now i am going to follow in beeson words i am not asking is pulling weight right or wrong. or what is and whats not pulling weight just a simple question. why do parents, coaches and high school kids pull weight {coaches meaning why do they condone this practice}.

now i know why i just wanted some other thoughts on this matter with out mine clouding the issue.

good luck to all this weekend.

Nix,
I agree and disagree with the wrestling natural weight and here is just my thoughts. As a child such as 10 under possibly 12 under I do believe they should wrestle natural weight but with this being said natural weight is what the pound or down to the ounce? My son weighs 55.5 sometimes 56 and I have wrestled him 55 all year and come weigh ins he may have to run 10 minutes and go to bathroom to get down that .5. Recently he has exspressed he doesnt want to run next weekend so I have him in 58 for that tournament. I leave it totally up to him. He is 8 under but My question would be is 55 his normal weight or would you consider him in the 58 weight class since he is .5 over? I feel that in high school the coach parents and wrestler should decide what weight class would best suit the wrestler and be more benificial in the long run..However I am still fairly new to wrestling community as a mother and I never was a wrestler so my opinions may change as my kids get older or I learn more in the years to come..I believe in keeping my kids happy,safe, and keep it as fun as possible but also allowing my children to voice their opinions on what tournaments they want to wrestle in and what weight they want to be in and as long as they dont have to starve get dehydrated or hurt themselves I will support that decision..

Nix,

When I wrestled high school 25 years ago, you cut weight for one of two reasons - to make your team stronger, or to get away from an opponent that you had trouble beating. In my case, it worked out, and it didn't work out. Our team was better with me wrestling down, and the opponent I was trying to dodge, well he dropped to the same weight class and gave me three of my six losses my senior year.

I am sure cutting weight is still practiced, but not condoned by a lot of programs. My son wrestled Jr High this year for the first time and there was at least one of his team members who cut a few pounds for the city championships. To his credit, he was doing it to make the team stronger, not dodge a tough opponent.

In the bigger tournaments it's common practice for kids to cut weight, but if you want to stay competitive you have to play the game because of the weight & strength differences, unless your kid is just a super stud. Its to bad its like that, or is it to bad that some parents are that competitive - Iam looking forward to Jack Roller's sampling of the older kids weights @ Tulsa Nationals this year> I wish he would sample all the kids that he made World All Star team members - so he would know what he is producing and promoting. Iam for pre-match weigh ins >
I think it would stop some if the unneccessay weight cutting and be much healthier for our kids while their still growing.

Cutting weight when you are a kid stunts your growth and makes you bald. If it's that important to win, go for it, but not too many kids end up making a living wrestling....

Nix you know we had our laughs in the past but this topic is serious to much parents.My philosophy is let your kid eat and do what makes him happy and wrestle whatever the scale says.All the crap and eating right and watch what you eat is for later on High school.Teenagers 12under kids and below should not have to make their dads happy but do so cuz of the pressure.Let's get real wrestler or not did we have our meals monitored,No and it does stun growth medically confirmed.I can easily make my kid drop 2lbs and be a frontrunner @ state but if he suffers is it really worth it.Something to think about.

Excess,unhealthy, weight cutting will give an advantage to someone,but not the one doing the cutting.Unhealthy ,is just that unhealthy.Lack of strength,quickness,fatigue,and mental focus all are results of unhealthy weight loss.I fail to see how that gives an advantage to anyone but the properly nutritionally prepared wrestler. Lack of strength, quickness,focus,and fatigue are also the results of being overweight. It is our job as parents to monitor the food intake of our children wrestlers or not.I feel we as a nation (wrestlers included)are doing much more harm by allowing our children to become overweight(borders on neglect,abuse IMO),than those who cut a few pounds.
I think for the first time in history,we as a country live where people from most any financial background have access to as much,of most whatever they choose to eat.I think that is good as I love to eat,but I shouldn't expect "little Billy" to compete with one who puts only top fuel in their bodies,(lean and mean) while "little Billy"(or not so little Billy "chubby Billy") enjoys Thanksgiving type feasts with pop, chips,cookies,pizza,and candy three or four times a week.If I choose not to run 10 mins. for weight,conditioning,or whatever I would think that would also put me at a disadvantage to the one who runs everyday for whatever reason.
I have observed many skinny wrestlers at the kids level, but probably more with breast and weight issues that very well may effect their health for years to come.I do know that unhealthy weight loss is practiced by the (uneducated,uninformed)but find it hard to believe they benefit from it.If they become bigger,stronger,quicker,more stamina,more focused than the rest in the bracket,it is obvious to me it was a healthy cut.
I couldn't disagree more with"All the crap and eating right and watch what you eat is for later on High school". Proper nutrition and eating habits are a parents responsibility and can't be started too soon. Habits are much easier to develop than to change.( Just my opinion no disrespect intended)
It is also medically confirmed that childhood obesity is at near epidemic levels with MANY health consequences now and later in life.

I just had a wreslter suprise me concerning this topic. At the seeding meeting I noticed that if one of my wrestler dropped one weight class ha would have it real easy to states. I left him where he was (having to place at sub and districk to make it) I was dreading telling him and His Mom. To my suprise the wrestler was glad and told me "He wanted to make it to states by wrestling his why there." This must have come from his preivious coaching and his Parent.

