New Weight Classes

Last month, the national governing body of high school sports (NFHS) voted to change the weight classes in wrestling.  A lot of people in wrestling are hating on this change, but is a result of a lot of research and feedback.  So I don't see it changing again for a while.  Here is what led to this change:

• Someone said, "Should we change the weight classes?"
• A group of people came up with 3 new options
• Each state held a survey amongst coaches/ADs and we got to pick one of the 3 options or leave it the same
• There were more votes to make a change then to leave it the same, but none of the options had more votes individually then the number of votes to leave it the same
• Since there were so many votes in favor of change, the following year they had a vote with two options, leave it the same or Option B
• There were more votes among coaches and ADs in the nation for Option B then leaving it the same

Option B

Option B was created by taking a sample of 200,000 WRESTLERS.  They looked at the CERTIFIED WEIGHT of each kid and made weight classes that would give equal 7% distribution.  So that means that 14,000 of the 200,000 kids would be in one of the new weight classes. 

Old to New:

103 - 106
112 - 113
119 - 120
125 - 126
130 - 132
135 - 138
140 - 145
145 - 152
152 - 160
160 - 170
171 - 182
189 - 195
215 - 220
285 - 285

Result

There are two basic results:

1. 103 is up 3 pounds to 106
2. 135 is removed and 189 is split into 182 and 195

Why I voted for it:

I like the change for a couple of reasons.  I always thought that the jump from 103 to 112 was the most difficult bump in the sport.  103 is dominated by underclassmen while 112 has its share of juniors and seniors.  I also think some of the hardest cutting kids were wrestling 103, maybe for the same reason as listed above.  In the short-term some of our guys can make 106 and 108 that probably can't make 103 and 105 next Dec/Feb, we'll see.  I also hear a lot of football players quit or not even come out because of the weight classes.  I'm hoping that the new spread up top will give some of these guys a little breathing room so they don't have to worry about weight' we'll see.

Won't matter in 3 years:

My experience has shown me that no matter how big a deal some people think the new weight classes are, we won't even be talking about it in three years.  Everyone will be used to it.  Its just how it is and it doesn't fundamentally change the sport (like removing weight classes or cutting wrestling programs, both of which have happened in the NCAAs).

So lets suck it up, figure out what weight we are going to wrestle next year, and help get some big guys in the room to fill out the lineup.