I didn't want to go here, but I guess I am going to. I would say pound for pound, so to speak, the lighter weight freshman are better quality wrestlers than their heavier freshman counterparts (lower 5% versus upper 5%). That may very well be because they have more opportunities to get a good volume of quality matches at a younger age, and more kids in the wrestling room to practice with that are near their age and weight. I see it in our wrestling room and have seen it for many years. At an early age, there are a lot more smaller guys than bigger guys which gives them an advantage to hone their skills at an earlier age. I believe that 103 should be the starting end of the weight classes for high school. From there, make adjustments as needed to get the bigger guys a better equilibrium between weights.


Lee Girard