I will back up Olathewrestlingmom's assertion that her son is not that overweight. I saw him at Turner for the first time this weekend and he is a very big kid who is really not that overweight. I would not be encouraging him to lose. He is athletic and looks like he could play for the Chiefs or my Nebraska Cornhuskers someday. He is more muscle. He has an athletic football lineman's body.

I think a point here is that why are not more of his fellow football linemen not wrestling. When I played football, I know coaches loved for players to wrestle. I know there are a lot of bigger kids out there playing football. Three years ago, my son tried football and I was amazed at the size of some of those kids and wondered why they were not wrestling. A wrestling coach talked to his football team about coming out after the season, but I have never seen any of them. I wonder if these large weight spreads for bigger wrestlers contributes to the lack of participation of these football players. High school goes from 215 to 275. I wonder how many 225-240 high school football players resist coming out due to the weight differential?

I really wasn't saying that anyone was overweight. The eating thing is a very touchy subject with some people. I only wanted to stress that to keep one's wrestler in a weight class so that he doesn't have to wrestle kids 15 - 20 lbs. heavier that he is is to change a few eating habits. Not a "strict diet", but maybe giving up pop for a couple of weeks or only eating one helping at supper. I also know that my son started taking his lunch to school because the school lunches are so full of fat. He actually gets more to eat by taking his lunch and the fat and calories are way down. I don't call this really dieting. I think a better term is weight management. I have seen parents cut weight off of kids to the point that they are sick and I have also seen parents allow high school kids to cut so much weight that they can't perform. I am against this type of weight loss. If you have a big kid 3 to 5 lbs or even 10 shouldn't be hard to do at all. It sounds like the mothers that I am talking with here have a great handle on the problem and will do what is best for their wrestlers.

Vince,
Unfortunately the kid could probably play for your huskers right now!

It seems funny to me that all the people that talk about big kids should be able to lose 10lbs so easily have no clue. sure some are just fat but like mine he is a kid that looks like a 7 or eighth grader(and only 10), people always think because their big they always have body fat. We lift weights(at 10yrs old) we run 4 miles a day and exercise and eat right.

Sounds like a pretty dedicated kid, to be running 4 miles/day, and lifting at 10.

I would caution you about the lifting, though. Keep the weight down, and the reps high. Until a kid is about 14, their tendons/ligaments/cartilage are not well developed enough for bombing iron, and can lead to chronic joint problems

Sportsfan 02:

You got a laugh out of me on that one. The sad part is though you may be right. I know someday they will love to have him. Hopefully they will have better scouts in 7 to 8 years than the current Big 12 coaches who let Adam Venegas sign with North Texas. I saw Adam this weekend at Regionals. Boy could he help Nebraska's defensive or offensive line next year!

If anyone is interested I started a topic on the high school forum (Enough football players wrestling?). It is starting to get a few responses that you might find interesting.