Making Weight
Wrestlers sacrifice to become the best pound-for-pound athletes in their sport
By ROSS MARTIN
Four years ago, Josh Callaway faced a tough decision.
He needed to cut almost 20 pounds off of his 5-foot-7 frame if he wanted to compete on Platte County’s varsity wrestling squad. He was a senior, a three-year letterwinner, a returning state placewinner.
Callaway weighed almost 140 pounds. The only open varsity spot was at 119, on what many consider Missouri’s greatest tournament team.
“He knew he wasn’t going to have a spot if he didn’t get there,” Platte County coach Phil Dorman said. “We talked about the dedication of doing it and doing it right. I expect that from the kids if they’re going to do it ” doing it right, working hard in practice.”
Callaway decided to do it. And he made it. He placed third at 119, one of 12 placewinners on a team that set records for total points scored and margin of victory.
“I wanted to do it, and I knew I could because I’d done it before,” said Callaway, who now weighs 150 pounds and coaches wrestling with the Platte County Kids Club. “There was a lot of motivation. I was glad to do it. I knew we were going for something big. I was all for (cutting weight) and happy to be a part of the team.”
Death causes change
Stories like Callaway’s are legendary ” wrestlers sacrificing to be a part of a team. But while Callaway lost weight the right way, others have not.
Wearing sweats to practice in a profoundly hot room. Spitting into an empty bottle. Not eating or drinking. Running in a full-body rubber suit or wearing a trash bag.
In 1997, three collegiate wrestlers died with the cause of death linked to unsafe weight-cutting techniques and dehydration. That brought wrestling to the forefront of the sports world ” especially at the high school level.
“Some people haven’t ever seen a high school wrestling match,” said Dale Pleimann, the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s assistant executive director for wrestling. “You know, they are asking where the ropes and turnbuckles are. There are a lot of misconceptions. I think there are some people that don’t have any idea what’s going on. I think some people have the idea that wrestlers are trying to lose a bunch of weight so they can beat somebody that’s half their size.
“That’s not the purpose in high school wrestling. It’s to lose any excess weight, so you can be more efficient in how you perform.”
In 2001, the NCAA required mandatory hydration and body-fat testing to determine a wrestler’s lowest allowable weight class. Since 2000, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has worked on a proposal that would do the same at the high-school level.
Diehl says the proposed rule changes are tailored somewhat off of what the NCAA did in 2001.
Wrestlers must pass a hydration test ” a urine analysis making sure the individuals has enough water in their body ” before the start of winter sports practice and regularly throughout the season. Once the initial test is passed, wrestlers’ overall body-fat composition will be determined. That figure along with overall weight is put into a computer to determine the percentage of body weight that can be safely lost to determine the wrestler’s lowest possible weight class, or certified weight. A wrestler cannot compete at a lower weight class without permission from the coach, the wrestlers’ parents, school administration and a doctor.
“The philosophy of (the NFHS’) sports medicine committee is that you need to lose weight in a safe manner, and to do that medically speaking from the sports medicine community, losing 11/2 percent (of body weight) is the most recognized procedure,” Diehl said. “What they’re trying to do is get your weight down gradually through proper techniques.”
According to NFHS assistant director Jerry Diehl, the plan will be on the organization will vote on the plan at its April meeting after numerous delays. If the plan is approved, the rule changes would go into effect for the fall of 2006.
“In theory, I think it’s very good,” Pleimann. “And I think, yes, it will be a positive thing. It allows us to make a sounder decision as to what the best weight class for a wrestler to wrestle is. I also think it will take a lot of focus off of weight loss and back to wrestling.”
According to Diehl, approximately 30 of the 48 states that reside under the federation’s jurisdiction already use some form of body-fat testing, including Iowa, which made the testing mandatory for the 1998-99 season.
According to Alan Beste, the Iowa High School Activities Association (IHSAA) administrative assistant for wrestling, Iowa had voluntary testing as early as 1987 and has funded research into body-fat testing since the 1960s.
“I really think it’s a positive for all states,” Beste said. “I think each state needs to decide how to best implement it in their state. But in some way shape or form, I think every state will benefit from body composition testing.”
Almost in compliance
States like Iowa are the exception, not the rule.
Kansas and Nebraska do not require any testing, but they do utilize a weight-certification process. The two systems are almost identical, except with different dates.
