Vince-
I know as a parent of a lighter heavyweight, you and I have had many conversations about this. Where in high school I do think it should be changed, but I think it needs to start in the kids wrestling. There could be another weight bracket that would allow the kid that is 12/U 220 and wrestling the heavyweight bracket to be more suited with his competition. I know my son has wrestled kids 30 pounds heavier than him in the past and now in high school. Where he is quicker than most, all it takes is one mistake and where someone in the 135 bracket that is wrestling someone their own weight has a good chance of correcting that mistake...you are wrestling someone 30 pounds heavier than you...you probably don't have that chance to correct it.

Husker Fan
I must agree with you about adding more weights on the heavy classes. My son also weights about 230 and wrestles heavier wrestlers. So hopefully next year more weights classes will be added.
Will see you and Jacob at state.

Nice thoughts on providing more weight classes, but it is unrealistic. As coaches we have a tough enough time filling 14 weight classes let alone 16-18. Maybe some schools could fill that many, but most can’t. Also, keep in mind a couple of other things. Additional weight classes means additional money for already strained budgets. Additional weight classes also means more time. It might sound bad as a coach, but as a coaches we do need a little break on the weekends. If you add more weight classes imagine how much longer tournaments will last. I enjoy my sport, but I also enjoy my time with my family.
Fourteen weight classes is more than enough. We use to only have twelve and college only has ten. So, were pretty lucky to have what we have. I personally would like to go back to the 12 weight class format for number reasons alone. Nothing is stopping these big guys from coming out and plenty of undersized heavyweights have had success against heavier opponents. If you are familiar with wrestling the 285 lb. class was at one time called Unlimited. There were some really big boys out on the mat. I saw some that were in the upper 300 lb. range. I understand that more people would like to see their kids have the opportunity to wrestle on the varsity squad, but it is about competition and winning a spot the opportunity is already provided. I don’t think we will ever see the day when football goes to 15 players or basketball goes to 10. Again, it is just not realistic.
The weight classes have been adjusted several times over the years but they are never going to be adjusted to suit everyone. I think if you talk to most wrestling coaches you will find that it is not a lack of weight classes that is stopping these big boys from coming out for wrestling. Wrestling is a tough sport and probably takes more dedication than any other sport. Plain and simple people look for easier things to do and wrestling just doesn’t fall into the easy category. I know most people in the crowd don’t understand how tough this sport can be and my dad is one of them. I don’t know how many times over the years that I have said “Dad it isn’t that easy to do”. I guess before we think about adding more weight classes we need to first ascertain how much desire kids really have to wrestle. There are plenty of opportunities for kids to wrestle. Kids need to take the initiative to take advantge of those opportunities.

i guess when i see jacob nowak having the success hes having i dont see the need for a bigger weight class. if a kid that size as a sophomore can place at state(which i'm sure he will) its obvious that he is competing very well so i dont see the need for a new weight class for kids like him.

You are right the problem is not specific to Jacob and thank you for the compliment to Jacob, but I don't know about him placing this year that remains to be seen. That would sure be nice.

What about the other potential heavyweights at Aquinas though where is the opportunity for them? We had a senior state heavyweight qualifier from last year who might have been able to place at state this year. We also had a 189 state qualifier from last year who would have been 215 this year. I believe he had an injury at the start of the wrestling season but he would have been competing for the 215 against Mike Hammer a returning state placer. It is not just about whether a lighter wrestler like Jacob can be competitive against someone 40 to 50 pounds heavier. It is also about there not being enough opportunity. Think of how few weight classes are available from 171 to 285.

I thought Coach Neil's reply was very good and I don't have time to address it fully now but I will next week and probably in a new topic. I apologize to the topic originator that we have gone a little astray on this to the original topic question.

I will throw out a couple names for you....

Mike Culberson-Leavenworth 75-76 I think won grand state both years it was in existence.

Steve Nave-Coffeyville 81-82 Went on to play football at OU.

Both were pretty much unstoppable at least in my memory.

24/7

Speaking of Jeff Boyle, anybody notice anything at this following link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rulon-Gardner-Olympi...1QQcmdZViewItem

jordan bedore from goodland

robert collins. undefeated state champ. 35-0. he had 29 pins I think