goferphan

Where would Zach Sanders, Mike Thorn, Jayson Ness etc be without those lighter weight classes?

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granby5

There are fewer forfeits in Minnesota because of the use of junior high age wrestlers. I understand this happens in other states as well. In my state this is not allowed making it harder to fill some lower weights. However I am not in favor of eliminating a smaller weight. I think a weight should be eliminated, but it should be in the middle. I coach at a smaller school and it is difficult to fill 14 weight classes. With this being said I have been able to do so consistently , but it is because we have a wrestling tradition here. The weight classes in the middle are to close together. A wrestler can move from one class to another in one workout with the 5 pound breaks. I say remove a class but take it out of the middle and space the rest of the middle weights out more. In my state there is a growing movement to go to 13 or even 12 classes. Many of the state coaches do not support 14 weights but the heads of the state athletic associations do. But these are not the guys trying to fill 14 weight classes and be competitive for a living. I know that since the beginning of 14 weight classes the quality of wrestling has definitely dropped in Oklahoma. I do not see how this cqan be good for the sport. Adding more competitors just to add them? Whatever happened to earning your spot? Many may not agree with me and that is each person's right this is just my 2 cents.

therick

Whatever happened to earning your spot?

I couldn't agree more with this statement. I read people on here saying that eliminating a weight class is bad because it takes away an opportunity from a kid and it'll turn kids off from the sport.
In sports like Basketball, and Baseball, the teams have cuts and only about half of the kids on the team ever see action in a game, but I don't see their popularity going away.

Teams like St Edward have enough kids to field at least 4 full teams. The green team or Varsity B team wins plenty of varsity tournaments all over the state, which means there are some kids good enough to place at the state tournament who never get the chance. And yet, that doesn't cause kids to stop wanting to go there, even if they could start at Holy Name, or St Ignatius, or Padua, or even Walsh. Nothing in wrestling comes easy and neither should a starting spot on the varsity squad.

I mentioned this before, with respect to the weight classes and where to remove one. I agree that the 5 pound breaks 5 straight weight classes is nuts. Why not use the college weights and add two or three below 125?

Schlottke

something like: 106, 114, 120, 127, 136, 145, 154, 163, 171, 182, 195, HWT

Would keep kids from cutting to the next lower weight to dodge people (i.e 145 to 140 would be much easier than 145 to 136.)

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skipster

I like having 14 weight classes and having the lower weights because it gives more kids a chance to compete. We in the wrestling community pride ourselves in allowing kids of all sorts of weights to compete. So, I don't really think we should drop the number of weight classes.

As for modifying the weight classes, I noticed a few things when I got into coaching high school kids, after being out of high school for 10 years and only coaching little kids for 3 years. I noticed that high school kids are bigger than I remember them being when I was in school. There are more 215, 230, 250 pounders than there used to be. There seem to be fewer lighter weights and fewer 130s and 140s. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find an in-shape 162, 171 pounder in a 2,000 student high school. The only kids who wanted to wrestle were 250 pounds or heavier. Last year, I had to keep 5 kids from wrestling in duel meets because they couldn't make 285!

I think that we need to keep 14 or 13 weight classes, but maybe we should add some heavier classes. But, I am a little guy (119) and I would hate to lose these weights. We were pretty successful at the lighter weights and our 103, 112, 119, and 125 group in high school was known as the Mighty Mites (a group of which I am proud to have been a member).

IowanInMn

I wrestled in a small town in Iowa 27-30 years ago and we had to forfeit 98 lbs. two of those four years. Maybe go back to the old weight classes, only eliminate 98 (105, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 145, 155, 167, 185, 215, UNL). Another idea I've heard is the old college weight classes but start with 112 and add a heavyweight class over 215 (112, 118, 126, 134, 142, 150, 158, 167, 177, 190, HWT(215), UNL). If you don't want eighth graders wrestling, that would probably eliminate them. I've always thought the five pound differences in the middle weights is ridiculous. Eliminate one or two of those and space 'em out by 6-8 pounds. Just my opinion for what it's worth. I didn't read through all the posts, so I'm sure I've been redundant.

Proudpatriot

What is the objection to the 103 lb weight class? In FL it is very competitive.

Champ Kind

I would like to see 103 bumped to 108-110lbs, 112 to 115lbs and maybe 119 to 120lbs and everything else the same.

I received 25 out of 32 sectional(first round of the state tournament) brackets this year in Indiana and decided to see where the most forfeits were. It was quite a bit more at 103 and 112. Note that Indiana does NOT allow middle school kids on the varsity team and in my opinion middle school kids should NEVER participate in varsity athletics.

My question is how many 8th graders start in Minnesota in basketball or football or any other sport? The reason there are more forfeits at the upper weights in Minnesota is they allow the 7th and 8th graders to wrestle. In states that they do not allow them to wrestle there are numerous forfeits at the lower weight classes.


Here is the data I compiled

http://garrettwrestling.com/brackets...trubution.html

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Proudpatriot

Why should middle school kids NEVER participate in varsity athletics?

In FL middle school kids are allowed to participate in varsity athletics but ONLY if they actually attend the school they represent. That leaves out most public school kids in our area.

I don't see the problem with middle school kids participating in varsity athletics. Basketball and football are quite different from wrestling, which is weight controlled. My son played JV lacrosse in 7th grade and will probably get in a varsity lacrosse game this year (in 8th). He also participated on the varsity wrestling team at 103. Our 103s were competitive. We had 3 kids wrestle off every week for that spot and my son won.....What is the problem with that?

Champ Kind

They have middle school athletics for middle school students, high school athletics is for high school students.

Do you go to a high school varsity football game to watch middle schoolers play football or juniors and seniors play?

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I will smash your face into a car windshield and then take your mother, Dorothy Mantooth, out to a nice seafood dinner and never call her again!

Tell me about it, this morning, I woke up and I shit a squirrel, but what I can't get is the damn thing is still alive. So now, I've got a shit covered squirrel running around my office and I don't know what to name it.