I'm not comparing to the higher weights because those kids are wrestling kids their own weight or at least to a closer percentage to thier weight. And most of the time if a freshmen is weighing 220 there is a really good chance he could drop allot of weight if he would get out from behind the ice cream and cake. It's almost unheard of to see a 220 cut stud freshman (if he is this won't be an issue for him anyway), as compared to a 100 pounder who works his butt off to stay in shape. Furthermore do you think that a 220 pound freshman would find better competition by wrestling in KIDS?? I don't. But I'm sure that a 14U 100 pounder could. I'm trying to keep this topic relative only to kids that are 14U Freshmen, non-varsity, and under 106 lbs. As long as they are not varsity let's let them come back and wrestle KIDS open matches during the season, but still get some JV HS experience along the way. It seems like a no brainer!

[quote] if a freshmen is weighing 220 there is a really good chance he could drop allot of weight if he would get out from behind the ice cream and cake. It's almost unheard of to see a 220 cut stud freshman (if he is this won't be an issue for him anyway), as compared to a 100 pounder who works his butt off to stay in shape. [quote]


You're making the implication that 100 pound freshman are in shape, have a disciplined lifestyle and work harder then their heavier classmates that are lazy, eat too much ice cream and cake, play too many video games and just aren't as dedicated to wrestling.

Then the 100 pound kid shouldn't have any trouble getting in the gym and loading up on a protein diet and put on 6 pounds.

No I didn't say that "fan of the sport".... I was stating a simple fact. But thanks for the input, maybe thier is some truth to that??? I don't really know or even have an opinion on that, but it sounds like you do?? I would tend to guess it would be a bit more healthy for an overweight kid to lose a few pounds as compared to a small 14U kid trying to put on pounds??? Just a thought, what do you think? Regardless, not the issue here. I would suggest you start another topic on that if you want opinions.

A lot of the freshman and sophomores are seasoned veterans and do very well when they first come into the High School ranks. Wrestlers are getting much better at a younger age. Many are wrestling year 'round. Take a freshman like Dulgarian for example, I don't care if he was 120 or 220 as a freshman, he would still be a force to reckon with.

You got an opinion and thats alright. People are interesting with opinions and you left yourself open on the comment.

I've seen a lot of freshman 100 pounders that could eat a few steaks, and I've seen some 200 pound freshman that should be banned from Steak and Shake. Wrestling is good for all of them.

OK, good point "fan of the sport", but that is not the subject here so I'm not following your point and how your opinion weighs in on the subject?

I haven't really heard anything negative that would impact either KIDS or HS wrestling if there was a rule in place that would allow a HS Freshmen who still is of the age to qualify for 14U, not wrestling HS varsity, under 106 lbs (maybe <100), to practice with the HS team and wrestle the JV meets against the bigger kids, but still be able to wrestle the open KIDS meets if they so choose in order to get some good matches in with kids thier own size. What could this possibly hurt? We can't compare this situation to any of the heavier weights because they all have kids their "size" to wrestle.... its not about wrestling tougher kids or not, its about having kids of the same size and comparable strength to wrestle. Through the years HS took this away from the smaller kids, 1st 98, then 103, and there are folks who want to move it up higher from 106!!! But no effort to give the yonger smaller Freshmen a better wrestling enviornment?

I don't understand why the JV tournaments don't provide this opportunity? I don't know this for certain, but I'm guessing there would be more than 1 small freshman at the JV tournament. Seems like the perfect opportunity for these lightweight freshmen to wrestle against each other.

Actually, KSHSAA should "allow" ANY HS wrestler that is still eligible for 14u, or 15u in Oklahoma, to compete at other events during the high school season. Tulsa Kickoff, Tulsa Nationals, USJOC. Cokeley has mentioned plenty of other tourneys.......

I really dont understand this discussion?! A freshman is a freshman no matter how much he weighs isn't he? If he is not good enough to make the varsity he wrestles JV. It's that simple...isn't it? I don't know but that's the way it was when I went to school. Who says that the lightest weight should be reserved for a Freshman when there are many upper classmen who wrestle there anyway.
My son started 2 ways on the football team (OL, DL), placed at state his freshman year @ 285# and set the school record for homeruns as a freshman. He didn't complain about anything, but knew going in he would have to work harder than he had before.
Whoever is crying about adding 3 lbs to the smallest weight holds no water with me. We can't find anyone in our school to wrestle 106 other than girls. We use them to take the 6 when the other team is open. I think the weight needs to be increased to fit the powerlifting weights anyway.

