InterMat thought now might be time to grapple with this weighty issue ... by presenting arguments for and against expanding from ten to eleven weight classes in college, as well as exploring the contrary idea of reducing to nine weights. These seemingly conflicting ideas have been a point of discussion in online wrestling forums and wherever college mat fans gather.
First, let's provide some perspective, by taking a look at some historical issues that might have some implications in any discussion in reconfiguring college wrestling weight classes.
Weight Class History 101
The National Collegiate Athletic Association hosted its first national college wrestling championship at Iowa State in 1928. For the first two years, the NCAA wrestling championships had just seven weight classes: 115, 125, 135, 145, 158, 175 pounds, and heavyweight (which, until the 1980s, was actually called "unlimited" with no top weight limit). In the years from 1930 to World War II, the number of weight classes at NCAA championships fluctuated between seven and eight. In the years that had eight weight classes, the rejiggering was in the middle weights, changing the 158-pound weight class down to 155, and inserting a new weight, 165, while maintaining the previous range from 115 to unlimited through the 1942 NCAAs.
There were no NCAA wrestling championships from 1943 through 1945 because most college-age men were serving in the military or support functions during World War II. In the years immediately after the conclusion of the war, the NCAA continued to have eight weight classes, but made adjustments in the lower weights. The new weight-class structure: 121, 128, 136, 145, 155, 155, 165, 175 and heavyweight. In 1952, the NCAA adopted a ten-weight class structure for its national mat championships, expanding to include brackets at 115, 123, 130, 137, 147, 157, 167, 177, 191 and heavyweight. (For most other college wrestling events such as dual meets, tournaments and conference championships, there was no competition at 115 or 191 pounds.) In 1970, the NCAA tinkered with its ten weight classes to make them 118, 126, 134, 142, 150, 158, 167, 177, 190 and heavyweight ... with these now being incorporated at all college wrestling events, not just at the NCAA championships.
In the past 45 years, the NCAA weight-class structure has remained fairly consistent, with two notable changes. In 1987, the NCAA changed what had been the unlimited weight class -- better known as heavyweight -- to impose a 275-pound upper limit, which was increased to 285 a decade later. In 1999, today's weight class structure was implemented, with competition at 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 177, 184, 197, and 285 pounds.
Another old-school element: "Weight-shifting"
These days, most college wrestling programs have a designated starter in each of the ten weight classes. Barring injury, once you've earned your role as the 141-pound starter, for example, you pretty much wrestle all your matches at that weight. However, in decades past, there wasn't that degree of stability or certainty for even the best wrestlers. Frequent wrestle-offs and coach strategizing meant that wrestlers at many programs were expected to be flexible in terms of what weight class they competed in for a given event.
Weekly wrestle-offs -- called "ranking matches" at some schools -- were used to determine who would have the honor of, say, wrestling at 141 that weekend. The wrestler who lost the 141 wrestle-off then might challenge for the next weight class up or down. For schools blessed with an abundance of mat talent, this could cause its own set of problems. For instance, during the 1961 season, Oklahoma State -- arguably the pre-eminent program of that era -- had four great upper-middleweights in Bruce Campbell, Ronnie Clinton, Bob Johnson and Phil Kinyon. This quartet of Cowboys would battle it out in frequent ranking matches to determine who would be the starters during the regular season at 157, 167 and 177 pounds. Things had a way of sorting themselves out; all four earned All-American honors at the 1961 NCAAs, with Kinyon and Johnson winning titles at 157 and 177 pounds, respectively, while Campbell was runner-up at 167, and Clinton placing third at 191 (back then, a weight class only wrestled at the NCAAs).
