my son Dakota Leach came in as a freshman at 85 lbs. He usually gets bigger at the end of the season, but unfortunately ended up weighing I think 88 lbs. He wrestled JV versus 14U. We had to accept his size so he needed to experience wrestling against bigger kids even if it was on JV and most of all he wanted to be part of his high school team which eventually the team were state champions that year and he helped our 103 wrestler become a state champion by being his practice partner. As a sophomore, lowest weight was still at 103, he started the season at about 92 lbs, end of the season at 100 lbs...(I think we all did the happy dance). He was able to compete on Varsity and took 4th at state. As a junior this year, he finally passed the minimum weight of 106 and became a state champion. It has been a tough road for Dakota but he stuck it out and never gave up and had faith that eventually some time during his high school years he would be big enough to compete. Sometimes life is not fair but you have to roll with the punches. I had to learn that. As a mom it was hard to see my son lose because of his size.

The rule is not gray but perhaps in some parts of Kansas the enforcement is.

IMO JV wrestling is to get kids ready to wrestle varsity.

No argument. I think it is a common practice to have alumni in your room and sometimes talented 8th graders.

My point is just that wrestling devalues the lower weight classes at its own peril. A lot of lighter kids are drawn to wrestling because it is a chance to compete on an even playing field. Remove that level playing field and you risk losing a significant "feeder" source of participants, including many who might go on to have great careers in the middle and upper weights.

That decreased participation is bad for the sport and it is bad for those kids who miss out on the life lessons that wrestling instills. I want more kids to experience wrestling, not fewer. Even if it means there is a low weight class that has some byes. That is why I would support inserting a weight class below 106 (100). The pool might not be as deep, but at the state tournament there will be some great wrestlers that are deserving of recognition. And that experience can be a very positive factor in their life, even long after they hang their wrestling shoes up.

There is a difference in regards to alumni as opposed to 8th graders. Heck, Coach Johnson has an annual Dad's day practice!

I don't think cutting back the number of weight classes is the answer. I think the focus should be on getting more wrestlers on the mat and keeping them on the mat. Why try to downsize the sport when we should be trying to grow it?

Does anyone know who the contact at KSHSAA is to run numbers and ages for these kids? I don't know if that is protected information or not, but it would be interesting to see the fall-out from the 14u class numbers to the certified kids at 106.
I would be more than willing to run these numbers into an excel sheet if you PM me the information.
USAW recognizes 14u weight classes all the way down to 75.
I am NOT suggesting this for HS so don't even go there....
I am curious though to see how KSHSAA affected those kids like mine that potentially weigh 100 by next fall.
Terry

It is NOT a KSHSAA decision. The weight classes are determined by a committee at the National High School level. This topic was debated heavily during the past 16 months. The biggest issue, imo, is that they took a weight class out of the middle of the bell curve and stuck it out on the right side. (140ish and stuck in 195 or 182 your pick). Many 14U are 8th graders. Ninth grade is sort of the "cusp" year for puberty. No one is getting left out. If you only weigh 80lbs you can wrestle 106.

Agree with Will.

What I saw this year at most tournaments was the new weight classes eliminated a full bracket of wrestlers from the middle weights, and split the 189 and 215 into three brackets, leading to there being three brackets with few wrestlers instead of two full(er) brackets. I did not see (out here anyway) that it increased the number of participants. In fact in most cases out here it seemed to have the direct opposite effect.

Ahhhh... My second most favorite forum subject.

Its been awhile since I did the research but I believe the lightest 7 percentile of 18 (ave. senior) year old kids take up 4 weight classes in wrestling. 4 weight classes in the middle, (45, 52, 60, 70 - or you can shift that to 38 to 60) have 50%. Thats 7 times the potential wrestlers per class in the middle. How fair is that.

The way I see it, a 98 lb freshman has it made going against a 107 lb soph, that is compared to any 152 lber with 7 seniors ready to kick his a@#.

My solution - If I was king of the world I would remove a weight from the bottom 4, a weight from the top 4, and squeeze one more in the middle. 13 tough weights!

DW, that is because your boys well (family's boys anyway) haven't seen 100 pounds since 6th grade. They do perform very well at those middle weights though. Nice to see Sacred Heart represented.

We should go back to 12 weight classes, just like in the early '80s? 98, 105, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 145, 155, 167, 185, HWT. That is how we advance the sport, less wrestlers wrestling in less weight classes? We should grow the sport so that fourteen weight classes are full for all teams. Thirty years later, and we want to go back to how it was? I am not seeing any progress in the sport if this is the case.

