Senior Nationals- Weight Classes - 103, 112, 119, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, 285
There will be one weigh-in for the entire event with a 3-pound weight allowance
You may not compete at a weight lower than your state certification weight.
Should your state not have the weight certification system in place, you may not wrestle lower than the weight you competed at the 2009-10 State Dual Meet Championships or Individual State Championships.


Simple solution to the issue...
Lose the 7 pound allowance.

I think it is important to note that with the 7 pound allowance the drop is in reality not two weight classes but one! As noted earlier both sides are playing by the same rules and have the same weight to make. Cutting weight for a one time event is a completely different thing then cutting for an entire season.

I say if you are afraid of the “appearance” of impropriety do away with the allowance and then I guarantee you will not see a kid drop “two weight classes”. But guess what there will still be a number that both sides have to make! The kids that were cutting all year will have to move up (like Friedly) and the ones that aren’t cutting much (Waters, Weller) may still decide to cut for a one time event! But probably more would be wrestling at the weight they wrestled during the season. The reality would be NO DIFFERENT then what we have now but it may look better on paper.

I honestly think in the Pierce, Weller situation the MO coaches put a 130 pounder in the 142 spot . They moved a kid up in reality two weight classes! Kansas did nothing wrong,Weller made the predetermined weight that was known to both sides! Its not our fault they put a kid that was two small in that situation. Whatever the number is, it will never solve the problem of a kid moving up two weights, wrestling a kid moving down one!

Thank you for the answer on my Senior National question. I agree with you that it would be the solution to the problem. I would also agree that the seven pound allowance is too much.

WOW! Is this new this year?? I always thought at Senior Nationals you had to wrestle the weight you wrestled at State!

I think maybe you are right and that the state certification option is new this year.

No, it has been in place for several years.

Thanks, sportfan02. I really did not know that.

I think if you changed all the rules every single year, we would still get calls from both sides complaining about every single one of them. Both teams have had to make allowances for kids who are light for their weight class and those who are barely making it. The seven pound allowance is a good thing, but things will happen. Missouri had to move a kid up a couple of weights to have someone at that weight. We have moved kids down that were very light for their weight so that we could fit kids in and cover all our weight classes with the kids who deserve to be there. Once in a great while those two things collide. You know what, big deal. As for the complaints, who cares. If we are going to get that no matter what, then we just have to do the best we can to put on a good show and let it fall where it may. The formula for this has worked spectacularly well and it won't change in all probability. If we changed every time someone on either side complained we would change every single day on multiple fronts. We know what we are doing and we will keep doing it to the best of our ability. Hope everyone enjoyed the meet, I know I did.

I agree, where ever the dividing line is, all the same situations will continue to take place! But it is essential that the coaches know where a kid is and where he can reasonably go in regards to weight! NO KID should feel pressured to cut an unhealthy amount of weight just for a win. It should be more about a kid receiving the honor he has earned then pressuring him into an unreasonable weight cut. I feel that is always the intent of having allowances anyway !

Very good post, Steve. I agree with you.

I don't think anyone has been pressured to do anything on either side of the deal. If that has happened, I have not seen it and I am there for our side of it. This is really old news though as this has been the policy of this meet for eighteen years. It has not been a problem and is not a problem now.

Coach Westfahl:

I am going to send you a private message.

I appreciated the sportsmanship of the Kansas young men. All but one shook hands with the opposing coaches. I only saw one Missouri team member walk across after the match.

Win or loose it is a classy thing to do.

back in the day,

Kansas has a rule that requires the shaking of hands of the opposing coach, Missouri does not. So our kids are conditioned to do so.

Gary Ulmer

I hope we always keep that rule. It used to be one of the things that set us apart from other sports but if anyone has noticed they have all copied it from us, even the so-called team sports.

It is a very good rule. It was one of the first things I noticed at 4A State. I was sitting there making mental comparisons to MO State and thinking "Wow, the KS wrestlers show great sportsmanship across the board win or lose.".

I had no idea it was STATE LAW!

it is not a law or a rule.

But it should be...........................

Agreed we shake hands prior to a dual, before the match, after the match, and after the dual. Maybe we should shake hands between periods and before restarts.

Ha! Now that was funny.

Also during injury time-outs, shake hands with all.