Dec. 8, 2006: Deseret Morning News

Teams Weigh Changes in Wrestling Regulations
by Michael Black

During this time of year, almost everyone worries about putting on the "holiday 10." People tend to eat more often, indulge in things they normally wouldn't, and forget about their healthier habits. A result is people tend to gain weight this time of year.

Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning NewsViewmont High's Nate Larsen gets the best of Pleasant Grove's Keola Goodman in the 103-pound weight class in February.

For high school wrestlers, this is especially tough because so many are always worrying about their weight. Some new rules starting this season have changed a little of that. A wrestler is not allowed to "cut" or lose as much weight, and although it means more work to get the grapplers registered and qualified for a meet or dual, an overall healthier bunch of teenagers are now hitting the mats.

How is it affecting the teams and coaches?

"I think that it is overall a good thing for the kids," said Viewmont wrestling coach Bart Thompson. "They are definitely going to have to do something to change how it works, because right now it takes me almost an hour to get the kids' information ready so they can wrestle. I spend a long time on the Web site putting in the kids' information, and for the coaches, it is just a lot more, too much work."

This season, before a wrestler can participate, he must go through a hydration test making sure that he is properly hydrated — not too hydrated to inflate the original weigh-in and not too dehydrated to be unhealthy. After the test, a body fat analysis is done to see what weight is the absolute lowest he can get down to. The days of cutting down to 3 percent body fat with absolutely no water in a body before weigh-in are over. According to the height and weight of the wrestler, no wrestler is supposed to be able to drop below what is believed to be a bare minimum of 7 percent body fat, leaving a window of which weight classes a grappler can achieve.

"I don't really think it gives anyone an advantage over another team because everyone has to follow the same rules," Thompson added. "There may be some kids that were able to cut easier than others, so they may be hurt a little bit by having to wrestle up a weight, but if everyone has to do it, it kind of evens the playing field."

Keith Johnson, Deseret Morning NewsJake Salazar of Wasatch High School, top, wrestles Sean Porter of Davis in the 140-pound class at January competition.

What has happened almost across the board in the early tournaments is that most wrestlers are wrestling a weight above what might have been expected. Most wrestlers move up a weight class each season. It is a natural progression as an adolescent grows. For example, a look at the list of three- and the rare four-time champions shows that they rarely won at the same weight in all three or four years but rather moved up each year. This season, wrestlers seem to be wrestling two weights above where they were last season, or more of them have moved up a weight.

"It is kind of hard doing any preseason rankings or prognostications, because until we see a wrestler, it is tough to know exactly what weight he will be competing in," said West Jordan coach Larry Jaramillo, who is in charge of putting together the 5A rankings for the classification.

According to Thompson, even if the playing field is even, the new rules will have at least one positive effect on the year.

"I think that we will have some happier wrestlers," he said. "It gets kind of old for a kid to have to worry about making weight. It may be all right at the beginning of the year, but to have to keep cutting all season really wears on a kid. Now, they will still have to watch their weight, but you won't have the drastic ups and downs that can go on. You will not have a kid trying to flush out those last couple of pounds or ounces that they had to worry about before."