I have twin boys who will be in high school in a couple of years and plan to wrestle. They have been wrestling in kids wrestling for 5 years. At their current growth rate I don't expect them to make 100 pounds by freshmen year. Since these are my first boys to be reaching high school I did not realize the lowest weight is now 106, which was recently moved up from 103. Can somebody please explain this thinking.... and is there any remote chances that a lighter weight would be added again?

The thinking is that 103 wasn't a full weight class. It is at the far left of the bell curve. The other consideration...How many FR start on varsity in any other sport? Very few. Why should a HS sport create a position that totally caters to FR? Probably not.

I agree with Will. I don't see this weight class going back down. I did see some very good undersized 103 pound wrestlers in 2010-2011 that were freshman who got some valuable varsity experience. This year, they were impact varsity wrestlers at 106 in their sophomore season. One that I know of struggled last year and placed at State this year.

I think we have too many weight classes. Need to drop down to 13 weight classes. The upper-weight classes that they have added are not full either. 105, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, HWT

I agree as there are too many weight classes as is. I think we should go back to 12 spots. Too many open weights, including the biggest offender is the 106 lb weight class. Move up to 110, and cut out a weight class.

They will grow, my son was 67 lbs when he started 7th grade wrestling, and was 100 lbs when he started high school wrestling, 105 by the end of his freshman year. And we don't need to reduce weight classes we need to convince more kids to go out (and stay out) for wrestling.

The difference in the quality and quantity of wrestlers from 103 2 years ago to 106 this year was night and day, no way they would or should go back.

Would LOVE to see it go back to 12 weights. I do disagree and think that 106 should be left alone. My kid will be heavier than 106 in High School, so I don't have a horse in the race, but I like the 106 class. I would rather see them get rid or 215 or find a weight between 189 and 215.

Thanks for the feedback.... I'm not exposed to allot of HS wrestling yet and did not realize that the lower wieght classes were shy on kid count. I was under the assumption that this affected allot of kids, guess not. If that is the case I see the thinking. However it doesn't seem reasonable to move up from 106 because it may force allot of good kids to just say home, especially if they miss the dated to continue to wrestle at 14U.... that would be a bad idea.

If 3 pounds makes you stay home then you weren't very good anyway.

I agree with we have too many weight classes, but I am not sure where you would take out some weights. The upper weights 189, 215, HWT. These are some big jumps, so I dont think you can take any classes away from these areas.

Which brings up another question... if there is a freshmen walking around wet at 100 pounds that is not a varsity wrestler and still young enough to wrestle 14U, why not let him come back and wrestle in kids with kids his weight and still wrestle high school JV against the heavier kids to gain some high school experience as a freshman? It he wrestles in kids only he will miss out on one year of HS experience, if he wrestles in HS only he will most likely be wrestling kids cutting from 115, which doesnt seem like a good year of wrestling experience? Im just trying to understand the situation a bit better because I have a set of twins who are decent wrestlers that like to wrestle but are not growing.

I"m not talking 3 lbs, but thanks for the input. I'm talking about a 96 pounder (wet) wrestling kids that are cutting from 115 to wresle 106. There is a bit of difference there.

The Keller twins adjusted accordingly, with one wrestling 112 while weighing about 96 lbs.

". . .why not let him come back and wrestle in kids with kids his weight and still wrestle high school JV against the heavier kids to gain some high school experience as a freshman?" Joel499

Joel,

If your sons are out for high school wrestling, KIDS is unavailable to them until after the high school season is over.

If your boys wrestle KIDS instead of going out for high school wrestling, they will not be allowed to compete/practice with the high school team.

I agree we need to reduce the number of weight classes. In fact, we should just do away with the whole idea of weight classes entirely. High school wrestling is not about teaching young men to reach their full potential against equally-sized opponents. We should not worry about providing fair competition to lighter athletes who are outsized in other sports and have devoted all of their efforts to becoming the best wrestler they can be. Those little guys can sit on our bench just like they would on the basketball team.

While we are at it, we should do away with all of the classifications too. Combine the whole state, heck the whole nation, into one giant weight class with only one true champion. Anyone against this is just a softie who wants to give everyone a medal.

14oldschool,

What did you wrestle 98 pounds back in the day?

Although Mr. Mann is technically correct we all know that rule is very gray. Technically, NO ONE is allowed in the room but eligible HS wrestlers and coaches who are signed to a paid contract. How many rooms in KS strictly follow this rule?

Depending on where you live there is most likely a club practice you can participate in.
Nothing is stopping you from doing that. I know of kids around the country that wrestle opens and do not compete in HS wrestling if they are too small or cannot make varsity their freshman year. This is especially true if a FR is behind a stud in the line up. IMO, JV is for kids that haven't wrestled before. If you are still in the 14U age group, and the tournament does not prohibit FR from participating, those tournaments are much more competitive than JV HS wrestling.

Exactly. The best strategy to grow our sport is to drive as many of those little guys out the high school wrestling room as possible.

Right 14oldschool. We need more weight classes so nobody is left out. Lets make it like middle school and have 20 weight classes. Add a 95 pound, 85 pound and dwarf weight class. Heavyweights should be unlimited again. Its not fair to all those guys over 280 either. Maybe we shouldn't keep team score either so everybody wins.