The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- November 23, 1998

Wrestling grapples with certification program

New rules cause adjustments in way wrestlers deal with weight management

BY SCOTT E. DEITCH
STAFF WRITER

"The NCAA Wrestling Committee asks each reader, no matter his or her role in the sport of wrestling, to endeavor to ensure that no parent, no school and no team ever has to endure another loss of the type the sport had last season.

"It was in that spirit that the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee invited the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to participate in our April 1998 meeting so that we could combine our expertise and formulate rules that would increase the safety of the sport.

"These rules are the result of considerable input from virtually everyone in the wrestling community, from student-athletes themselves to coaches, doctors, athletic trainers, media and even fans.

"Please follow these rules in both letter and spirit. The sport owes that to the memories of Billy Jack Saylor, Joe LaRosa and Jeff Reese, their families, their teammates, and its own well-being."

-- NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee

The message is the foreword of the 1999 NCAA Wrestling Rules and Interpretations Book. It was included so that the wrestling community understood the rationale behind the NCAA Wrestling Weight Certification Program and other rules put into effect for the 1998-99 season.

In a span of 33 days in late 1997, Saylor, LaRosa and Reese died, in the presence of coaches, while engaging in a program of rapid weight loss to qualify for competition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) review of the three fatalities, the wrestlers were attempting to lose an average of eight pounds over a three- to 12-hour period by wearing rubber suits and exercising vigorously in hot environments. Also, they were attempting to lose the weight after dropping an average of 21 pounds over the previous 10 to 13 weeks.

Eliminating such unsafe weight-loss measures and the incentive to attempt them was one of three guiding principles established by the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports as they formulated appropriate new rules and rules changes. The other principles were that the focus in the sport should be on competition, not weight control, and that recommendations should be practical, effective and enforceable.

"It was both committees' intent to have the student-athletes come to practice and competitions focused on wrestling, not on weight loss," said Mike Moyer, chair of the Wrestling Rules Committee and director of the Patriot Club at George Mason University.

The result of the committees' efforts includes new rules and rules changes in six categories, including the prohibition of dehydration practices such as the use of laxatives, emetics, excessive food and fluid restriction, self-induced vomiting, hot rooms, hot boxes, saunas and steam rooms. In addition, the use of diuretics at any time is prohibited by NCAA legislation for all sports.

Any use of vapor-impermeable suits (for example, rubber or rubberized nylon) and all artificial means of rehydration also are no longer allowed.

"The best thing the competitive-safeguards and wrestling rules committees did to curb dehydration practices was to discontinue the use of saunas and rubber suits," said Jim Thornton, head athletic trainer at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Attempts to dehydrate through the use of elevated temperature in the practice room also were addressed. The practice facility must be kept at a temperature not to exceed 75 degrees Fahrenheit at the start of practice, with every effort made to maintain that limit throughout the workout.

Weight classes changed

Also, after nearly 30 years with only one adjustment, the weight classes in NCAA wrestling were changed. The new classes, measured in pounds, are: 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197, 285.

Before this season, the classes were: 118, 126, 134, 142, 150, 158, 167, 177, 190, 275. The lower nine classes had remained constant since 1969-70; the heavyweight class had been stable since 1986-87, when the 275-pound standard was enacted for safety reasons in place of unlimited weight.

The new weight classes were developed to include an approximately equal number of available high-school seniors in each class, based upon a 1992 study done by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Wrestlers also will have to weigh in with no weight allowances all season. Previously, such allowances, which were reduced as the year progressed, were permitted.

Not only have weight allowances been eliminated, but the time for weigh-ins has been moved as close as possible to the match for each wrestler. Weigh-ins for dual meets will be one hour before the first match, and a random draw will determine which weight class will start the competition.

Having only one hour between weigh-ins and wrestling, in conjunction with the random draw that provides an equal chance for each weight class to compete within the one-hour period, reduces the incentive to dehydrate because there is insufficient time to rehydrate.

For multiple-day tournaments, weigh-ins will be required on each day, rather than the previous rule of having only one weigh-in. The first day's weigh-in will begin two hours before the start of the tournament to accommodate the larger number of competitors. On subsequent days, the weigh-in will start one hour prior to competition.

The order of lowest-to-highest weight classes competing will remain in all tournaments.

