January 7, 2008
Certification example: With the deadline for certification now less than a week away, it is appropriate to address a couple of questions re: application of certification that sometimes arise. Over the year’s I’ve found that the use of examples is sometimes the easiest way to clarify the KSHSAA policy on this.

Example 1: Wrestler A weighs 134.9 pounds during a regularly scheduled school team competition weigh-in. At the weigh-in he passes a hydration assessment. He uses this as his certification weigh-in for 135#. At a subsequent regularly scheduled school team competition weigh-in, he weighs in at 139.7 and will be wrestling in the 140# weigh-class for that competition. Has the wrestler broken his 135# certification? Answer: No, since he only wrestled up one weight class above 135# class, he has not broken his original certification. Question: Can he use the hydration assessment when he weighed-in at 134.9 as meeting the hydration assessment for the later weigh-in at 139.7 so that he can be certified at 140#. Answer: Since the major concern with respect to hydration and the rationale for having hydration assessment for wrestlers is that wrestlers do not deplete/dehydrate themselves in order to reach a minimum weight, if in this case the wrestler wanted to certify at 140# and since he was hydrated at a weigh-in for a lower weight, the wrestle could use the 139.7 weight weigh-in as now his certified weight.

Example 2: Same wrestler as in Example 1. After certifying at 135# class based on competition weigh-in at 134.9 and passing a hydration assessment at that weigh-in, opts to compete in the 145# weight class in a competition. Must he now “recertify” for the 135# class? Answer: Yes – when the wrestler competed in a weight class that is more than one weight class above his certified weight class, then they will have to “recertify” if the want to go back to their 135# (minimum weight class). By going up two weight classes over the initial certified weight class, they have voided that initial certification weigh-in and weight class. They would have to participate in a second regularly schedule school team competition weigh-in BEFORE the certification date (January 12, 2008) and pass a hydration assessment at that weigh-in, in order to be able to recertify for the 135# weight class. In addition, the wrestler must have a minimum of ½ of his total school team competition weigh-in’s (not including the regional competition weigh-in) at the 135# weight class in order to be eligible for the 135# class at the regional competition.

Example 3: Wrestler A certifies at 145# and has wrestled in that weight class all season. For the regional meet the coach and the athlete determine that his best chance at placing in the regional and advancing to state is for him to wrestle in the 160# weight class. Can he do this and what must he weigh in order to do this? Answer: Yes he can do this and the fact that he is now NOT going to wrestle in his minimum (certified) weight class during the state tournament series (i.e., regional and state meet) means that he does not have to have a specific number of weigh-ins at the 160# class. HOWEVER, in order to wrestle at the 145# weight class his minimum weight at the time he weighs in for the regional MUST be something over 137# - which by his stripped weight at the regional weigh-in qualifies him for the 140# or 145#. It is wise to note that there are still some people that forget the NFHS rule requires that in order to compete in a class a wrestler must be eligible for that weight class based on the stripped weight of the wrestler. I’ve been present for regional weigh-in’s where athletes had to go eat and drink during the weigh-in in order to be eligible for a weight-class. Their stripped weight initially did not qualify them for the weight class they were entered into! Their coaches just assumed that they would be eligible regardless of their stripped weight because they were wrestling in a weight class that was above their certification weight – an erroneous assumption.

Richard, is there a certain figure or percentage, to go along with #3? I am just wondering, as have seen some really small 215's, and hwt's, who were very overmatched as well, size-wise.

Tomorrow is the deadline correct? If you have an individual that doesn’t show to the weight-in for there weight and hydration test, they are done for the season, assuming there are no extenuating circumstances (injury,illness,etc.), correct?

They would have to use their hydrated weigh-in from the beginning of the season and wrestle at the weight class that that qualifies him for.

I have a 140 pounder whos father has surgery for cancer in his throat tommorrow. He has wrestled 140 all year, but certified to wrestle 130 at the begging of the year (He weighed 139.5). He wants to wrestle 135 the remainder of the year, but he will not be present for weigh in and certfication tommorrow. What is going to happen?

Wrestlers may use their alpha weigh-in as their certification weigh-in.

when you say that, does that mean he can use his alpha weigh in as in 139.5 and NOT wrestle down to 135 and be forced to stay at 140 the remainder of the season??? Or since he was released to wrestle 130, he may wrestle 135 and still get 2 pounds?

For the wrestler whose dad is having surgery, you can ask Mr. Bowden for permission to hydrate him due to the extenuating circumstances. You better do it today.

With the way the rules are set up, I understand that a wrestler can only wrestle one weight class above their certified weight without breaking certification. The rules also state that a wrestler can wrestle no more than one weight above their competition weigh-in.

So, having said that, what if a wrestler weighs in at a weight above their certified weight and, for whatever reason, wants to wrestle a weight above their competition weigh-in? For example, say a wrestler certified at 135, and weighs in that day at 138. According to the rules, they could wrestle at 140 or 145, but they would break certification if they went 145.

My question is, why shouldn't the wrestler in the example be allowed to wrestle at 145 without breaking certification as long as they weighed in within one weight class of their certified weight?

Please note that I realize a wrestler should be at a weight that they are able to maintain, and I am not promoting that they should bounce around. I just think that on some occaisions it would be beneficial for them to move up a weight, especially with smaller programs that need to fill out a roster temporarily.

Really, I'm just trying to find something interesting to talk about and see what everyone else thinks about it.

Yes your are right, It seems at times that the certification rules, which are written to avoid excessive weight reduction. Have stipulations that are exactly opposite. Certification should not be broken unless the wrestler actually weighs in more than 1 weight class above his certified weight. The certification rule really should be more based on what you weigh not what weight class you wrestle.
It really is not that big of a deal as long as everyone understands the rule. It limits all teams equally.
I'm glad you brought up the point, all coaches need to understand this.