It seems there is an awful opinion outside of the sport about wreslters cutting weight. I know there could be some kids cutting but I believe that many more do not. My son was 71 lbs 8 and under and we wrestled at 73. He could of made 70 but I never wanted him to be concerned about his weight or his weight class. Now getting ready for state he was weighing 72.4 and we moved up to 76. I knew that he would need to have keep his weight through subs, and districts and if he was lucky enough to get to state he would still need to be at 73 so for us it was logical to move up to 76. He isnt fat so I dont worry about his eating habits too much. I actually encourge good eating all the time.

I dont think kids cut very often and I also believe that 3 or 4 pounds either way doesnt help my kid. He seems to do just the same at 76 as he would do at 70. He is actually quicker when he wrestles up in weight class.

I guess my question is are there 8 year olds that cut weight?

The answer to your question is yes. I would have put him at 70. Thats not sayin you did any thing wrong. It depends on the kid. It also depends on the parents. just watching salt & sugar & fat intake usally knocks off 3lbs in a few days. I dont think that 8u should cut more than a few lbs.

You will get a split on opinions about this topic. Do 8 year olds cut weight? Yes. Should they cut weight? No...unless they have a significant amount of body fat and cutting the weight would improve their health. I know a parent that is so concerned about weights. Which weight class should his son wrestle? Watch you eat this week. He moves his son up or down weights for certain tournaments. Cant wait to see how that turns out in about 10 years. Wrestling is a sport that is already taxing enough for kids. Add cutting weight to the mix and that is why a lot kids quit by time they are 17 or don't care as much.

by moving your kid up to 76 you will more then likely run into a kid that should be wrestling 82 pounds but cuts to 76, and wrestling day is back to 82 or 83 pounds, now your boy weighing in at 72 is going to be giving up 10 pounds. in my opinion 73 would have been good for him.

jmo, and yes there is alot of kids who cut weight for state and bigger tournaments. is it right? not for me to decide. but it does happen

My oldest has never cut weight and has always remained competitive. He normally gives up 2-3 lbs. We do not mind because he is growing in March. His young brother has to pick a weight and maintain it because he is in the larger weight groups. I really depends on the kid. Ask him what he wants to do.

2-3 lbs for a 73 pound kid is not cutting weight. If he was pulling 7-10 lbs that would be cutting weight imo. My 10 year old wrestled 67 all year weighing 65-66 on full feed. I took away processed food snacks (replaced with a piece of fruit), switched from salt to Mrs. Dash and he made 64 without missing a single meal for subs. By what I have read above some of you would consider that cutting. He didnt make it to district so the hot cheetos are back in the cupboard. Thats for the little guys, but I got news for ya, when they get older, if they continue wrestling they WILL pull weight weekly.As i write this my 14 year old just found a granola bar and hes acting like its Christmas. Hes 107 today and will make 100 Friday without missing a meal (hopefully) he gets grouchy when he doesnt get food but he knows hes a big 100 and a small 105. Why? Because the 105's are cutting from 110 or more. Its part of combat sports and wrestling is that. Did any of you see the Ultimate Fighter a few seasons ago where the guy pulled more then 20 pounds in a night? THATS cutting. Good luck this weekend.

I def agree my 14yr old son 2nite was 109 (wrestles 105)and he is ok w that. I suggested he go up a weight, but he also said i'll be small at 110 or big at 105. He doesn't miss a meal, they are just healthier, he always says " Dad this is nothing compared to what High School will be" Kinda makes me laugh

I had the same problems with my two boys.

Ole Walker kept lying to me about his weight. First hoped off the bathroom scales and told me he weight 50 lbs. I looked at him and said "Walker?!?" Then he says 60 lbs. "Walker?!?" Next he says 70 lbs. "Walker?!?" Then he says 80 lbs. "Walker?!?" Finally he admits he weighs 120 lbs. and didn't make it to the districts cause ole daddy entered him at 10 and unders 170s.

