PHOTO BY DAVE WILSON
Former Wadsworth wrestler Brad Squire, shown here on his way to winning the Division I 145-pound state title as a senior in 2010, thinks wrestlers will adjust to the new weight classes.
Dan Thoburn, a 2004 state runner-up for Highland, sees it as a necessary move with strings attached.
Brad Squire, a two-time state champion for Wadsworth, views it as just a formality.
And some coaches see the move of the National Federation of State High School Associations as something that should have required more field research.
Regardless, sweeping changes to wrestling will begin in the 2011-12 season as 10 of 14 weight classes have been reassigned.
Starting in the fall, the new classes will be 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285 pounds.
The NFHS left the 145, 152 and 160 classes alone and kept heavyweight at 285.
“I don’t dislike it,” said Thoburn, who is a volunteer coach for the Hornets. “I think it will make it a learning curve for the kids and coaches the next couple years. I wish they had (another weight) in college instead of going from 197 to 285.
“They needed a middle ground somewhere. I think it’s good, but I can see where it can hurt and help kids. They made the change, so now you have to change. I’d like to know the reasoning, though.”
The most recent wholesale change came in 1988 when the lowest weight class – 98 pounds – was moved up to 103.
The bump up to 106 doesn’t bother most coaches. It’s the elimination of 140 to add a 195 that has them miffed.
While the move from 189 to 215 was drastic over the years, coaches think the adjustment needed to be made down low.
“The sad thing is we constantly change things,” Wadsworth coach John Gramuglia said. “They should have done some more studies. You can’t go off two years of data.
“They should have given coaches a vote. I really think it will weaken high school wrestling. They essentially took a middleweight (140) out and added a 182. You’ll have a lot of forfeits. I like the 106, but it’s not fair overall. It’s not good.”
Squire, who wrestled at 140 his junior season and is currently on the mats at Ohio University, doesn’t see a major significance in the change.
The modifications were made following results from a three- to four-year process utilizing data from the National Wrestling Coaches Association Optimal Performance Calculator, according to a story on NFHS.org.
The rules committee analyzed over 200,000 wrestlers across the country and is trying to create an atmosphere where seven percent of wrestlers fall in each weight class.
The only other changes since 1988 were in 2002, when the number of classes went from 13 to 14 and the 215-pound weight class became mandatory, and in 2006, when the 275-pound class was increased to 285 pounds.
“A weight class is a weight class,” said Squire, who graduated from Wadsworth in 2010. “You’ll just have to go two pounds lighter or five pounds heavier. To me, you adapt and adjust. Things will happen. Just like the real world, you adjust to it.”
The other side of it has coaches wondering what will happen in dual-meet situations. While most teams can field a squad up the middle, it’s tough to find willing athletes to fill the upper and lower weights.
That could cause holes in the lineup.
“I would have liked them to add a weight rather than adding an upper weight and getting rid of a lower one,” Medina coach Chad Gilmore said. “I don’t like seeing the kids lose a weight where the majority of them weigh.
“I would have liked to see more of a bell curve. You see forfeits at the low and high end. To take out a middleweight, it hurts the sport a little bit.”