I think I can shed a little light on the issue of women's weight classes. I went to the expert - Coach Carl Murphree at Missouri Valley College. Here is a copy of my e-mail to Coach Murphree plus his response:

Coach:

A recent visitor to our talk forum posed a question that I could not answer. I hope you can help clear something up for us regarding women's wrestling.

We are all quite proud of Colette Curtis and happy that she is about to become a member of your MV women's wrestling program. The question is what weight class will she compete in? Is she too heavy for the current university weight classes?

There are 11 weight classes for the FILA Juniors, ranging from 95 lbs to 220 lbs. In the University Division there are 8 weight classes ranging from 105 lbs/48Kg to 169.5 lbs./77Kg.... but I noticed that at the recent Womens College National Championships the heaviest weight class was 80 Kg/176 lbs - won by sophomore wrestler Selina Perez of Missouri Valley.

I think Colette has wrestled at 189 lbs for the high school JV team - even though she seemed to be a bit undersized. I think she has even wrestled in heavier weight classes from time to time to help fill weight classes. She also looks like she has trimmed down of late. If the heaviest weight class in the college ranks is either 77 or 80 Kg, how can she contribute to a college wrestling program?

Again, we are not taking any shots at Colette. She is an exceptional person and a solid wrestler who we hope the best for in the future. I just want to know the thought process for recruiting heavier girls from the high school/FILA junior division. Are there plans to add heavier weight classes or is the hope for such wrestlers to cut enough weight to make it at 77-80 Kg ?

I never thought about this issue until it was brought up on the talk forum. Hopefully you can clear this up for me.

Jeff Mercer
Kansas Krusaders

"Colette will wrestle at 80 kilos, the US college programs will most likely follow the Canadian College programs and change the 80 kilo to 82 kilos (180.5 pounds). Unfortunately Collette is too big to wrestle at 158.5 pounds, The highest international weight, but she will have plenty of action at the 76, 80, 82 kilo class. It is my hope that the senior level will add a weight higher than 72 kilos, if we are able to demonstrate that there are athletes to fill the upper weights, perhaps that day may come."

Carl Murphree
Head Women's Wrestling Coach
Missouri Valley College

Thanks for being patient as I tracked down Coach Murphree. It is confusing with the different governing bodies listing different weight classes for women and I wanted to provide the correct information. It sounds like Colette might have to cut a little weight women she gets to college but it doesn't sound like she'll have to cut very much. She is still a tough wrestler and we look forward to tracking her progress at Missouri Valley.