Gabe.Applegate

What is the format for the wrestle offs? I have a couple of thoughts on the subject. (1) Wrestle offs should take place prior to the practice; e.g., it would not be fair to penalize tired wrestlers in a wrestle off because they worked hard during the practice. (2) As a general rule, a state champion should only wrestle off against a single opponent. If multiple challengers want to throw their hats in the ring, then they should wrestle off against each other to determine who gets a shot at the champ.

I just sent you an email to let you know Tanner Spalding is interested in wrestling for the Ky team. Thank you for your time and effort!

Thank you grappler-of-old and Uncle Spam for providing some perspective. I really do understand the reasoning for the current rules (e.g., defined weight classes, growth allowance, and snow allowance) and could argue either side. By the way, from the perspective of the smaller guys, giving up 10-12 lbs in the finals is very significant. I very personally know one little guy who did not cut at all (i.e., ate/drank normally, stepped on the scale at regionals/state, and wrestled his scratch weight) and lost his state finals match two years in a row to wrestlers who dropped two weight classes for regionals/state. I'm glad he got good matches out of both of those MS state tournaments, and I wouldn't bat an eye about taking him back to the same matches again. Neither of those final matches would have ever happened if we had been at a national tournament wrestling scratch weight (e.g., he had never wrestled either kid before regionals/state and never wrestled either of them again).

I feel like the whole "growth allowance" and "snow allowance" is getting away from the reason we have the wrestlers weigh-in before they wrestle: on a given day, wrestlers should be wrestling other wrestlers of comparable weight. Not to be harsh, but if a kid weighs more on a given day because he/she comes from a bad home, then he/she should wrestle other kids of comparable weight on that same day (i.e., there should be no "handicaps" in wrestling). For example, if a first kid weighs 77.9 lbs on a given day, then he/she should wrestle other kids that weigh > 75 lbs & <= 80 lbs (i.e., 80 lb bracket). If a second kid weighs 73.1 lbs on that day, then he/she should wrestle kids that weigh > 70 lbs & <= 75 lbs (75 lb bracket). If the kids weigh out differently on a different day, then they should be placed in appropriate brackets for their respective weights on that different day. How is it fair to make the second kid that weighs 73.1 lbs (i.e., belongs in the 75 lb bracket) wrestle the first kid that weighs 77.9 lbs (belongs in the 80 lb bracket)? I am sure that in at least one bracket, with the growth and snow allowances, this exact situation will come up this weekend. No one is having this weight allowance discussion about the youth state tournament - the youth kids will wrestle their scratch weight. Of course the difference isn't that youth kids aren't growing, or aren't affected by snow days. Rather, the difference between youth and HS is that youth does not have weight management requirements. MS also does not have weight management requirements and, just like youth, MS should be scratch weight for regionals and state (e.g., look which forum we are posting in). At the end of the day, weight allowances open the door for MS kids to walk on the mat with documented weight advantages over their competition.

I fully understand your point, but there is no weight management program for KY MS wrestlers, i.e., it doesn't matter what a KY MS wrestler weighs at the beginning of the season versus the end. Why not just have the middle schoolers wrestle the weight they weigh when they weigh it, i.e., scratch weight? On a somewhat related note, I will never understand why KY youth wrestling is separated based on birth year instead of current age. For example, separating by birth year severely penalizes kids with late birthdays (e.g., November or December), whereas separating by current age (on the day of competition) puts everyone in the same boat (e.g., 9-10 year olds wrestling 9-10 yr olds). I get that some kids might have birthdays right before a big tournament, but separating by age means that (1) all the kids wrestling each other are the same age, and (2) everyone gets to experience being the oldest or the youngest in their age group at some point in time.

I agree. In practice, a growth allowance rarely accommodates for growth of podium-level wrestlers throughout the wrestling season. Instead, the top kids often wrestle at higher weight classes throughout the season and then drop to lower weight classes (plus the growth allowance) for regionals; the end result is the exact opposite of what the growth rule is meant to encourage (e.g., healthy growing kids). Since the wrestlers are only required to maintain a given weight class for two weeks after regionals, I personally see no need for the "growth" allowance and would happily hold the wrestlers to scratch weight. An additional snow-day allowance only works to further the advantage of heavier kids that already cut weight for regionals.

Thank you for the clarification and good luck at the tournament!

Either of those would definitely be the biggest upsets, but I wouldn't hold my breath. For the uninitiated, wait 'till you see Tanner this year - he's been putting in some work.