 girls wrestling at 1,009 high schools.
Yes, I totally disagree with the weight class move. I wrestled at 98 lbs. in high school too. I love playing sports, but was small so wrestling was really my only outlet to play sports in high school. There is no way I could have been even slightly competitive in a 106 lb. weight class. I was probably 95lbs. my freshman year and there were other kids that were only about 90lbs.
Yeah, I was junior high champ at 83 in ninth grade and weighed in the low 90s as a sophomore. I wrestled 98 as a junior without basically cutting weight; just the workouts of wrestling dropped me from 105 or so to 98. … I quit playing football after seventh grade, even though I loved it, because our silly coach put me at defensive end. Who ever heard of a 72-pound defensive end, even in seventh grade? But I only lost once that entire year as a 72-pound wrestler.
I liked the 98 weight class. i was somewhat strong for the class and undefeated in the 98 class. however, i was bumped around because of the forfeits which thereby brought about some loses. the class was likely changed to prevent the forfeits. when the class was changed to 103 in 88, i was instantly put at a 5 lb disadvantage. at that time, it was near impossible for me to gain weight, let alone maintain it. if it were 106, i would have been at an 8 lb disadvantage. in some cases, even more, as some would sweat off the water weight for weigh in and actually weight more at time of wrestling. i actually think the new classes penalize the small guy, rather then award him. unfortunately today, i no longer have the same problem.
“But if one of the major problems in this country is obesity, especially childhood obesity, I say it’s wrong to keep increasing the weights just because kids are heavier now. They SHOULDN’T be so much heavier. It’s not like they’ve grown that much taller since the weight classes were last bumped up in 1988. Just heavier.”
First off wrestling isn’t the answer to obesty. Fat kids lasted about one day when I was in school.
The size of kids is an interesting topic. I think some kids are clearly bigger then they would of been 10 or 20 years ago. My daughter started weight training in 7th grade with the goal of putting on some muscle. I wasn’t allowed to touch weights until i started highschool. Kids that workout are clearly bigger and faster then 20 years ago.
On the other hand their is another group of kids floating around. A lot of 15 year olds with the body of 45 year olds. These are the kids that are the problem when we talk overweight kids. That said these kids are not wrestling.
Adjusting the weights for the bigger stronger kids only makes since. I’m sure 98 pound Matt could pack on a few pounds of muscle in today’s world.
Joe,
I see what you are saying. However, the fact that kids are weight training at a younger age is a sad commentary on sports for me. To me sports have always been about talent, finesse, and teamwork. Bigger and stronger erases the raw pleasure of competing.
“To me sports have always been about talent, finesse, and teamwork.”
xteach i don’t see how weight training changes any of that. I see no shame in preparing your body to compete. To not prepare yourself to compete imo is letting your team down. Why allow kids to get hurt if with a little weight training they can remain healthy?
For my daughter she wasn’t able to compete if she didn’t start working out. Her shoulder was to weak. The doctor suggested she start weight training. For her weight training was a better option then watching the more talented kids play the sport she loved. She may now be taking the spot of a more talented player, but that wouldn’t be the case if the talented girl worked a little harder.
i also have to chuckle about 98 pounders complaining about moving up and facing a 103 pounder. I had a kid at my school that was a pretty decent wrestler. I want to say as a soph he took 4th at regionals. His problem was he weighted what i did and for 3 years I beat him out for the varsity spot. Instead of heading down to jv most nights the coach would slot him in as a 189 pounder. 189 was also where i was sent if i failed to make weight. We both tipped the scale at 152.
Yes Joe,
You kind of proved my point. That is great for your daughter, but at the same time it seems kind of fake.
Let me give you another example. In high school, I was also on the chess team. I relied purely on my own abilities to play a good game of chess. Usually, the ones at the very top of the game were actually students of chess. They read books and imitated the great players.
I guess I just like to see people showcase their own god given talents rather then forcing they bodies our minds into something so they can be superior.
