I am not in favor of dropping 103 at all. Very few 9th and 10th graders cut alot of weight to get there. Most of the kids take supplements to try and gain weight. The 103 pounders have no other real sports that they can do. Big kids can play football and throw the shot put and discus in Track and Field. Not to mention that it is a whole lot easier to go through school and life a big guy rather than a small guy. I personaly would like to see the 98 pound weight class brought back and have one weight class for everyone over 200 pounds. They are mostly all boring matches anyways except for a dew of the guys. Let the big guys train year around for football rather than eliminate alot of talented wrestlers from the sport. The 103 and 112 pound divisions in Kansas are as tough as anybodys around the Country. There are more upperclassmen wrestling 103 and not cutting alot of weight than you think! Just some opinions.
Well I would have to bet there are a lot more guys cutting too much weight too get down to 103 than taking supplements to be competitive at the weight. I am pretty sure our freshmen 103 pounders over the last few years were not worrying about the need to take supplements.
I don't understand or accept this statement that this is the only sport available for a smaller athlete. It is a great one for the smaller athlete as it is for the larger athlete. Why can't a smaller athlete be competitive in cross country, soccer, swimming/diving, tennis, golf, track & field etc.?
Boring matches are the perspective of the fan I appreciate the matches of the bigger wrestlers more than the lighter ones. I also would rather watch a couple of linemen going at it in a football game than a wide receiver trying to get past a defensive back. This is not just about the 215 to 285 wrestlers either. It is about more opportunities
for all wrestlers over 160. I loved watching 189 guys like Mamie, Evans, and the Ark City wrestler whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment. If we had a 180 like Texas one more of those guys would have been a state champion in 5A this year. There are a lot more athletes like those three, Casey Curran, Zlatnick, Disney, Andrus, Holly and the Liberal 215 champion out there. I would think high school wrestling would want more of them out for wrestling.