Gary KurdelmeierLet's be clear: Kurdelmeier taking on fellow 177-pounders one week, then tussling with guys who were 40-50 pounds heavier (Roesler and Norman were "lighter" heavyweights in the 218-230-pound range) was not a situation unique to Kurdelmeier or the Iowa Hawkeyes in the late 1950s. Having wrestlers compete at various weight classes throughout the season -- or consistently wrestling in one weight class for dual meets, then competing in a completely different weight class at the NCAAs -- was fairly common at most schools for much of college wrestling history ... and it wasn't always the coach's doing. There are reports of wrestlers at tournament weigh-ins waiting to see which weight class a feared opponent would be wrestling ... then choosing a different bracket to avoid the possibility to having to meet that man on the mat. At the opposite extreme, there's the case of Larry Owings at the 1970 NCAAs. The University of Washington sophomore dropped two weight classes from what he had wrestled during the regular season, telling Chicago reporters -- and a sportscaster for ABC Wide World of Sports, which would be showing the finals on a tape-delay basis -- that he had made the move with the expectation of defeating then unbeaten Dan Gable of Iowa State. In that case, Owings' extreme weight-class change was his own decision which earned him a place in the history books for his role in what most mat historians consider to be the greatest upset in college wrestling.
These issues of wrestlers changing weights during the season -- sometimes, week to week, whether because of wrestle-offs, or coach's strategy, or a wrestler's own decision to avoid or seek out a particular opponent -- have largely gone away. Rules and attitudes were upended nearly two decades ago after the deaths of three college wrestlers while taking extreme measures to make weight.
Can college use high school weight classes as a model?
Some individuals who are seeking an additional weight class in college cite the present weight-class structure used in high school competition as a possible model in terms of an increase in the number of weight classes ... and an increase in the actual weights which make up weight classes used in most states for wrestling in secondary schools.
A quick survey of historical records in a number of states that would be considered "wrestling hotbeds" indicate a progression in number of weight classes, as well as the actual "poundage" in each weight class since most states launched state wrestling championships in the 1930s and 40s. Back then, the lightest weight class in most of the states surveyed was 95 pounds ... with a few states having an 85-pound weight class 70-80 years ago. At the top end of the scale, so to speak, the two heftiest weight classes of that era in most states were 175 pounds and what was called heavyweight ... though, for a time in Ohio, the top weight class was 186 pounds. In the era around World War II, most of the states surveyed had nine or ten weight classes contested at their state wrestling championships.
In more recent times, the National Federation of State High School Associations has made some adjustments to its weight classes, presumably with the idea of providing more opportunities for student-athletes to compete in wrestling ... and to accommodate students who have grown heftier over the years. In 2002, the NFHS expanded the number of classes from 13 to today's 14 by making the 215-pound weight class mandatory. In addition, to accommodate the increasing size/weight of young people over the years, the NFHS has reconfigured its weight-class structure. For instance, in 2011, the NFHS bumped up the lightest weight class from 103 pounds to 106. The official weight classes for high school competition are now 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285. According to the organization's announcement of the new weight-class structure for high schools, "Three middle weight classes -- 145, 152 and 160 -- were retained, although they are 7-8-9 in order now rather than 8-9-10. The largest weight class (285 pounds) remains unchanged as well."
These changes weren't made on a whim, or gut instinct, but careful analysis, according to the 2011 NFHS announcement. "The change in weight classes resulted from a three-to-four year process utilizing data from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Optimal Performance Calculator," said Dale Pleimann, chair of the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee and former assistant executive director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. "The rules committee was able to analyze data from almost 200,000 wrestlers across the country, with the goal to create weight classes that have approximately seven percent of the wrestlers in each weight class." In other words, as close as an equal number of wrestlers in each weight class.
Despite analysis of the data, there appears to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that, for some high schools, there may be too many weight classes ... or, perhaps, one too many at the lighter end of the scale. Hardly a week goes by that there are reports of forfeits at high school dual meets, especially in lighter weight classes. That may be because young athletes are bigger than their fathers and grandfathers, thanks to more weight training, more effective workouts, and better nutritional guidance ... an idea borne out from weight classes being revised upwards at both the high school and collegiate level over a number of decades.
How big were the big men of college wrestling?
It's probably safe to say that most fans in favor of adding an eleventh weight class to college wrestling seek to add an upper weight -- somewhere between the present 197 pounds and heavyweight (285), perhaps at 220 or 230 pounds. Is there any historical evidence to back up this thinking?
