Weight changes highlight wrestling rule alterations
Moore wrestler Josh Lindsey told me during the season how tough it was for him to stay at 103 pounds. Well, he won’t have to do that anymore.
He’s got three more pounds he can hold. The National State Federation of High School Association Wrestling Rules Committee has approved some changes in the wrestling weight classes.
There are still 14 weight classes. However, here are the new weights: 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285.
As you can see, 145-160 went completely untouched. Another big difference is the addition of the 195-pound division. Instead of 171, 189, 215 and 285 (four classes), the fifth one has been added. I like it because today’s kids are getting bigger and bigger.
“The rules committee was able to analyze data from almost 200,000 wrestlers across the country, with the goal to create weight classes that have approximately seven percent of the wrestlers in each weight class,” said Dale Pleimann, chair of the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee.
The committee used data from a 3-4 year study before deciding on the changes.
The last time this drastic of a change happened in weight classes was in 1988 when the smallest weight class went from 98 pounds to 103.
In terms of competition, a major change was approved that now says the boundary line is inbounds. That’s a biggie, if you ask me. Before, if you were touching the boundary line, you were ruled out of bounds. This expands how big the mat is and gives chances for those nearly off the mat takedowns.
Cannot say any of these rule changes are head-scratchers. Agree and/or understand all of them.
If you want the full release with all of the changes, here ya go.
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
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