Then Texas Ranger decided he wanted to cut about 15 lbs. to get down to 8 and unders 40s. Five sauna suits later and the poor kid is still .8 over at the weigh in. Oh well you live and you learn.

I guess this year the Bobby boys aren't going to be 1st, so they might as well be last.

Well my son would rather give up weight then cut. Saturday morning he weigh in at 86 and wrestled all day 88lb kids. Next day he wrestled 90 lb kids. I think it really depends on each kids body build and how they feel about where they want to be. I found letting my kids decided their weight help give them some what control. Mine seem to work harder and not complain about practicing 3 -4 days a week.

They have years of cutting weight in high school and college. Let them enjoy it a little while longer.

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First off I need to state I am against cutting weight in kids wrestling. I have to laugh when I read posts like this. He is giving up 10lbs. No actually if he weighed 76 on the scale...that is what he weighed at that time. Most people don't realize when you cut weight weight you lose muscle. It is scientifically proven that normal(not obese) people lose muscle no matter what when cutting weight. It can be minimized through proper training and nutrition, which takes time. The only way your scenario would come close to true is if they were cutting pure water weight just a day or two before weigh ins, and properly hydrated after weigh-in to gain some of the weight back. This could not make the difference of 10 lbs or 4 lbs though.

I want our kids to become better wrestlers, not better weight cutters. It IS part of the sport, mainly because to make your HS team better, someone may have to drop a weight class. Or to try split up teammates at tourneys, someone might decide to drop a weight class.

I say use matside weighins, where if you don't make weight right before your match, you don't wrestle. But that will start another argument.........

Doug, I would LOVE to have matside weighins next year at Ark City...BUT...How many participants would we lose?

A boat load.........

there's only one way to tell.

Then Beeson will be mad at you and I for encouraging him to do it!! And we'll have to treat him like Lucas Baker treats him, and make Chad cry.

I can't figure out how you would do that without bringing a tournament to a screeching halt. It would be time consuming even if everyone made weight. As I and some others were discussing the other night, we believe the best way to take weight cutting out of the equation is to do away with weight classes all together. Instead, have the weigh-ins on Friday evening and start grouping the kids from the lowest to the highest in a particular age group. No pre-designated groups and potentially you could see a new group of competitors every week.
The one problem with this idea is the host club would need an idea in advance of how many wrestlers from various clubs were going to be attending. So Acme Wrestling Club sends in a roster of an approximate number of kids from their club that will be attending along with the correct fees. Then at weigh-in on Friday evening each of those kids steps on the scales and at the completion of weigh-ins the computer bunches and then brackets them.

would you weigh in before the first match? then again/ or not?

what would be the protocol for a kid that is over? might push some idiot to cut even more weight, to ensure they are way under by morning or throughout the day

not sure we will ever stop ALL weight cutting, i think some would even try to cut with bullpen/ grouping process, trying to anticipate classes.

We already do the grouping in FS Greco tourneys. Not a bad idea, but you still have to have some way of determining weight classes, so that a champion can be declared..

I don't think stepping on the scale before the match is a time consuming deal. We leg band the on deck kids, why not have them weigh as we're handing them a leg band? If he is over weight, he forfeits. Plain and simple. No gray area.........

Madison block will solve all this. Just use weight groups for tournys like salina & maize & qualifiers & state.

I think it would take 1 minute to have each wrestler step on a scale prior to their 1st match.

That would eliminate wiegh in's all together. You would need to register for a class you would qualify for easily.

I know my kid well enough that I know if he would be ok at 73 or need to go 76, but having said that the current system is fine with me.

My origianl post was really wondering if kids cut weight. I know that losing fat or waiting on supper till after we weigh is all together diffent. I also know that older wrestlers and all weight matched sports revolve around ability to cut weight.

I am fine with the way things are. I am also fine with him wrestling kids 3 to 4 lbs heavier.

One thing I noticed and was suprised at when I helped my club at our tourney was how many kids are way under what they sign up for. I had some kids 5 to 6 lbs under. One was even more than that if I remember correctly.