When the NCAA put an upper weight limit on what had been the unlimited weight class nearly thirty years ago, it would be easy to imagine that today's younger fans would assume that the heavyweight class of years past was overpopulated with mammoth-sized men. Looking at the actual weights of NCAA Division I heavyweight champs in the pre-1987 era, this does not appear to be the case. Prior to the 275/285 top weight limit, only a handful of NCAA heavyweight champs tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds; two titlewinners -- Iowa State's Chris Taylor in the early 1970s, and North Carolina State's Tab Thacker in the mid-1980s -- weighed in at more than 400 pounds. That said, there were some matches where one opponent was half the weight of his rival ... which seemed contrary to the notion of the inherit fairness of amateur wrestling in that it pits athletes of similar size and weight.
In past research, this writer has uncovered the actual reported weights for NCAA D1 heavyweight champs from two different eras: 1928-1960, and those crowned since 2000. In the era prior to 1960, most titlewinners in what was then called "unlimited" were, by today's standards, not all that heavy. Actual weights of the best big men of college wrestling from 55-85 years ago ranged from 190 pounds (Indiana's Charles McDaniel, two-time heavyweight champ in the 1930s) on up to four champs who tipped the scales at 240-245 pounds. The one exception was Ohio State's George Bollas, 1946 NCAA heavyweight champ, who dwarfed most other old-school heavyweight champs. As the first supersized heavyweight, the big Buckeye Bollas, known as "The Dreadnaught" (as in "giant ship") and "The Zebra Kid" (for the stretch marks on his body), weighed 325 pounds.
Fast forward to the 21st century. The heavyweight champs crowned since 2000 would appear to fall into two distinct categories. There are those who tipped the scales in the upper range of the weight class -- between 260 and 285 pounds -- including Brock Lesnar, John Lockhart, Steve Mocco, Cole Konrad, Dustin Fox, and Zach Rey ... and those who weighed in somewhat lighter, in the 220-245 pound range, including Tommy Rowlands, Mark Ellis, David Zabriskie, Tony Nelson, and Nick Gwiazdowski. Those who argue for an additional weight class between 197 and 285 could make their case by citing these names as an indicator that there's plenty of championship-quality talent at both 220 (or so) and at 285.
Reasons for adding a weight class in college
Fans who are in favor of increasing the number of weight classes in NCAA college wrestling from today's ten up to eleven cite various reasons. Here are some of them.
Opening opportunities for more student-athletes to compete
There may well be student-athletes of a certain size -- those just north of 200 pounds, but well shy of the top limit of 285 pounds -- who would want to wrestle in college, but feel they might be at a distinct disadvantage to take to the mat against opponents who may outweigh them by 50-85 pounds. This may be especially true for wrestlers who have competed at 220 in high school, and may not want to cut weight down to 197, or bulk up to be more evenly matched against the biggest of the big boys of college wrestling.
Some proponents of inserting a new weight class between today's 197 and 285 cite a specific group of student-athletes who may find new opportunities for participating in college wrestling if there were a weight class at 220 pounds (or similar): football players. There may be hundreds or thousands of agile gridiron stars who would love to participate in a winter sport once football season is over ... but again feel that they can't cut down or bulk up to today's existing two top weight classes in collegiate wrestling.
It's interesting to note that at least three participants at Super Bowl XLIX -- Josh Kline of the New England Patriots, and R.J. Sweezy and Justin Britt of the Seattle Seahawks -- each won a state wrestling title as heavyweights in high school, in addition to playing football. Despite their prep on-the-mat accomplishments, when they went off to college, all three hung up their headgear but held onto their football helmets, choosing not to wrestle beyond high school. Realize that each of these three high school grapplers/gridiron heroes chose colleges that offer Division I wrestling in addition to football: Kline, a graduate of Mason High School in Ohio, went to Kent State ... Britt, a Missouri state mat champ from Lebanon High, played football for the Mizzou Tigers ... and Sweezy, who wrestled at Mooresville High in North Carolina, was a member of the North Carolina State Wolfpack football team. In researching these three Super Bowl athletes for a photo-feature for the news service College Wrestling Examiner, I was not able to find out their actual high school weights ... other than a reference that Sweezy typically gave up 50 pounds on his high school mat rivals. (Today, each of these NFL stars weighs in between 295-325 pounds.)
Continuing the football-and-wrestling discussion ... some who have recommended adding a new weight class in the 220-235-pound range would also seek to bump up the top weight limit for heavyweights up to 300 pounds ... opening the door for some of the truly big men of college football to consider bringing that size, athletic talent -- not to mention celebrity and name recognition as football stars -- to the wrestling mat.
