Weight Class ideas

[DAL]

My AD, also our Head Football Coach, approached me with the following weight class suggestions:

 

106, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 215, 230, 250, 285

 

He made the suggestion as an idea to get more football players out for wrestling. I like the 230 and 250 classes.

[coachmasters]

I say leave the weight classes alone and add a 240 weight class.

[EMICH]

I think they need to add one more upper weight class but lose one of the lighter weight classes. 14 is already a lot, I don' think you can add more without dropping something. Add a 230, and combine 103, 112 and 119 into 108 and 117. If more states use a weight watching system, there has to be some idea on how to strengthen the 103 lb weight class.

[Wrestling4Life]

I say that we should do what's best for the wrestlers, not what makes wrestling more convenient for football players.

[tke]

I think the small weights should stay. I like the idea of having small weight classes mixed in with college weight classes and add a weight in the uppers for your football players:

 

103, 112, 119, 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197, 225, HWT.

 

We still have 14 weight classes. Obviously, we could adjust the lighter weights, but I would not eliminate them.

 

Good Topic DAL!

[dentdoc09]

Many years ago Missouri had a 105lb class. Not sure why they changed it to 103.

[BuckLateral]

I agree with the idea of combining the two lower weights as suggested by EMich. Seems like we are seeing a lot of teams struggling there and a number of forfeits.

 

I like the middle weights the way that they are. I think that 125-145 is an area where there are a lot of kids that you should be able to get out who maybe are undersized for football/basketball but want to particpate in a physical sport and the groupings mean that kids in that area don't have to drop too much weight to go down a weight class.

 

I would spread the upper weights out just a tad.

 

I agree with the comments that we should not alter our weights to get more football players to come out. I think the real problem today is not so much the weight classes as it is football coaches, specialization and the god-awful length of the high school football season today. The season is way too long, kids want ( in some case have) to concentrate on it year round and not play other sports and, unlike in times past, a lot of football coaches don't want their kids to wrestle ( which is stupid, but that is a whole topic in and of itself). But I also think that there needs to be another upper weight class if nothing else for safety. It is crazy, and sometimes a little scary, to send a kid who weighs 220-225 pounds out on the mat against some 275 pound behemoth. I think this drives away a lot of kids in that weight range who would like to wrestle but see it as futile. So, I would add a weight class between 215 and 275.

 

My 14 classes would be as follows:

 

108, 117, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 162, 175, 190, 220, 242, 275 ( or maybe 280).

[DAL]

Buck, I like your weight class suggestions. There needs to be a weight class between 215 nad 275.

 

My AD/Head Football Coach made the suggestion only as a suggestion to get more football players to come out. Now at some of the larger schools who have plenty of athletes to choose from, there may not be a need to depend on football players to fill a wrestling roster.

 

The more athletes you have out, the more successful you can be. The more success your program has, the easier it is to get kids out for it. The more success you have the more Parental and Administrative support you receive.

 

I coach football and wrestling. I have wrestlers who play football. In the history of our school, our better football players have been wrestlers also.

 

The thing that drives me crazy is when I hear a football coach tell a kid: "you need to put on 30 pounds before next year." There is no natural way for a kid to put on 30 pounds of muscle in one 9 monthes. THERE IS NO NATURAL WAY! So I have to explain to the kids that it is not how much you weigh, if that was the case I would still be playing, but its how strong and explosive you are.

[gablefan]

I think the small weights should stay. I like the idea of having small weight classes mixed in with college weight classes and add a weight in the uppers for your football players:

 

103, 112, 119, 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197, 225, HWT.

 

We still have 14 weight classes. Obviously, we could adjust the lighter weights, but I would not eliminate them.

 

 

It doesn't make sense to kill a couple middle weight classes ( where they actually wrestle) to make room for more big guys who have more stalling based tendencies. Just my opinion.

I thought the 215 weight class was added to the mix a few years ago for that reason. To give the smaller-bigger guys a shot. Besides, didn't we try this a few years ago and we changed it after one year? Also with the weght/ hydration rule in place it could really kill some kids chances for not only making a team, but being competitive. Too big of jumps in the middle weights

[Sommers]

I think the small weights should stay. I like the idea of having small weight classes mixed in with college weight classes and add a weight in the uppers for your football players:

 

103, 112, 119, 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197, 225, HWT.

 

825548215[/snapback]

 

I like!!

[ankLpik]

Don't start splitting the heavy weights. Similar to sumo, winning should depend on strength & technique. Weight can give you an advantage, but the smaller of the two will often win with the mental edge & drive.

[BuckLateral]

Buck, I like your weight class suggestions. There needs to be a weight class between 215 nad 275.

 

My AD/Head Football Coach made the suggestion only as a suggestion to get more football players to come out. Now at some of the larger schools who have plenty of athletes to choose from, there may not be a need to depend on football players to fill a wrestling roster.

 

The more athletes you have out, the more successful you can be. The more success your program has, the easier it is to get kids out for it. The more success you have the more Parental and Administrative support you receive.

 

I coach football and wrestling. I have wrestlers who play football. In the history of our school, our better football players have been wrestlers also.

 

The thing that drives me crazy is when I hear a football coach tell a kid: "you need to put on 30 pounds before next year." There is no natural way for a kid to put on 30 pounds of muscle in one 9 monthes. THERE IS NO NATURAL WAY! So I have to explain to the kids that it is not how much you weigh, if that was the case I would still be playing, but its how strong and explosive you are.

825548124[/snapback]

 

 

 

I agree with you DAL. I played football in high school and in college and the guys that were wrestlers were always better football players for having wrestled------they knew how to explode through the hips better, understood leverage and body angle better, had better footwork and loved going one on one. As an offensive lineman, there was nothing I hated worse than looking up in one on one blocking drills and seeing a wrestler across from me.

 

Seems to me that while there is some disagreement about the lower weights, almost everyone posting agrees that it makes sense to have a weight class in between what is now 215 and 275. That would be safer for the kids. Also, it would help against the argument that some football coaches make about having their 225-235 trying to drop to 215 rather than face a 275 pound gorilla. They can bulk up and wrestle 242.

 

Think we can get any of the powers that can make such a change happen listen or will this all just fall on deaf ears and remain nothing more than fodder for the chat boards?

 

I know there is talk about changing the weight classes around by the NHSCA but everything I have heard is along the lines of redoing the lowest and the lower middel weights and actually reducing the number of classes from 14 to 12.