That really makes sense! I understand how this would be beneficial to the colleges too because they could get a preview of the future wrestlers as well as getting an extra income! Does this mean by underwater weighting though?

As quoted by Andrew_Delarge:
HardWorkCounts quote-

"Its called dedication and maybe you dont know what that means so i will tell you. It means giving your all so that you can be everything YOU want. Who cares if they cut??!?! My boyfriend lost almost 30 lbs last year!!!"

First of all, please don't tell me about dedication. I wrestled in college at UNK, so I know about dedication. Secondly, if your boyfriend lost 30 lbs. he was fat to begin with and therefore where is his dedication? Losing 30 lbs. and starving yourself is not dedication. Wrestling at a weight where you can eat and drink healthy and hit the weights and feel strong is just smart. Walking around looking like a skeleton is not. Why lose 30 lbs. and not just lose 10? Do you think Vacanti, McCoy, Esai, Sherer, Denson, etc. put on 30lbs over the summer? Most HS wreslters don't wrestle in college b/c they are sick and tired of cutting weight. It takes a huge toll mentally and physically to do so. Cut 5-10 lbs. instead and stay sharp all season.

FIRST OF ALL- My boyfriend was not fat funny thing is he cut weight clear down but was lightweight in the first place
SECOND- if you knew who he is you would be sorry you said so because he is an AWESOME wrestler
AND THIRD- Don't diss my opinions I didnt ever say YOU were COMPLETELY WRONG i just disagreed. Listen to Deano and CHILL

Oh and another point...
FOUR
There is such a thing as a nutritionist and i know quite a few wrestlers who have visited one and set up a meal plan etc. to lose weight healthy. So yea you can cut weight and do it healthy. Now I've said my piece...Come and get me.

I was trying to think of a good word that describes the direction this post is going and I finally found one!!!

CHILDISH!!!

You have some, making very good points and then you have the rest, who just like to argue and egg others on. This ruling will be beneficial to wrestling for the fact that it is meant to keep kids healthy. Yes, there are questions to how the testing will be done and where, and YES, there are still questions to whether it applies fairly to all wrestlers due to body size and natural ability, but overall, if you look at the ruling, it will be effective in keeping our young men and women healthier and safer and improving the overall outlook toward wrestling. I have responded and I will not respond again unless it is to a positive comment. Save the childish behavior for the hallways in your school.

If you cut 30lbs. you are fat. Period. I am done with you.

First off, I don't want to be on either side of the fence.
I have lost great amounts of weight in both high school and college. A fundemental question to this discussion is what about the less talented athlete. If I can't start on a fb team at quarterback I switch to reciever, to db, and so on. I can't do that in wrestling. I have to switch weight, and in doing so want to remain cometitive interschoolastically. Therefore this type of athlete must cut weight.
I did this a few years ago to make our starting lineup at unk. I weighed 190+ during the summer and cut to 157. This effected me throughout the year in both academics and athletics, but allowed me to be varsity and part of a national dual championship team that otherwise wouldn't be an option. Also what if you have a competitive team and can start in numerous places but cut to a lower than desired so someone else can wrestle, helping the team.
I have done both of these and am proud of the mental toughness I found in myself to do so. Further I am proud of the determination, dedication, and selflessness I also found along the way.
I am currently pretending to be a high school coach and encourage my kids to cut little to no weight. At our first tournament I felt as if we had a greater amount of intensity and were more physical than most of our opponents. I credit this in part to our lack of weight loss.
In conclussion, it would be ideal to not cut weight and future initiatives are making our sport more attractive, but certain instances almost require it

Great post by Dalton, he nails it.
The biggest weight loss problem is with those trying to find a spot on the team.
That's why I think an unitended consequence of the new bodyfat rule will be more open weights and fewer wrestlers on teams. If we won't let kids cut 2-3 pounds to make the starting team, how many of them will stick it out as JV? Many will, but I see us losing some.

An argument could also be made that we will gain kids who are currently detoured because of loosing weight. There are huge plusses to weight loss restrictions as wrestling continues to seek new audiences. How many times has anyone of us been involved in a wrestling conversation with a sport outsider where the discussion content will not move past weight loss? Sad as great as our sport is this remains a focal point.
However, in limiting this aspect we also eliminate an aspect that distinguishes our sport, making it unquestionably the most difficult sport offered by both the NCAA and NSAA. Now that we do not let someone cut weight to find a spot, we encourage him or her to move up until they find one. Could an argument be made that an athlete might then be more susceptible to injury?

again, I officially ride the fence on this one

Turning the focus from 'weight loss ' to ' fat loss ' would have more positive response from outsiders. Certainly there are mores positives to talk about by discussing advantages of fat loss to the overall health of an individual. Always focusing on borderline situation simply blows the issue out of proportion everytime. On the surface it seems the bulking up that goes with football is actually more detrimental to more athletes health than wrestling ever could be.

First off very good discussion here. Thanks.


Secondly.

quote:

Originally posted by TK:
Turning the focus from 'weight loss ' to ' fat loss ' would have more positive response from outsiders. Certainly there are mores positives to talk about by discussing advantages of fat loss to the overall health of an individual. Always focusing on borderline situation simply blows the issue out of proportion everytime. On the surface it seems the bulking up that goes with football is actually more detrimental to more athletes health than wrestling ever could be.

You pretty much nailed it there.

Generally (read that again I typed generally) kids cutting weight are not cutting body fat. Many of them have the body fat weight to cut but it is not coming off. The loss of body fat takes an extended period of time and requires a lot of cardiovascualr work. Not sitting in a sauna at the local YMCA or Holiday Inn.

By the same token as TK stated the "bulking up" for football generally (read that again I typed generally) is more fat and not muscle mass.

I think what we might see is a conflict between football and wrestling. The football coach wanting them to "bulk up" which in most cases means adipose tissue and the wrestling coach wanting them to start slimming down in late September to early October to get around 7% body fat before the 1 1/2% loss per week becomes an issue.

This is going to get interesting.

Cutting a great deal of fat at the high school level is very difficult due to time constraints. In college an athlete can get a workout in, go to class, get a workout in, go to class, go to practice, study, and workout before bed. He can continue to feed his metabolism by putting substance dense in nutrients and healthy calories while low in net weight (conservation of mass theory) after or before each workout. A high school student doesn't have this sort of time or often facilities to do this. Also, fat is burned by anaerobic exercise, which is also effective wrestling training. Muscle is cut during the 5 mile run workout.
These factors often hinder high school students from losing bad weight.

How is muscle cut? Yea you lose weight but you gain muscle from the leg work. I was in cross country and that put me in the best shape i could ever have been in. Maybe instead of football to "toughen up" these wrestlers they should run cross country to slim down and tone up. Is that a wise decision?