"There is some sentiment that if we are going to have the random draw for dual meets, we should do it for tournaments also," said Rande Stottlemyer, head wrestling coach at the University of Pittsburgh and president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). "Logistically, it might be tough, but it might be something to look toward in the future."

Certification program

The new rules that have commanded the most attention of both wrestlers and coaches thus far have been those associated with the NCAA Wrestling Weight Certification Program. The purpose of the certification is to establish a permanent healthy weight class for each wrestler early in the season, eliminating the incentive for severe and rapid weight loss at the end of the season.

During the first seven days of October, each school conducted initial weight assessments of its wrestlers, using body weight, body composition (body fat) and specific gravity of urine (to determine the level of hydration at the time of weighing). A series of calculations then determined each wrestler's minimum wrestling weight for the season.

Wrestlers have the option of modifying their weight as of October 1-7 over the next eight weeks, but no more than 1.5 percent of body weight may be lost per week.

The second component of the certification program will take place during the first week of December. Wrestlers once again will have a weight assessment done, with their body weight determining their lowest possible weight class for the rest of the season. That weight class could not be below the minimum wrestling weight calculated in October.

In addition, should a wrestler compete at a higher weight class than his certified class after December 7, he is not permitted to return to his certified class for the remainder of the season.

"The thrust of the certification program is good in that wrestlers have had to practice proper weight reduction and management a lot earlier in the season than before," Stottlemyer said. "It has been a wake-up call for many of them."

Mixed feedback

Although the new rules and rules changes have been well-received by the wrestling community, they are creating difficulties for coaches and athletic trainers. Stottlemyer anticipates the possibility of more forfeits as a result of wrestlers being committed to a weight class.

"My 174-pounder is a returning all-American, and I had to convince one of six wrestlers who wanted to certify at 184 to drop down to be a reserve at 174," Stottlemyer said. "Now the reserve is hurt and facing surgery, leaving the starter as the only wrestler available at 174.

"Should he get hurt or simply need to take some time off, I have no one to compete at that weight class," Stottlemyer added. "These kinds of situations may occur at many schools."

The burden of performing specific-gravity tests to ensure adequate hydration, taking skinfolds or performing hydrostatic weighing to determine body density and calculating minimum wrestling weights has fallen, in many cases, to athletic training staffs already juggling many tasks.

"It is an incredibly labor-intensive program," Thornton said. "There is a lot of work involved, and most coaches, and some athletic trainers, are nervous about taking body-density measurements."

Thornton contributed to the development of computer software that performs the necessary calculations after the appropriate data are entered and prints the certification forms. The NWCA authorized the production of the software and distributed it to all senior and junior colleges that sponsor wrestling.

"Getting the software to all schools was an excellent move by the NWCA," said Thornton. "Those coaches and athletic trainers who used it found that it helped them tremendously."

Spreading the word

The new rules and rules changes are causing major adjustments in the way wrestlers deal with weight management. "We're trying to change generations of philosophy in this regard," Stottlemyer said.

Consequently, educating coaches about the new procedures was a primary focus of this year's rules-clinic satellite telecast and in-person clinics. All members of wrestling coaching staffs for all divisions were required either to attend an in-person clinic or view the satellite telecast. Previously, such a requirement was made of just one member from each Division I coaching staff. Before this year, attendance at a clinic or viewing the satellite telecast was only recommended for Divisions II and III coaches.

Along with the information provided at the rules clinics, coaches and wrestlers can refer to guidelines from the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook on Weight Loss-Hypodration, Nutritional Ergogenic Aids, Prevention of Heat Illness and Assessment of Body Composition that were added as appendices to the wrestling rules book.

All coaches, including volunteers, also are required to be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) annually by the date of the first practice. They must be certified in basic first aid once every three years.

"There has been an emphasis on educating coaches and wrestlers throughout this process," said Moyer. "It is our hope that coaches would encourage their wrestlers to develop sound, lifelong nutritional practices."

While Stottlemyer believes some of the details involved with the new rules and rules changes need to be reviewed after the season, he agrees that the issues of weight loss and weight management will never be the same.

"As with any program in its infancy, there is some fine tuning that needs to be done," he said. "The philosophy behind the rules, however, is etched in stone."

Guiding principles

The three guiding principles established by the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports: