I don't remember who the 150 pounder was. Is he someone who would be a threat at 170?

Pelland,

Yes, it does matter and it also changes things for that class. If the tourney director didn't follow the rules then it is on his shoulders not mine if the wrestler gets DQ'd. Let him be the one to explain that to the wrestler, his family and his club.

The rules state that there is a 20lb max weight difference rule. Wrestlers from our club in the past have had to put on weight to move up a weight class or be DQ'd. If you do not weigh enough to be in the class then you are DQ'd just like if you were overweight. So the rule applies both ways. There were several other wrestlers who would have liked to go to state this year in that weight and age division but were well over the 170lb limit. So yes having someone not weigh in at over 150lbs is an issue here as well. Especially since the wrestler in question would have done well enough in their respective weight division. It is not like the 170lb kids can move up a weight class to better their chances at State. Since actual weights were apparently not recorded and or listed. It makes the situation all the more questionable not just in this age and weight bracket but in all classes in that Sub-Dist.

Cookin, meerly pointed out above the obvious situation and the fact that changes were made last minute on TW would seem to validate it in my opinion. BTW, I have no idea who Cookin is but it is nice to know that others are on their toes as well and that there is some support.

I have a son in this Div/weight group and this will be his one and only chance to wrestle at state at this weight since he will prob weigh a lot more next year (190lb+) when he would be at the top of his bracket in this age division. He is 5'6+" and is not grossly overweight but struggles to maintain this weight and is doing the best that he can with a proper diet. So you can bet that I am going to try as a parent and a coach to make sure that everyone and I mean everyone has to follow the letter of the rules as we are required to do. Call it politics or whatever, but I bet that if the shoe were on the other foot they would be doing the same. Changing weight groups at the last minute is to me political/strategy/game playing as well.

If anyone would like to email me personally about this my email address is troy_fowler@hotmail.com I would especially be interested to know how to go about the protest process as I cannot find that info on the website.

Thanks, Troy

Hossus,

The young man in question was moved prior to the seeding meeting starting. The changes were all anounced to all the coaches. He never got moved because I over looked him. I had a coach from another club call me and asked about it on Friday and I went back to the master list and saw that I didnt move him in track wrestling. His coach later called me and told me again that he needed to be moved. As the rule states no changes unless clerical error made by the tournament director which was myself. The young man was moved after Friday night weigh in. He was told that he did not make weight on Friday as he was listed in the 150. His coach then came to me again and that is when he got moved. Sorry for the mistake on my part.


Scott Edwards

I am the District 4 Tournament Director and I was at the seeding meeting when this boy was moved before all changes were shut off. He will be allowed to wrestle 170 as that was the weight he was officially entered at during the seeding meeting.

Paul Finch

Hossus,

The is no point in protesting, the weight change was made through the appropriate channels and according to the rules. As far as what he weighed, the only person who can answer that is whoever was in charge of the scales at sub-districts, I am going to go ahead and assume he made weight above and below.

So nobody really knows if he made weight or not? Just a guess or a maybe and that is the issue now. I can understand that there could be the possibility that the seeding was overlooked but not for 4 days. Think of how that looks and why wasn't it announced that these changes were made and why not until now. To me it looks like someone was hoping it would go unnoticed.

Until someone can provide the evidence that he actually made weight 150lbs+ and that the people at the scales knew what they were doing. Which I am guessing they didn't understand the issue at stake here. Providing the actual weights for that tournament for everyone who entered would go a long ways. Otherwise, I am going to assume he didn't, since he weighed in at 146.1lbs the weekend before. a 4-5lb weight gain in a week is quite a bit wouldn't you say. Saying he did or didn't make weight now does not prove anything at this point. Just that you can say it. Everyone else had to prove their actual weight by posting it. Blanket weight listings are a good way to hide mistakes or errors.

So yeah, we are still going to protest and it is unfortunate that things are going this direction but hopefully people will start following rules and setting the example instead of playing these games. I appreciate that people are finally now taking an interest but I am not convinced that this is resolved. Especially since I have been working on this since last Fri night and am now just getting some responses from the parties involved. I am a busy person too.

Thanks, Troy

A 4-5 lb weight gain in a week is nothing, I have seen kids gain 10 lbs two days after weigh inns. There are only 7 kids at this weight in the entire state. What is the problem?

Hossus

The rules were followed and everything was done by the book. Sorry you cant accept the fact that I made a mistake in not moving this young man at the seeding meeting. If you have ever been to a seeding meeting then you know that 4man or less are round robins and you dont seed them. With the weight group only having three in it it was not looked at and was not brought to my attention that he hadn't been moved until Friday night. Please fill free to investigate all you want. As for me I am done with it. The young man will wrestle at 170 for Districts.

