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Miamisburg High
School senior Shawn Fayette knows a lot about the sport
of wrestling.
The defending Division I state champ at 130 pounds, he
knows there are two certainties: Wrestlers will cut
weight, and it would be great not to.
“You got to cut weight to be successful,” said Fayette,
who’ll compete at 135 this season. “I would love nothing
more than to wrestle my actual weight, but if I did that
I would be at 171.”
After getting up to 167 over the summer, Fayette was
within a couple of pounds of the target weight by
preseason. The reason for the quick descent?
In 2006, the Ohio High School Athletic Association
adopted a weight management program — based on
participants being hydrated — to establish an “alpha
weight” that marks the lowest weight a wrestler can make
by the end of the season without going below 7 percent
body fat.
Prior to then, weight certification took place in
mid-January and wrestlers had to participate in half of
their matches at the weight they were going to compete
in during the postseason.
The process involves several factors, beginning with a
urine test to determine if a wrestler is properly
hydrated. Fail that and wrestlers have to wait 48 hours
for another attempt.
“It is something that can stress you out,” said
Miamisburg’s Luke Williamson. “You can work to make
weight and then not be hydrated. Then, you have to go
back and do that work all over again.
“It is nerve wracking.”
Making weight
Once the hydration test is passed, wrestlers are weighed
and a certified assessor uses skin calipers to measure
body fat. All of those numbers are placed into a
computer to determine the alpha weight. Wrestlers cannot
be less than 7 percent body fat — 12 percent for girls —
and are allowed to lose just 1.5 percent of their weight
per week until they reach their alpha weight.
“Wrestling is taking the lead to make it more safe for
kids,” Fairmont wrestling coach Frank Baxter said. “We
are the only sport taking something from sports science
and making it mandatory. We are cutting edge.”
“In wrestling, it is the worst thing we have to deal
with,” Centerville coach Alan Bair said. “People think
of cutting weight, kids spitting into bottles and
working out in plastic bags — it gives the sport a bad
reputation.”
National and state associations addressed that in the
late 1990s when collegians Billy Saylor (Campbell,
N.C.), Joseph LaRosa (Wisconsin-LaCrosse) and Jeff Reese
(Michigan) all died while cutting weight.
Further testing revealed they were also using a new
supplement for that time, creatine.
“Wrestlers have been losing weight for at least 100
years,” says Miamisburg coach Willie Wineberg. “There
were no deaths,that I know of, until the ones in the
late 1990s. What was the difference? At that time,
creatine became the big supplement. Creatine retains
water.
“Guys trying to lose water weight using a supplement
that retains water — hmmm.”
Being hydrated
Fayette’s testing ordeal was not unusual. He cut under
135, drank four bottles of water, worked out, drank more
water to get back to 135, floated some weight over night
and drank more water before the testing.
“I hated it,” Fayette said. “I don’t think I can depend
on numbers. I hate to think I could go in at 145 and
then hope they pinch me well so I can get to weight in
time for when I want to be there.
“If they are trying to eliminate cutting weight, it is
not happening. It just makes you cut more weight earlier
so you are under weight when you test.”
Fairmont’s returning state placer, Jake Sage, took a
more deliberate route. He can wrestle 130 at the end of
the season, but is starting at 152 as he works his
weight down.
“I got big over the summer, so I am going to drop weight
slowly and hope it works out better for me health-wise,”
Sage said. “I have cut weight quick and cramped up a
lot, so I am hoping this will help me feel better as I
drop. I will be at weight when it counts.”
And, Sage admits, he may not cut all the way down to
130.
“I am going to go wherever I feel I can wrestle the best
at,” Sage said. “I worked out hard over the summer and I
feel a lot better this year.
“I am worried about state. I don’t want to lose before
that, but I want to be wrestling — and feeling good — at
the end of the season.”
Centerville’s returning state placer, Nick Miller,
hasn’t completed hydration yet. After playing football
at 240, Miller is working his way down (he wrestled at
189 last season). As long as he hydrates by the end of
January, he is fine — however he can’t compete until he
tests.
Bair is quick to point out that former Elks stars Angelo
Mauro and Vince Datillo did not cut weight in the
seasons they placed at state.
“Those guys were both upper-weight kids, but they didn’t
cut any weight,” Bair said. “Some are going to cut no
matter what.
“I cut weight hard one year in college and it was a long
season. I wonder, now, if there is some type of
long-term effects for a kid that wrestles in high school
and college. It is a long season to cut weight hard year
after year.”
Pros and cons
A major plus after early testing is lineups are set.
Also, it prohibits someone who might have otherwise lost
weight to an unhealthy level.
“I tell our kids we want wrestlers, not weight cutters,”
Vandalia Butler coach Mark Peck says. “You test and
that’s it. It has probably made things a lot better.
“There are some kids doing things the right way to get
to weight and there are going to be some kids who are
not going to listen. But I don’t think they are cutting
the weight they used to.”
“Guys who want to get to a certain weight class to
obtain their goals are going to find a way to get
there,” Troy Christian coach Steve Goudy said. “There is
nothing wrong with cutting weight if you do it right.
“I learned a lot of life lessons cutting weight. You
learn a lot of discipline. You learn about yourself,
your intestinal fortitude and training your mind. Life
is all about balances.”
Coaches have learned how to help wrestlers figure out
this process, now in its fourth year.
At Miamisburg, Wineberg uses nutritional education along
with a rule that wrestlers are not allowed to be more
than five pounds over with a full week of practice
ahead. At Butler, Peck also has the five-pound rule when
for wrestle-offs. Goudy requires Eagle wrestlers to be
within seven pounds on Monday and five on Tuesday.
“It keeps them within striking distance,” Goudy said.
“If we have a kid over weight, the entire team runs a
sprint for each tenth of a pound over someone is. It
doesn’t take long for them to realize the team is not
happy.
“But, once the body levels out, then there are no
problems.”
Fayette has found a balance for all that weight
training.
“I think if you work hard, you should get the goodies
(be able to eat a little more once a week),” Fayette
said. “As long as you are working hard and burning off
the calories, it’s OK to have one day like that during
the season.”
OHSAA testing
Minimum (alpha) weight based on 7 percent body
fat for males and 12 percent for females. Includes
hydration testing of urine, weigh-in and body fat taken
by skin calipers, all by certified assessors.
No wrestling below 7 percent of test result;
minimum of two schools must be present for assessment.
Testing from Nov. 18 to Jan. 26.
A reading of 1.025 or less is required to pass
the hydration test. If a wrestler fails, he must wait 48
hours to test again.
At weigh-in, a half pound is added to allow for
clothing followed by a body fat test by skin calipers.
Anyone below 7 percent at the time of the assessment
cannot drop below alpha weight.
Once the alpha weight is determined, there is a
weight loss limit of 1.5 percent of the alpha weight per
week.
Wrestlers must compete in at least one match at
scratch weight before utilizing the two-pound growth
allowance which kicks in Dec. 25.
There are 14 days to appeal test results, but may
only appeal once and must pay for a second testing,
about $75.
Anyone caught cheating will be suspended for one
year. Coaches who know about cheating — or who are
encouraging it — will also face OHSAA consequences.
Contact this writer at ksjcummings@sbcglobal.net.
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