Then if preparing is the point of this topic, start with club wrestling and make them do hydration tests and mat side weigh ins.

See how far you get with that, before trying to change HS.

Good luck.

Do any of you understand how much paperwork and weekly mathematical calculations are involved in the NFHSAA descent plan? Wrestling does not need anymore paper work.

The Kansas 8% plan from the Alpha weigh-in is more strict on weight-loss than the NF plan. And it is much more simple. Yes a doctor could allow an athlete it lose more than the 8%, but that should be a well thought out plan by Doctor, Parent, Athlete, & Coach.

I like the Kansas Weigh-In rules. Most team's schedule today is much more active than 20 years ago when I saw more weight cutting. IMO kids are not cutting near as much weight today because they are having to weigh-in many more times. My team wrestles a good deal in Nebraska as well as in Kansas. And they make weight fine under either system. However the Kansas System is much more convenient. Travel, and loss of Instructional time are the big advantages.

Finally, I believe if kids are cutting too much weight, it will eventually catch up with them, and that may not be until the Regional or State Tournaments. But it will catch up with them.

In one breath you are saying that High School students are just kids....in the next breath, try it with kids. High School is where they prepare for College, not 3rd and 4th grade. Your argument is getting comical at best.

Thank you Coach Johnson. At least you are giving the real reason why the High School Coaches not wanting this rule change don't want it. That I can respect.



That is assuming the schools are not cheating at Alpha weigh-in. That is also assuming that the Doctor, Parent, Athlete, & Coach come up with a plan instead of the Doctor just signing the slip of paper.



I think the weight cutting is the same. You just don't see it today, they hide it better. Convenience should never be a reason to not follow rules.



It does catch up with them, I have seen it every year. The problem is we make it too easy during the season and then they get caught instead of taught to do it right during the year.

If there are kids going to class and practicing in plastics thier coaches and admin should be fired on the spot, And in my world of reality those same coaches kids and admin would cheat regardless of when the weigh in is. Which brings us back to the point. 1. There is overwhelming support by ks coaches for the weigh in rules 2. A random rant on a forum will not appropriate change. Change requires hard work and organization.

Coach Johnson brought up a point that needs to be considered in this conversation and that is the number of competitions.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Norton Wrestling Tournament. We are reproducing the wrestling page from the 1965 Norton Yearbook to use as our program cover. On this page is the 1965 Norton season schedule, which I am sure was very typical for that time and which is also probably the "golden age" of cutting weight.

The 1965 season consisted of 7 duals, one each with the individual League Schools and two single day invitational tournaments, that is it. A regular season consisted of around 15 matches. Most of our kids now have that many matches by Christmas!

Basically, in those days there was one weigh-in per week with only 2 back-to-back Friday/Saturday weigh-ins. Also, at that time the state qualifying tournament series took two weeks: a one-day district tournament followed by a one-day regional tournament rather than a two-day regional. At that time the only two-day tournament on the schedule was State.

Changing from days/kinds of competition to competition points has led to our kids "toeing" the line on a much more regular basis. This has led to a big increase in the number of weigh-ins during the week and back-to-back weigh-ins. For example, we have a team that comes to our tournament that has a dual on the Thursday and the Friday prior to coming to Norton on Saturday. That is 1/3 of the weigh-ins, in one week, that a 1965 wrestler would have had to have met in the entire regular season.

I would like to see the Friday night weigh in go away forn two day events. Make it day of, one hour before.

1965...Many of the parents of today's wrestlers weren't born yet! I am not sure what the point is but lots and lots of things have changed since 1965. Kansas lags in flexibility to improve and a reduction of competition points or number of weigh ins would put us further back in the pack!

The point was that the system we have now is not the same as it has always been. . .and many clamoring for change competed in far different circumstances. The avenue to change has been discussed and all the reasons why change can't be pursued have been aired. I am removing myself from this discussion.

Friday night weigh in seems pointless considering some of the kids can tank on 10+ pounds in a night. ( well in a few hours after weigh in :)) I disagree about the hour before. I had to follow the one hour weigh in rule in college and honestly it was barely enough time to get your food down, clothes on and warmed up properly.

Common sense would tell you that weighing in more than 2 hours gives the wrestlers more recovery time thus influences wrestlers to cut more weight than if they had to weigh shoulder to shoulder 2 hours before competition. I really don't understand why in a two day event you can't make all of the wrestlers weigh on Saturday morning.

Maybe its the Festivus spirit, or maybe I'm just closing the year strong, but Lord help me...I agree with Mr. Cokeley.

My son's senior year he was at a dual tourney on a Friday night. Due to teams wrestling on Wednesday and Thursday they got a 2 lb allowance. (Another thing I do not understand.) Saturday, my son commented that the wrestlers on one team said they got 3 lbs. He was a little confused. Later that year a wrestler from that team did not make weight for the 2nd day at regionals. Maybe a coincidence...

Yes, it probably does catch up with the people who cheat as was stated by someone else on this forum. But, they have already caused a lot of damage. The wrestlers who lose to those that do cheat face lower seeds at regionals and worse odds of making it to state. I know we hate to see the wrestlers at school on the day of a meet sitting at the far end of the cafeteria spitting in an empty milk carton, but the current weight in system just conceals a bigger, worse problem.

So nothing changes that would mean that we need to revisit the argument? We wrestle in Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and Missouri. All of the wrestlers in these states follow the National rules... Why are we different? We have so many HS coaches that really don't care what other states are doing and they really don't care if they can't compete outside of the 105 counties in KS so we just fall further and further behind. It seems the KSHSAA and attitudes like the one in the post above breed the apathy and mediocrity that is trying to be forced down our throat.