New scholastic weight classes not getting positive initial reception

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Not much in scholastic wrestling matters more than the weight classes.

The classes -- how many of them, what the weights are, the differences between the classes -- are the basic structure of the sport, the iron skeleton that coaches build their teams on.
So this winter's shift in scholastic weight classes could have a seismic influence on the sport.

Out are the 14 weight classes everyone had gotten used to, like an old, familiar friend: 103, 112, 119, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, 285.
Instead meet some new friends: 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, 285.

The shift is essentially removing a weight from the middle of the ladder toward the top. In theory, with all the nation's weigh-ins available to the National High School Federation to determine where the wrestlers are weight-wise, the new classes reflect an equal share of the numbers available divided by 14.

In theory - but not in many area wrestling rooms.

"In the opinion of the coaches and people in the trenches, there are a lot more wrestlers below 150 pounds than there are above 150 pounds," Easton Area High School coach Steve Powell said. "These new classes probably wouldn't be our pick. Thirty of the 40 kids we have out are below 150 pounds."

Delaware Valley Regional High School coach Andy Fitz was blunter.

"I don't understand the new weights," he said. "They say it's all evenly divided; I don't know know one coach who agrees with that."

The wrestlers don't seem too thrilled either.

"The new weights have changed a lot for us," said Easton's returning state champion, Mitch Minotti, who wrestles at 152 pounds. "We're usually known for having a lot of good lower weight kids. We're having a little trouble spreading all the talent out and it hurts our depth up top."

There are positives to the new classes. Everybody agrees that the general increase in weights across the board is long overdue and that turning 103 to 106 will make a significant difference in reducing forfeits at the lowest weight.

Despite much agitation to do so, the number of classes was not reduced, so the same number of varsity opportunities still exist (for now; don't be surprised to see the number of classes shrink from 14 to 13 or maybe even 12 in the next decade).

The new scholastic classes look a lot more like the college classes -- 126, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197, 285 -- and some see a push from collegiate coaches for more upper-weight talent to pick from.

As Fitz put it, "if college coaches wanted it, then that's a reason."

Lehigh University coach Pat Santoro says no.

"It doesn't matter to us," he said. "At the end of the day it doesn't matter. We're just looking for the best kids."

So are the scholastic coaches, but the best kids in the upper weights may not be available to them. Increasingly fewer football players wrestle because of the demands on their time in the weight room. Wrestling coaches may need to open new dialogues with their gridiron brethren.

"You would think so," said Powell when asked if wrestling coaches might need stronger relationships with football coaches. "The bigger the kids are, the better they are at football and we need more bigger kids."

Fitz, who mentioned lacrosse as a fertile recruiting ground for bigger wrestlers, said it's a matter of health and body structure with scholastic wrestlers trying to move up in weights.

"You can't ask kids who aren't physically mature to make these kind of changes," he said. "They can't gain that much muscle weight. All these kids are in the 120s, 130s and 140s. The lack of kids in the upper weights is striking. Even some of the big schools are struggling to put true wrestlers on the mat at the upper weights."

Fitz, as coach of a Group 2 school in New Jersey, raised a significant point. While larger schools likely can find bigger wrestlers, the smaller schools may not be able -- that many really athletic boys at those weights may not even exist at the smallest schools.

While the general consensus seems to support Powell and Fitz's arguments, there is at least one local coach who is pleased with the new lineup.

"I know a lot of the area coaches are not in favor but we love the new weights," Phillipsburg coach Dave Post said. "Over the last couple of years, we have had a tough time getting good lighter guys and we've had a significant number of pretty solid upper weights. Most of them are back, and we'll slide them around. It works out well for us. From 152 on up we'll be seasoned and experienced, and a lot of teams are scraping to fill those weights."

Maybe the Stateliners wound up with the quota of big kids that should have been assigned to Easton, Del Val and the others.

The new classes will make for an interesting wild card to the new season.

"These probably aren't the weight classes I'd have gone for, but these are the ones we have to fill and we'll work with it," said Powell in a resigned-to-it tone.

Fitz said that in the long run, the new classes will be familiar -- but with a price.

"In five years we'll all be used to them, and maybe in the end, in five-to-10 years, everybody will think they are a great thing and everyone will adjust," he said. "But right now, initially, there will be some cataclysmic adjustments, especially for a senior who gets left out of the middle of the lineup. There's a lot of strong wrestlers sitting at 130 that we'll never get to be 160-170 pounds. There's going to be one less face out there sometimes."


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