Hossus

I don't even have a dog in this fight, but from an outsiders view it is difficult to see what it is you are hoping to gain from your persistance with this young mans weight..

This is my 4th yr going through this with my son. I don't recall ever knowing what any wrestlers EXACT weight was at weigh ins, before Track Wrestling made that an available option just last year. Heck, some clubs are lucky to get the needed tournament info in place, much less the extra weight entries for our viewing pleasure. If you are questioning ones kids weight then how are we to know that any of the kids made their required weights? We trust the integrity and honesty of the folks at the weigh in site as well as the entire group of club representatives that were at the seeding meeting.

Just an opinion from one guy following the thread.

Michael Meditz

I am just a person who tries to follow the rules even when I don't agree with all of them in this case. If my son doesn't make weight once in the next two weeks then he is done for the season and prob next season in this age group. Being that there are as you put it only 7 kids in this group then it will reduce it by even one more. So yes, it does make a difference that others made weight properly and continue to do so with the current rules in place. The fact that this particular Dist decided not to post the actual weights makes me more than concerned that proper weigh in proceedures were not followed. Every other Dist was able to provide this information in a timely manner even though they may or may not have been mandated to do it. It was just the right thing to do.

I don't have any clout with anyone in all this and to me that means I am going up against people who can make arbitrary calls and we just have to deal with it. That is neither fair to my son or to anyone else's child who may be involved. I think I have every right to give my child or wrestlers on my team every advantage just as the Dist 4 folks appear to be doing. So why should I just sit back and let things ride when there is obviously some issues here that are not clear in my mind. I am also not the only one who feels this way. So why should I just back down? I am sorry if your not able to deal with that. I think most parents would feel the same way.

I agree with Meditz, it is hard to see what you have to gain until you said...

It looks like you are trying to make sure your kid is a state placer by just showing up. Rules and procedures were followed. There is no great conspiracy theory, especially against a 10 year old kid. I would think that you would want more kids in the weight, that would give the weight class more credibility. Go wrestle and hope for the best.

I always assumed the rule was in place to keep tournaments from combining brackets with too large of spread. I don't see how you could ever enforce it in a situation like this. For example, is it illegal to wear shoes while weighing in? Kneepads? Can you have wet hair? Do you strip search kids for rocks in their underwear?

What if the rest of the bracket weighs 165? Would you just forfeit the matches where the actual weight difference was greater than 20 pounds and wrestle the rest?

Five pounds would be easy to gain in a week. Especially if you were pulling at all the week before. My son gained 2 pounds of chocolate milk in 45 seconds once. We timed it.

I would suggest you focus on enjoying the opportunity to participate at state and an 86 percent chance of placing. Most kids never make it no matter how hard they work.

It would be fun to watch a kid trying to drink a gallon of water to make weight while everybody else is running in sweats, though.

Beeson,

You misinterpreted that statement. I was referring to the fact that my own child would not go if he fails to make weight and we have to work for that goal every week. He would be the one being the one reduced as might another wrestler if they don't make weight. Thus reducing the overalll showing in this spectrum of the weight classes also an issue for me but not the one at the moment. So yes, it is a concern that weight is an issue. Placing at state was never a real issue for me, making weight and actually going is.

The same thing could be said of the other wrestler as there are 14 in the 150lb class. We are not the ones running away from competition.

As far as a conspiracy. If things had been handled like the rest of the state handled them, I would have never had an issue. Might not have liked it, but would have been able to deal with it because everything was consistant. However, there were mistakes made in this case and that has been admitted. So how many more were made? That is what I am driving at.

Windjammer,

Didn't make the rule just trying to enforce it and it has been an issue before for some kids. Are you saying we enforce some rules and not others. BTW, they are supposed to weigh in with singlet only.

The rule says they must wear a competition style singlet. It doesn't say they cannot wear shoes, tights, kneedpads etc.

The rule is to keep kids from being naked in the weigh-in room to shave ounces.

I always thought the rule was adopted so we could weigh male and female wrestlers in the same room?

You may be right. I'm sure there are many benefits of having young children clothed. I still don't believe the rule precludes kids from wearing shoes or underwear in addition to a singlet.

Man, I love chocolate milk!

It's delicious. It comes from darker cows.

and male & female competitors can enjoy it together while weighing in. Problem solved. That will be 200.00 please.

You'll have to take that up with Hossus and/or USAWKS. I'm not really an authority figure with a budget and everything. I am more of a discussion facilitator and good advice giver.