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SB weight contraction; They dropped from the wrong end
Topic Started: Apr 28 2008, 02:50 PM (846 Views)
heavyweightdad
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Fantastic
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USA wrestling dropped 2 weight classes (SB division) from the bottom end this year. Based on numbers registered, number of FF at last years SB duals, kids at Natl tourneys in general, they contracted from the wrong end.!
Currently, as of today, MN has 41 wrestlers registered in the bottom 4 weights combined. (FS numbers)
MN has 6 kids registered in the top 4 weights combined (FS numbers) and ZERO kids at 235.
That is 2 FF for our SB teams at 235...

Hopefully, USA wrestling will not due any more contractions from any age groups!
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flounder
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The coaches recruited outside of particapants in the freestyle and greco tourney last year, and I'm sure they will again this year.
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badboy
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Some mighty good cutting going on here in the lower SB and cadet weights-geez it's FS let'em have fun-yikes
Weighin for both styles might be a good idea
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hockeymom
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I think weighing in for both styles should be required. I know some poeple ONLY wrestling greco so they can weigh in sooner...
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heavyweightdad
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Interesting facts:
Total registered for Northern Plains: as of 6/3/08
Bottom 4 weights combined (70,77,84,91) 43 kids
Next 4 weights combined (98, 105, 112, 120) 53 kids
Next 5 weights combined (odd number, 128,136,144,152,160) 42 kids
....one extra weight class, and less than bottom 4
Top 4 weights combined (175,190, 210, 235) 8 kids
ZERO in top 2 weight classes.
16 in bottom 2 weight classes.

I, for the life of me, can't figure out why they contracted 2 weight classes from the bottom, based on these numbers. And you can do similar studies with Natl tourneys and all the other regionals and come up with very similar statistics.
This is 12-14 year olds, not grown men!

I have heard they are thinking of doing the exact same thing for cadets, possibly next year....only potentially worse, dropping the bottom weight class completely.
Again, there are less overall kids on top weights in every age group than the bottom, yet when they decide to contract, only the light weights are on the chopping block, why is this?
The lightest weight kids can ONLY compete in USA, too small for HS. Why would USA wrestling take opps away from kids?...who knows WHO will be the next olympic hopeful, it could be a big kid or small...don't retract from the 2 ends....
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Sharkey
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I imagine you contacted the local people at USA Wrestling before spouting off here. What did they say? I'd be interested in what they said. Communications is the key. The more we talk, the more we understand.

Decisions like these are made by people who love wrestling and volunteer thousands of hours to our sport. Give them a call. If they refuse to talk to you or you don't like the answers you get, come on here and blast away at them using the reasons they give you. Communications is the key. The more we talk, the more we understand.
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heavyweightdad
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What makes you think I haven't contacted USA wrestling? OF COURSE I Have...
what they said was a 7 lb spread at this age was more in line with Cadets and Juniors, but these are not Cadets or Juniors...and if you have ever walked in a 7th grade classroom, the weight range is far greater than 9th graders or 11th graders overall, also, some 7ths have gone thru puberty others haven't, another huge disparity...They said they went strictly on weight increments.

Remember, it was my son (and coach) who were the only ones who showed up at the 4/1 board meeting to plead to keep 14 weight classes... so quit accusing me of not contacting the correct people, of course that has been done.
The statistics do not lie. I am baffled at where (weight class wise) they did what they did, and their answer to drop 2 weights did make sence potentially, based on overall numbers, but they didn't take actual numbers of 12-14 year olds participants and actual average weight if this age group. They contracted in the wrong place. Look at School Boy Duals. There is more FF in the top two weights every single year than any other weight class. And all states have to do is find 1-2 235's and they can't...throughout the entire state...

Now they want to do the same thing to Cadets (14-16 year olds), and it is the same thing there, more FF top weight than bottom...which is why the topic is up for a discussion on a forum, it affects a ton more people than who will be at what weight next Nov. for HS A B and C! Whether Johnny is at 125 or 130, he is still wrestling...
this topic, eliminates opportunities for small wrestlers.

They should drop 2 more SB weights. 210 and 235. (based on participation numbers) It isn't about the AMOUNT of weight classes, it is where the actual kids are falling weight wise, and tourney after tourney they are bottom heavier and top 2 have zero to very few kids, consistantly. How would the kids on the top end feel about this?
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Tiny Tornado
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Sharkey,
this will year #2 with the same ol story.....we've heard it all before, and nothing will be changed. It was a decision made at a NATIONAL meeting of wrestling people from across the NATION. some people just need to get over it....
schoolboys have 17 weights...how many do the others have ?
so if they still had the two theat were contracted, then how many WOULD they have had - 19 ?

again - how many weights do the other groups have ?
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goTigersgo
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Bantam-9
Midget-13
Novice-15
Schoolboy-17
Cadet-17

My son is one of the big kids. USA wrestling allows people to enter these tourneys and advance to the next level no matter what their results are. With the exception of the duel/elite teams I guess I don't see where the oppertunity is being taken away.
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wrestlingmom2007
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My son is one of the "big" kids. He attended the duels last year. I don't think eliminating those weights is the answer. We attended a couple of the tournaments early in the year and kept missing the few other "big" kids, so we decieded not to travel to the tournaments. We live 2-3 hours from the cities. He is a cadet this year and he had full brackets this year. The "big" kids are out there, but most likely don't attend the tournaments as much as the rest, due to low numbers. But eliminating the weight class means that they won't even have a chance to wrestle at all. These are the wrestler's that wrestle 215 and heavy weight for Varsity. If they are not able to wrestle when they are younger you may have a hard time keeping them until they are able to wrestle. Something to think about.
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heavyweightdad
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Exactly...when it affects your child, you fight.
We never hear from the parents of the big kids when they drop light weights, because it doesn't affect them. Keep in mind, the big kids always have a place to wrestle, they are big enough in grade 7 to wrestle JV/V/9th grade team, and the kids under 100 lbs have USA wrestling as a competitive venue, and thats it. No HS wrestling, some 9-10th graders are barely big enough. Something big kids never have to worry about. They also have football, which many small kids are forced to give up as well, due to safety issues. Wrestling is the ONLY contact sport small kids can compete in, and potentially excell.
They should keep the top and bottom weight classes for EVERY level, no matter what they decide to contract. USA/HS wrestling whatever. (It isn't about the contraction, I understand that when numbers drop, weight classes have to go, its about where they contracted) They always seem to contract from the bottom where there are MORE participants. When they decide they need to reduce for whatever reason, they should contract from where there are less participants, not more. (Look at above stats)
And yes, tell the 6 kids that weigh 77-105 that would be going to Indiana on the SB duals team, that are staying home this year, as a direct result of contracting 2 weights from between that range...it does affect kids...

Also, had they contracted from the top, and spread that out more, there would have been more kids to wrestle on upper weights (in each bracket), which would have encouraged more big kids to go to tourneys, and strengthened our top end.
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goTigersgo
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I've been looking at a side by side comparison of the schoolboy weights from last year and this year, and I think that you could make a case for different weights that got contracted.

last yr-this yr.
70-70
75-77
80-
85-84
90-91
95-
100-98
105-105
110-112
115-
120-120
130-128
145-144
-152
-160
165-
-175
185-180
205-210
225-235
250-


Seems to me if I wanted to argue that they took away 2 weights above 160 I would have a case. As heavyweightmom said, you fight for your own kids.
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