It's always hard when they change weight classes, but it ends up being part of the natural process of things. Forty years ago, the highest weight class before heavyweight (which was unlimited at that point) was 165. There was even a year in there when they experimented with a 12-class system that went 98, 107, 115, 123, 130, 137, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185 and HWT. A year later we went to the 98, 105, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 145, 155, 167, 185 and HWT system that we had until 1988.

We have had the same classes now for going on 25 years. And there are fewer and fewer 103-pounders, there is no question about that. And, at the same time, we are getting more and more big kids. I remember when we went from 98 to 103 as the low weight, there was so much outcry about what it meant for smaller kids; yet we survived. The same is true here. Maybe a good compromise would be start at 107 or 108 and work up from there.

Change is inevitable; and in all honesty, it's probably long past time to do it. But it can be done fairly for everyone and we'll just all learn to adapt to the change.