Being good enough and just not big enough are two different things, that's why 130 pounders don't wrestle 170 pounders. If any kid is 106 or above its not an issue because they have the opportunity to wrestle kids at a comparable weight, if a kid is a 95 pounder and wrestling a 106 pounder cutting from 115 that is a 20 pound disadvantage.... That results in the HS program not providing the 95 pound highschooler an appropriate weight to wrestle. All I'm saying is let the kid wrestle some KIDS matches during the season in order to get some good matches with comparable sized kids.... what is so hard to understand about that? And how would that hurt the integrity of HS or KIDS wrestling, it's a simple concept to provide the kids matches with other kids thier age and size! It is obvious that the folks with bigger kids are not for this, but hard to understand why? It doesn't affect the heavier kids nor does it affect the HS wrestling format whatsoever. I have heard folks try to compare situations with their heavier kids, whom this really doesn't effect, but still have yet to hear what damage it would do to let the young light freshmen who still are eligible for 14 and not wrestling varsity HS, wrestle some KIDS meets during the season just for the purpose to get some better matches and a chance to continue to improve against kids there own size and age. WHAT WOULD IT HURT?
Fact: A 14U 95 pound freshmen is still indeed a highschooler.
Fact: HS wrestling does not provide a suitable weight class for a 14U 95 pound highschooler.
Fact: HS rules do not allow the 14U 95 pound highschooler to wrestle KIDS meets during the season if they are on the HS team. It seems that this results in taking away opportunity for a better year of wrestling for the 14U 95 pound highschooler?
Fact: Installing a rule that would allow the 14U freshmen, under 106, non-varsity wrestler to wrestle KIDS meets during the season would have no negative effect whatsoever on the HS program, other HS weights, and/or other HS kids. It would be a display by the HS program to provide these wrestlers the best opportunity to become better wrestlers as they grow and enter the sophmore year.
Fact: The rules already allow these 14U HS kids to come back and wrestle KIDS for the state championship series after the HS season is over.... even the HS varsity 14U state champs! So there should be no issue with the non-varsity 14U kids to wrestle the open KIDS meets during the season. It seems that it would only provide the 8th grade kids more competition in KIDS and the opportunity to make them better.
This is just my opinion... and though allot of folks may choose not to agree with it becuase their kids are bigger and have a respective weight to wrestle, it would be nice to hear reasoning with regard to WHY OR WHY NOT THIS WOULD BE A GOOD RULE TO PUT IN PLACE? AND HOW IT COULD HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ANYBODY? AND HOW IT COULDN'T HAVE A POSTIVE IMPACT ON THESE YOUNG SMALL HS FRESHMEN WHO LOVE TO WRESTLE?

It seems that many people on this forum are astounded anyone in high school could weigh any less than 120lb. It is not that hard really. I just locked both of my boys in a closet with no sunlight, minimal food and no exercize at all until I could unleash their 90lb wrath on an unsuspecting high school wrestling community!! After two years of raw meat, mounds of pasta and an unrelenting workout program my oldest, a junior, was able to make 106lb and wrestle someone his own size. I am hoping that what I learned with my oldest, will allow me to get my youngest, a 91lb freshman, up to 106 before next year.
Most people won't be happy until the lowest weight class is at 120 or above. Then we can switch to the college forum and wonder what happened to all the 125lb wrestlers.

Thanks for the tip on the raw meat and pasta. I am going to try that.
Do I have to take mine out of the closet or can I just throw the meat in and run?

I hear this one loud and clear. 88 going on 106.

I reject and resent any comments that imply that 103/106 “caters” to freshman and should be raised or removed.
106 caters to small wrestlers just as 285 caters to big wrestlers.

I do agree that obviously if you are at 106 you will wrestle more freshman than if you are at a bigger weight but that certainly doesn't mean that it will be easier. Probably the opposite in many cases as some of the responses previously stated.
I do agree that some kids will make the team at 106 that wouldn’t have made it at another weight but they won’t be that good, they won’t make an impact, so that doesn’t really matter.
A 106 pound championship is just as legit as any other weight championship and more legit than some weights.
I don’t agree that 106 is necessarily more competitive than 103 was. I am sure that could vary from year to year but definitely not night and day as stated.
I am not saying that we need to lower the weight or add a smaller weight, but we definitely don’t need to raise the lowest weight any higher.

Joel499, 14oldschool, REVOLUTION and ReDPloyd all made good points and Tommyboy was right on point.

The best of those little dudes are total BA’s. Yes they are very athletic, and well conditioned, and highly skilled, and perhaps even more disciplined. And in some cases, the best of those little dudes are the best pound for pound.

Let me submit for approval the following list:
Bo Pursel
Austin Hood
Aaron Seybold
Dylan Schumacher
Konnor Kriss
Colby Watters
Javier Vieyra
Lincoln Lemon
Zach Dremel
Tommy Williams
Anthony Calderon
Jason Perez
Hunter Stalford
Alex Wolfe
Ty Kolterman
Clay Mulligan
Alex Garcia
Austin Avelar
Andrew Morgan

What does this list represent?
Yes it represents wrestlers graduating this year. But for the purpose of this discussion, it represents wrestlers who wrestled at 103 at state as freshmen. Every one of them would have been BA no matter what weight they were at or what grade they were in. All of them certainly could have made the team at whatever weight they weighed when they were freshmen and they would have been just as successful. They were tough enough, skilled enough, good enough. They just happened to be small freshmen.
Pretty BA list huh. Every one of them went on to multiple medal careers and all were either a champion or a runner-up and most at a heavier weight, many at the traditionally toughest middle weight.