[quote]We should go back to 12 weight classes, just like in the early '80s? 98, 105, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 145, 155, 167, 185, HWT. That is how we advance the sport, less wrestlers wrestling in less weight classes? We should grow the sport so that fourteen weight classes are full for all teams. Thirty years later, and we want to go back to how it was? I am not seeing any progress in the sport if this is the case.


So you really think because you add more weight classes means more wrestlers go out?

How about this for a suggestion. Don't execute me for suggesting either.
Take away the 6 point loss for an open weight. Add in whatever weights you want. Just don't keep bumping up the lowest weight to try and help your team scores.
There are kids there. There just isn't very many of them. So, in turn for those kids that are there, we should make their opportunity to potentially less of an advantage???? How does this really make sense. They don't get as many matches. The bell curve is heavy with all ages between 140 and 180. So it is harder to make varsity if you are a larger freshman. I don't think that anyone in the smaller argument is saying that we should take away anyone's weight classes. Just asking for the lower weight to be put back the way it was. (for the little guys).
JMO
Terry

Who doesn't want to see more wrestlers going out and competing to the best of their abilities? I am one person, and I honestly don't have the answer. There needs to be more wrestlers involved at the High School level. There were 372 U6 wrestlers at the U6 State Championship this year. How many of those competitors will wrestle in High School? If they don't, why? If we can answer this question, then we will have fourteen full weight classes for most High School programs.

When my twin brothers were in high school (both state champions) one was able to wrestle as a junior and the other couldn't wrestle until he was a senior due to their size. I come from a family of very small people, every boy in my family wrestles. I just think we are hurting the chances of recruting some very fine small wrestlers as we continue to up the lowest weight. As someone stated before; the attraction to wrestling was for some that there was at least a level playing field (mat) for smaller athletes. Make no mistake, our young wrestlers are very competitive and would and have had to wrestle giving up alot of weight and are usually successful but is that really how it should be. Let's not continue to penalize the small athletes.

Not to get too intense on this subject and certainaly not trying to change the entire concept here. Just would like some conderation for the "little" guys who have worked their butts off for years. I would say a simple rule change allowing the 14U "small"(boys that are under 106??)non HS varsity wrestlers to be able to wrestle KIDS if they meet that criteria. It would be better for them in terms of being able to be in a HS practice room but still get the level of competition that will make them better as they become upperclassman (and GROW). I don't see how that affects the current integrity of either HS or KIDS? No weight changes, adding/subtracting weights!! Heck if we let VARSITY HS 14U STATE CHAMPS COME BACK AND WRESTLE KIDS STATE CHAMP SERIES, what would be wrong with letting the little freshmen non varsity 14U guys come back and wrestle the regular season matches just so they can have better competition? (as long as they meet the criteria) And yes there is a difference between a super stud 100 pounder that can compete at the high school level and a decent 100 pounder that needs another year or two of good wrestling to be at the same level. If as Freshmen the HS format doesn't provide these guys a reasonalble and comparative situation as it does the heavier guys, why not provide an "middle ground" alternative for them? How would this negatively effect anything?

I disagree. The KSHSAA doesn't provide a better solutions for heavier kids. How would you like to be a 220 pound freshman wrestling Luke Bean? As a freshman, you come in and take your licks or not. I think it is harder for the bigger kids to come in compete due to the fact that they have to compete against a higher percentage of upper classmen. At 106, they are competing against mostly freshman and sophomores with a few exceptions thrown in. In total, there were 7 juniors and 3 seniors in the 106 pound division at state and that includes all 4 classes.

Yes but all those freshmen or sophomores have been wrestling there whole life. Show me a first year wrestler at 106 or 113 that could place at state. I could name off a bunch of first year wrestlers at the upper weights that could place at state. Our old coach Terry Alley was famous for getting big guy's that were good athletes to come out for wrestling, and by the end of the year they were scoring points for us at state.

Dan Gentzler-Andover Central

We did that when I was in school too, but we took a junior that was an all-conference linebacker and by his senior year he was kicking butt. If you are right about first year wrestlers that are freshman and they can place at state at higher weight classes, I don't know any. Also, I wasn't saying it was easy to place at state at 106. I was just stating that it is at least as difficult to place at state at the higher weights as a freshman.