Should MIDDLE School allow a 2LB weight allowance?

[Notorious 15]

The STATE of Kentucky allows a 2Lb weight allowance for "Growth" In MIDDLE school? You should have to make the original weight TWICE before the 2Lb weight allowance is in effect! Or you should not be able to wrestle that weight! You have MIDDLE school kids, who never wrestled in the original weight class ALL season! Then they use the 2LB weight allowance to drop and cut weight! Should KY really be encouraging kids to use the 2LB allowance for "Growth" if they haven't wrestled that weight All year? I'm ok if they at least wrestled at the original weight class at least twice! Now in HIGH school, that's a different story! I under stand that HIGH school wrestlers are trying for scholarships! That's a different situation and age level?

[grappler-of-old 44]

I see no problem with the 2lb weight allowance.  I think that middle school should mirror the high school in every aspect.  What I truly don't understand is why they do not have to follow the body fat rule and decent plan like the high school.  This method is set in place for the safety of the kids.  It is probably more important for the younger kids than the older kids.  Many middle school kids are already close to 7% body fat and they are still trying to lose weight. 

[depperschmidt 140]

I do not believe ANY child under the age of 15 who is not obese should cut weight period. Youth/middle school wrestling should be about learning the sport and having fun. I see way too many overly competitive parents in the youth grades at the tournaments my 3 grandsons are going to. I have seen one boy wrestle 2 different weight classes in the same event and was seriously larger than the smaller group. But whatever advantages achieved by weight cheating at this age will be eliminated by the time they reach high school.  They are not going to be offered a Scholarship out of middle school are they?

 

[DocG 20]

1 hour ago, depperschmidt said:

I do not believe ANY child under the age of 15 who is not obese should cut weight period. Youth/middle school wrestling should be about learning the sport and having fun. I see way too many overly competitive parents in the youth grades at the tournaments my 3 grandsons are going to. I have seen one boy wrestle 2 different weight classes in the same event and was seriously larger than the smaller group. But whatever advantages achieved by weight cheating at this age will be eliminated by the time they reach high school.  They are not going to be offered a Scholarship out of middle school are they?

 

Amen to that!

[grappler-of-old 44]

I agree DS. I would not allow GOO Jr. to loss any wt. in middle school. (He was not obese).  I told him he will do that in high school and middle school is to learn the sport, learn to wrestle wins and loss's are of no significance in middle school. If a kid comes to practice every day works hard and has good nutrition habits then he will lose any excess fat he has and be at a good wrestling wt.  

[Notorious 15]

On December 12, 2017 at 9:12 AM, depperschmidt said:

I do not believe ANY child under the age of 15 who is not obese should cut weight period. Youth/middle school wrestling should be about learning the sport and having fun. I see way too many overly competitive parents in the youth grades at the tournaments my 3 grandsons are going to. I have seen one boy wrestle 2 different weight classes in the same event and was seriously larger than the smaller group. But whatever advantages achieved by weight cheating at this age will be eliminated by the time they reach high school.  They are not going to be offered a Scholarship out of middle school are they?

 

Another Standing ovation! Agreed!

I have Already liked to many post or I give you a green thumbs up. Hit my max 10 limit. 

[Notorious 15]

On December 12, 2017 at 10:59 AM, grappler-of-old said:

I agree DS. I would not allow GOO Jr. to loss any wt. in middle school. (He was not obese).  I told him he will do that in high school and middle school is to learn the sport, learn to wrestle wins and loss's are of no significance in middle school. If a kid comes to practice every day works hard and has good nutrition habits then he will lose any excess fat he has and be at a good wrestling wt.  

Agreed!

[119Rider 61]

Missouri Middle Schools are way different. Our season is from end of October to end of 1st semester. We weigh in at beginning of our season and that is it. Some kids weights might fluctuate but our kids are grouped by ability and weight. So if I have a first year wrestler that weighs 85 lbs., he isn't going to get smashed by a kid who has been wrestling for 6 years and was defending youth state champ. Also, there is no state championships, some schools have conference awards for their kids but that is it. We use the middle school setting for growth in numbers, hoping not to burn kids out or just even give them an opportunity to try a sport that is new to them without getting thrown to the wolves right away.

[ukpridewrestler11 276]

No middle school aged kid should cut weight at all.

[Neutral 134]

Cutting weight and losing weight is different though. Just wanted to highlight that distinction. I mean no adult or high school kids should be cutting dangerous amounts of weight either. 

But if a kid is healthy and wants to lose 2-3 maybe 5 in extreme cases to go down in middle school. I don't see the problem. 

They could even learn some good habits on how to do it early in their career rather than mirroring what the big weight cutters do when they get to high school. 

[grappler-of-old 44]

I just want to put this out there.  I have been around long enough to see many different ways in which the high school monitored the weight allowance. 

In my day you had to certify your weight (Make scratch weight) before Jan 15th and then you would get your 2lbs after the 15th.  You would then receive another pound in February. 

Then they removed the 1 lb in Feb. Everything else the same. 

The next change was scratch weight all year (no pound allowance)

They tried, no weigh ins on 2nd day of a tournaments. (FYI they weighed in wrestlers on 2nd day of state to find out how much some gained at least one state finalist gained 10+ lbs) This was the only year they tried this. 

Was changed to 2lbs Jan 1, Make scratch weight once and 1/2 matches at that weight or below to enter region at said weight.

Then changed to same as above with no scratch weight. 

changed to 2lbs after Christmas and body fat testing with decent plan. (no scratch weight)

Of all the experiments the one in place for high school now is by far the safest and best plan.  I highly recommend that middle school follow the same procedures as the high school. Not only is it more safe, but now these athletes understand maintaining weight and how it works when they reach high school.  

After all is not middle school wrestling set up to prepare wrestlers for high school?  I have always thought that all things should be the same (rules and regulations). 

Just my 2 cents from an old fart who has probably been on the mat one to many times. 

[BobcatWrestling 1]

I coach at a middle school in Tennessee. Our season runs from the end of October to right around Christmas. We give a 1lb allowance after Thanksgiving. It's counter-intuitive to tell middle school kids to stop growing.

 

I don't make any of my kids cut weight. We will weigh at the beginning of the season and I let them choose which weight class they want to wrestle at, provided they are already within reach. I think an important aspect of the sport is making weight, so I want to introduce that to them (mildly) before high school. We have no descent plan or hydration testing, either. Wish we did so they could understand more...but honestly, most of 'em probably wouldn't anyway.

Just my $.02.

[Notorious 15]

If anyone would like to vote on a poll. Grappler of old , made a poll. You can VOTE anonymously! If you are interested in how KY thinks about this issues. If it's a issue at all. 

Youth Forum.