I have been trying to avoid posting on this weight change because I am too personally and emotionally involved on the small side of the weight classes but I can't resist so here goes....

One of the main reasons I love wrestling is because it doesn't discriminate based on size or a subjective opinion of a coach. That is why I loved wrestling growing up. Wrestling provided me an opportunity that no other sport could provide because I was the 88 lb freshman and we had a 98 lb weight class. Because of that I was able to place at state 4 times and win it once.

The reason this is important is because it allowed me to get recruited to wrestle in college at a variety of colleges. I ended up attending West Point, wrestling for them and then serving in the Army until I retired in 2007.

I am absolutely convinced that if I did not have the opportunity to compete as a freshman, my chances of getting recruited to USMA would have dropped dramatically. My life would be totally different than it is now.

I share this because I think we lose site of the overall purpose of high school sports....that is to provide opportunities for kids. Wrestling is one of the only sports left that allows smaller folks to compete and have a chance to get help their college education.

Now we are taking away another opportunity....who cares if it is mostly freshman wrestling at the smaller weights. Yes you don't see a lot of freshman starting on varsity in other sports...why....because size and a coaches subjective assessment plays a major role in playing those sports.

I also agree with John, we have decreased the # of weight classes in what seems to be the largest population of wrestlers. We have done this combined with increasing the smallest weight in order to add a weight for a relatively small number of folks.

Done venting....just my perspective.

Will,

Yes I did jockey and gallop horses when I was in high school....decent $$$. We also raised Mules....do you know what makes a Mule? Mule = Horse + Will's Comment