The NCAA News - News Features

ONE-WEIGH TICKET

Change in weight rule puts limit on the number of times wrestlers must weigh in at championships

Weighing-in is both the attraction and the bane of wrestling.

On one hand, it ensures more fairness than exists in perhaps any other physical contest. On the other hand, the methods that some competitors use to make weight can be unsafe, which raises the question: How much weight monitoring is needed to preserve fairness, especially in the NCAA championships?

Multiple-day weigh-ins used to be the rule at NCAA tournaments. Wrestlers had to make weight once a day during championships competition -- three times in Division I; twice in Divisions II and III.

Last spring, a joint meeting of the NCAA Wrestling Committee and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports resulted in four weight-related rules changes, including the decision to conduct only one weigh-in at championships.

The other changes are: (1) Wrestlers must weigh in at the weight at which they plan to compete in NCAA qualifying tournaments and championships in at least 75 percent of their weigh-ins during the second half of the season; (2) any weigh-in at another weight class may vary only one class from the one desired at the championships; and (3) weight-allowance rules that previously were alterable (by mutual consent of participating coaches) were made unalterable.

Reasons for the change

The committees chose to limit weigh-ins to one per tournament because most health problems associated with cutting weight seemed to occur after the first weigh-in. Eliminate the additional weigh-ins, the committees reasoned, and you eliminate the problem.

Although it remains to be seen if the problem is solved, many in the sport welcome the adjustment -- for varying reasons.

One such group consists of personnel across the country who host or work at collegiate wrestling tournaments. These people retain the option of requiring multiple-day weigh-ins, but are unlikely to do so -- they will forego the unnecessary strain on themselves, their staffs or their facilities.

Better wrestling?

Other benefits will be enjoyed by the wrestling community at large.

Wrestling Committee chair Kevin A. McHugh, who also serves as the director of athletics at the College of New Jersey, thinks the change will improve action on the mat.

"In theory, this should result in better wrestling, because the student-athletes will be well-rested and well-hydrated," he said.

Not only will the competitors be in better shape physically, they will have more time to prepare mentally -- and quit worrying about how much they weigh.

University of Oklahoma coach Jack Spates said he likes the change, both for himself and for the student-athletes.

"We'll spend that extra time relaxing and focusing on the competition," he said. "I think it's great for the wrestlers, who can have time to focus and enjoy what can be one of the greatest experiences of their lives."

Jason Liles, coach at Division II South Dakota State University, said that in addition to creating more excitement, the rule may make elite wrestlers harder to beat.

"When upsets happen, they typically are in the first- or second-round, when (wrestlers) are still thinking about making weight," he said.

Increased coverage

Arizona State University coach Lee Roy Smith believes the sport even may receive better media coverage as a result of the change.

In the past, after early-round victories, wrestlers typically were difficult to interview. They needed to keep moving and keep sweating, so that they could shed weight with less effort.

"The media will have more access this year, which will allow them to promote individual matches better," said Smith, who may be especially sensitive such issues since he is married to Lisa Little-Smith, winner of the 1996 Dellinger Award as wrestling's top writer.

Banquet

Limiting weigh-ins also enables wrestlers to attend banquets that the Wrestling Committee has created in each division to encourage more social interaction between competitors. A high-carbohydrate dinner, such as spaghetti, will be on the menu. Such an event was not appropriate before, when many tourney participants were preoccupied with at least one more day of weigh-ins.

Pennsylvania State University coach John Fritz said he welcomes the idea.

"Sometimes at nationals, there are so many people eating at the same time that it's difficult to get into a restaurant," Fritz said.

Potential abuse

There also were concerns expressed about the reduction of weigh-ins at championships.

One concern is that wrestlers who climb on the scale only once during the championships may then pile on pounds for strength in later rounds. Such gains might compromise the original reason for having weigh-ins -- to maintain fairness.

Oklahoma State University coach John Smith (Lee Roy's younger brother) was a significant opponent of the change when it first was discussed last year. He argued then that such a system could give an unfair advantage to a student-athlete who is able to alter his weight drastically to qualify for a lower weight class, then feed himself back to his normal weight before actual competition. Such a wrestler may be considerably heavier than an opponent who adjusted his weight in a more gradual, safer manner through the season.

The Cowboys' coach has mellowed somewhat on his opinion, given other recent rules changes.

"I think they have come up with a nice policy, as long as it is not abused," he said. "My only disappointment is that there is not a minimum number of matches that you have to make flat weight for."

What the Oklahoma State coach means is that a student-athlete can wrestle once in the second half of the season and make a weight once, then sit out the rest of the second half of the season. Under the new rule, that individual still could be eligible for the championships.

This would create the very problem that the Wrestling Committee was trying to eliminate -- a wrestler could compete in a class that is lower than what is fair or healthy.

The Cowboys' Smith acknowledged that such a practice might carry a built-in deterrent, since such a competitor probably would not be as sharp as someone who had wrestled a full season.

McHugh said he hopes and believes such a situation will happen only rarely, if ever.

"As with virtually any rule, a way can be found to circumvent the intent," he said. "However, I not only hope but expect that the vast majority of coaches and wrestlers will not compromise the moral and ethical implications of this rule by sacrificing the regular-season competitions."

Is an extra few pounds advantageous?

For all the worry about a wrestler outweighing an opponent, scientific evidence suggests it is no advantage.

Two 1994 studies by researcher Craig Horswill of Gatorade in conjunction with the NCAA showed no relationship between extra weight and success. Further, international rules have required only one weigh-in since the 1992 Olympics. None of the problems feared by college coaches have been observed at the international level, according to Lee Roy Smith.

Fritz contends it does not matter who weighs what -- the victor will be the same.

"You can change the rules any way you want, but the winners are still going to win because they are psychologically better," Fritz said.

If the Wrestling Committee can indeed achieve an atmosphere in which the psychologically superior wrestler prevails, it will have made its sport safer with minimal sacrifice.