The practise of sutting weight will always be around just like drugs in Pro Sports. All we can do is educate our kids and hope they do the right thing. Some kids will some kids won't. Some Parents will push kids into it and others will keep kids from doing it. Lets just educate the kids so when they have to choose the have good information

cutting weight off of kids is stupid and counter productive in the long run. No one gets scholarships for winning kids state...I understand we all want our kids to win, but we have to realize that if they hate it and don't wrestle in High school then you have wasted ridiculous amounts of time and money. IN our HS here I have two juniors who won very prestigious tournaments at 8 and under and 10 and under and have never stepped on the mat for me as a High School coach...because they "did not like it"...I do not know if they cut weight or not but I do know that cutting weight is not fun...and when I see a little kid running before weigh in I think to myself..."well I probably will not have to worry about him in 7 to 10 years because he will hate wrestling and not be competing against us in High school. (same thing I think when I see a dad screaming and yelling at his little kid who just lost) Now in High School I have pulled silly amounts of weight off of kids...sometimes with succes sometimes not...and I think alot of us are starting to have philosophical changes about that as well...anyway I kind of got off on a rant here but let me say that if you want to pull weight off of your kid 12, 10 or 8 and under go ahead because he will be less competitive against us when it matters the most

We have never been one to really cut weight how ever my son did lose weight from the start of the year, We have watched what he eats to maintain his weight and to be honest with you it has been the best thing we could have done in our house. We have cut out so much sugar and junk food, all of my children go to bed much easier, they are able to focus better, I have noticed so much of a change in my children I am tempted to continue their new eating habits after wrestling is over. I think you need to know your child and do what is best for the child not as a means to win a match, but what is best. I have heard people talk about my son and that he is cutting weight to get to a certain braket, that could not be further from the truth, this started as just getting in shape, and he did have it to lose, now it has turned into a life style. I guess I just dont understand why that would be a problem. I understand the concern of kids that are under weight and are not healthy, but if you are doing it for the correct reasons, I do not see a problem with it. Do it correctly and Healthy and all is good.

bubsmom I think you got it there.my son was around 80# at the start of the year.He was puggy.There was no tone at all.Now He could enter in at 73# and is a few lbs lighter than that. He is still in the 76# class.We would love for him to make it to state.But we did not put him in wrestling to win state.We put him in wrestling to learn.He has done that in leaps and bounds.He has a lot of fun and alot of hard days [more learning].
We have had some good coatching and some pore.We have had some good reffs and some pore.All of this is life.This is why we put him in wrestling.Every kid that beat my son his dad and him took the time to figger out how and why.Than my son would come back and beat them.[more life learning]

My son started wrestling when he was 4 and we did it for some of the same reasons. I think if you are a mom or a dad you have the correct ideas to do what is best for you child. I know the world is not perfect and there are parents that are only in it for the win, but I would like to think that every parent is trying to do what is best for the child, and lets remember that we are not at their homes and we are not aware what is going on in their life and why those parents have made the decision to do what they are doing. I guess what I am trying to say is, we should not judge it really it not our job, I do believe that some one gave up his life for us so that we would not have to carry that burden.....

Sacrifice & diet is a big part of the sport, the longer your wrestler is in it the more they will be exposed to it. Some can cut & some don't have it in them to do it & be successful. I believe that cutting weight for kids club is more the exception then the rule. Now, to clarify, I do not consider losing 3% of your body weight for a big tournament cutting. I consider that a motivated & educated wrestler. I consider losing 10% or more of your walk around weight cutting & i do not believe you see that too much at local tournaments(maybe I'm naive) with kids club & I know with my kid that would drive him out of the sport quickly at the young age of 11. But I can also tell you that if he is within 2 pounds of the lower weight on full feed & I bumped him up to the next weight class for Subs that would drive him out just as fast. IMO, it should be up to the kid not the parent as long as it is safe & there are lots of kids that I see every weekend that losing some lbs. would not only help them with wrestling but also with there health. This season my son wrestled at 12/under 68 pounds weighing 65 all year & hit his spurt in February now weighing 70 lbs scratch that was at 70 pounds on Monday, now is weighing 68.6. Snack cabinet empty, fruits & veggies for snacks, not missed any meals. Low sodium (water retention) & practicing every night. In my opinion, he is giving himself the best chance to be competitive while not cutting. And his diet is the healthiest in the whole family.

we cut 58lbs. off our kid just for subs. lol

your getting soft Jerry, last year you made Jared lose 75 lbs. for Ottawa!

Here is what we do as a family and so far, it has worked for us. At the beginning of the season, our boys are weighed and automatically put in a weight-bracket ABOVE what they weigh. That way, they don't have to worry about making weight, even during Christmas. When it comes to sub-district, we see where they are and put them in their "natural" weight-class. In the past two years, both of our younger sons dropped a weight-class because that is actually what they weighed. Then, they only have to deal with maintaining their weight for three weeks at the most. I have never had them lose weight for kids wrestling and unless your son/daughter is overweight, would strongly advise anyone against it.

Now, there was a year in high school where our oldest son had to drop 15# to wrestle. This was because the team needed someone at that weight. When he came home and told me, I agreed but ONLY if he followed my rules and we did it healthy. I made up a diet for him to follow full of fruits/vegetables and lean protein (plus eating 6 small meals instead of 3 big). He also increased his running from two miles a day to four miles. It worked for us and kept him healthy. Looking back, I wouldn't have even considered doing it if it wasn't because HE wanted to and he was old enough to decide for himself.

This is just my opionion on this but I think that you should try to keep your kids from cutting more than 2# at the 6, 8, and 10 years old. My twins who wrestle 6u 49 started out the year at about 46.5 each and have actually gained weight through the year. I would guess that it is muscle because they both have twelve pack stomach's and embaras their dad when they walk around with their shirt off. My ten and under Tyler can loose any where from 1 to 1.5 pounds per practice but is never low enough to drop to the next class. I guess it is upt to the parents in the long run but shouldn't it be the kids choice an much as anything? I mean they arent' training for the olympics.