I’m biased, because I wrestled at 98 and 105 pounds, but most of the best wrestlers in our conference when I was a kid were in the lower weights. Best as in not only most technically skilled, but also best as in pound-for-pound in the best shape. … I just spoke with Hononegah coach Justin Wieman, who wrestled 152 as a junior and senior for Hononegah, and he said the same thing, with no prompting. He singled out Harlem sophomore Jordan Northrup, second in Class 3A at 103 pounds this year, as one of the technically best wrestlers in the entire state.
Go to a wrestling meet and you will usually see wrestlers at 189, 215 and heavyweight pushing each other around like sumo wrestlers. The guys who make your jaw drop with their speed, quickness and moves are usually at 130 pounds and below.
exactly matt, well said. a pound here or there makes a hugh difference in the lower weight classes. as you note, the lower weights were the best pound for pound so one would try to stay at the weight in which they were best pound per pound. giving up 8 lbs (98 to 106) would of been hugh in my day. 103 was significant but worked out.
I would agree matt. As a 152 pounder i was a brawler. The lil guys wrestled and the big boys threw down.
“You kind of proved my point. That is great for your daughter, but at the same time it seems kind of fake.”
Nothing about it seems fake. The lazy kid with talent sits home, while the kid busting her arse plays. I’m shocked this would bother you. Let me guess you hated the movie rudy and wanted ivan drago to knock out rocky.
IMO you let your lack of size decide your path in sports for you. My lil one doesn’t care she is the smallest kid on the team. She gets it done and when she doesn’t it drives her to work even harder. As a parent I couldn’t be prouder.
joe,
Your right, I didn’t like Rudy!! It was about someone trying to be someone that he wasn’t.
I do apologize though, I didn’t mean to start an argument or insult your daughter. We just have two different philosophies. I just don’t care for what most sports have evolved into. Just look at some of the best players in the professional leagues, they have all beefed up during my generation. The games have changed…watching a basketball game, football game, tennis match, or baseball game is quite different now then it was say 30-40 years ago.
By the way, I can’t believe your coach put a 152lb guy in at the 189lb weight class. That’s crazy!!
Xteach, I’ve seen 152-pounders at 189 also. My cousin was a very talented screwup who twice finished second in the state. Anyway, he was notorious for missing weight and we had a bunch of wrestlers after him that would swing between weights, so usually our coach would let him bump up a weight. But our coach finally laid down the law his sophomore year during the Waubun tournament early in the season. My cousin missed weight at 152, reched the finals at 189 and actually led the guy who wound up finishing fourth in the state midway through the second period before eventually getting beat by eight points or so. … You see an awful lot of 189 pounders and 215-pounders, especially 30 years ago, who get by on muscle and aren’t all that skilled. Smaller, quicker wrestlers can cause them trouble as long as they can keep the match strictly a takedown duel. … By the way, that might have been the last time my cousin missed weight.
xteach no worries. I understand your point. I understand you were just using her as an example. I can understand how some people would even feel that way. 13 year old girls lifting weights even sounds bad to me. But done right why not? No sense in waiting till she is 20 pounds overweight to learn how to use weights. The other thing to keep in mind is she isn’t trying to look like lee haney. She is lifting to stay healthy. No weightgain 6000 being consumed here. Preventive maintenance is the goal.
The other thing to keep in mind as at the level she is playing they all are doing something to remain healthy. If they don’t something gives out.
Our 152 guy got stuck wrestling talmadge griffis in one match. He may of had to wrestle the guy twice that year. I’m not sure griffs had an once of fat on him at 189. That one was hard to watch. Our guy was all pride, and talmadge was a beast. I thought at a couple points talmadge may actually rip his arm off.
Talmadge was an incredible athlete, maybe the most awesome pure physical talent I’ve seen in the NIC-10, but his brother Terry was a more skilled wrestler.
oh wow, yeah I remember Talmadge also. He definitely was not a heavy weight chunker.