Under the states’ guidelines, wrestlers must have at least one weigh-in at the lowest possible weight they intend to wrestle by late December to certify.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) also mandates that wrestlers intending to cut more than 10 percent of their body weight must have signed permission from their parents, doctor, coach and school administrators before doing so.
KSHSAA has already appointed a special committee for body-fat testing and, according to Rick Bowden assistant executive director for wrestling, may have something to pilot as early as next year.
“Our concern is that I don’t know what the national federation is going to do, and perhaps we can’t wait to see what they’re going to do,” Bowden said. “They might not come up with a plan that makes sense for us. We have a lot of rural schools that may not have access to the medical facilities to (use such tests).
“We may have to strike out on our own and do something that we think is doable in Kansas that may not be in compliance with the national federation. I don’t have any issue with the national federation looking at the broad issue of weight reduction, but I hope they realize that not all of the states are the same in size, geography.”
Bob Colgate, assistant executive director for wrestling at the Nebraska Schools Activities Association, agrees with Bowden and also feels cost is a major concern as well.
“Right now, each state does something different,” said Colgate, also a member of the NFHS’ wrestling rules committee. “What works for one state, doesn’t necessarily work for another state.”
What it means for Missouri
MSHSAA currently has no laws or bylaws that govern certification of weight classes. Under its system, Missouri follows the weight-loss guidelines already in place by the NFHS, including no use of sweat boxes, rubber suits, saunas, etc. to lose weight.
But according to Pleimann, who is in his eighth year with MSHSAA, it is an issue that has been investigated by MSHSAA’s Wrestling Advisory Committee.
“It is something we are definitely looking at,” he said. “What we’re trying to wait on is to see what the national federation is going to require. Once we find that out, we will probably take the steps to move in that direction. We didn’t want to have to put (a new rule) into place and then change it.”
MSHSAA requires wrestlers to make half of their total weigh-ins before districts at or below the weight they intend to wrestle in the postseason. Theoretically, this would require a wrestler to lose the intended amount of weight quicker to assure meeting the weigh-in requirement.
“We put out a lot of information trying to provide schools with proper background and information on appropriate methods of weight loss,” Pleimann said. “It’s not like we don’t do anything, but I don’t think we are aware of any cases that are being misabused. I think the coaches are doing a better job with it.
“But I can’t tell you that in the last eight years that any coach has allowed anything unsafe to go on. Are we aware of any? No, we are not. I can’t be sure what each coach is doing, but we haven’t heard any stories.”
Maryville coach Joe Drake served as the Northwest Missouri representative to the MSHSAA wrestling advisory committee for four years, before giving way to Richmond coach John Daniels this year. Drake thinks that if the NFHS approves the proposal in April, MSHSAA will take action soon after.
“We won’t go against the National Federation guidelines,” Drake said. “But my understanding is that the national federation will have broad guidelines that we must fall into. We may go back and find a way to fall into that. But deviate from the federation? That’s not going to happen.”
MSHSAA officials believe in the current system and don’t feel the NFHS’s new rule will be too much of a challenge.
“I think that high school coaches are much better educated than they used to be,” Pleimann said. “I think we have a lot of schools that are doing testing on their own. Our advisory committee feels that the guidelines we are using are serving us well.”
Both Drake and Dorman currently use a form body-fat testing at Maryville and Platte County, but that’s without the use of hydration testing, which requires regular urine testing and analysis.
“No one wants to put the health of an athlete in jeopardy; no one wants to do that at our level,” Drake said. “We do (body-fat testing) in our own program. We’re not able to do the hydration testing, but there is always a lot of feedback between programs and what we do within our programs to make it safer.”
How much is too much
Diehl believes the biggest delay in passing legislation on weight cutting is the ‘reluctance of people to make change in their attitude.’
Beste and IHSAA have found that setting limits and educating the public helped ease the reluctance.
“I would never tell you that we have 100 percent of the people agree with what we’re doing, because that is not the case,” Beste said. “But before we mandated it, we received many, many calls. Body composition testing has alleviated all of those concerns, and the reason we think it’s been so positive is because we try to educate and we really think that helps people understand about body fat testing.”
But for now, wrestlers in states with similar guidelines to Missouri will still have the opportunity to cut as much weight as deemed okay by coaches and the systems they use.
“I think (a mandate) will change some factors,” Dorman said. “I don’t know if Josh would’ve passed those tests. Some individuals will be found to not be able to go to certain weights, but I don’t necessarily think that will be a bad thing.
“I think if you asked him if it was worth it, he’d say yes
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