A matter of fairness
Tab ThackerThe days of one heavyweight tipping the scales at twice the weight of an opponent in the same weight class -- as shown in the classic early 1980s photo of 218-pound Lou Banach of Iowa tangling with 450-pound Tab Thacker of North Carolina State -- are history, thanks to installing a top weight limit. That said, it's still possible to have a sizable weight difference. (By the way, Banach pinned Thacker in the quarterfinals of the 1982 NCAAs.)
This was borne out in 2010, when the NCAA did something unusual at the time: it made available the actual initial weigh-in weights for the 33 wrestlers competing in the 285-pound weight class. The NCAA reported that the actual weights ranged from 223.6 pounds for Nathan Everhart of Indiana University, all the way up to 270.4 pounds for Christian Brantley of University of Northern Iowa. That's a nearly 48-pound differential between Everhart and Brantley. (Three other wrestlers weighed in within two pounds of Brantley ... yet all weighed 15 pounds or less than the top limit of 285.)
While the range between lightest and heftiest of the heavyweights at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships was nearly 50 pounds, the difference in weight between the two heavyweight finalists in 2010 was hardly worth noting. According to the NCAA, the 2010 heavyweight champ, David Zabriskie of Iowa State, tipped the scales at 228.2 pounds, while his finals rival, Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt, weighed in at 229.8... a mere 1 1/2-pound differential. So, in this case, the two Big 12 big men vying for the 2010 heavyweight crown were very evenly matched, weight-wise. And ... 55 pounds lighter than the top limit.
Others have already added a lower-upper weight class
We already mentioned that the National Federation of State High School Associations had mandated the addition of a 220-pound weight class for high school wrestling. At least one non-NCAA collegiate athletic association -- the NCWA (National Collegiate Wrestling Association) -- has added a 235-pound weight class for its member wrestling programs. One could argue that if adding a weight class at 220 or 235 has worked in high school and at least one college wrestling organization, why wouldn't it work in the three NCAA divisions?
Eleven weight classes = a tidier tiebreaker
These days, with ten weight classes, it's all too easy for a typical college dual meet to end with the team scores all knotted up after each team has won five matches ... thus having to rely on criteria to determine the winning team, a point of frustration for many wrestlers, coaches and fans. Some who argue for adding an eleventh weight class point out that it would be nearly impossible for a dual meet to end in a tie ... thus eliminating the need for determining a winner based on some seemingly obscure criteria.
On a similar note ... some proponents of an eleventh weight class have said that, assuming there would be no change in the number of wrestlers eligible to compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships -- 330 -- that, with a revision, each of the eleven weight classes would have a neat-and-tidy 30 wrestlers, not 33 as today, which then requires pigtail matches and byes to even things out, so to speak.
Arguments for reducing to nine weight classes
Others within the wrestling community argue that some of the benefits of adding a weight class could be achieved by eliminating a weight class ... and moving from ten down to nine. For example, the tiebreaker argument would work here (though it's more of a challenge to divide 330 wrestlers at the NCAA Division I championships into nine weight classes and not come up with a remainder). One could argue that nine weight classes is a bit closer to the six weight classes in each wrestling group (Greco-Roman, men's freestyle, women's freestyle) in international competition. And, more than one person has pointed out that, in today's environment with shrinking budgets and uncertainty generated by NCAA autonomy, if anything, college wrestling programs should be looking at solutions to reduce costs and preserve their place on college sports rosters, rather than propose potentially costly expansions such as adding an eleventh weight class. At bare minimum, nine weight classes might be a more prudent use of limited resources.
Or ... reconfigure today's ten weight classes
Perhaps another solution might be to stick with the present ten weight-class system, but reconfigure it so that it can answer some of the issues raised by those proposing an increase to eleven weight classes. A trio of options was proposed at TheMat.com college forum. One would be to rejigger today's weight classes to add a light-heavyweight weight -- for example, 125 pounds, 133, 141, 150, 160, 172, 184, 197, 220 and heavyweight. Or, consider eliminating the 125-pound weight class, transferring it to 220 or 230. Yet another: Keep the existing weight classes, but increase the light-heavyweight weight class from 197 up to 220.
A weighty matter, worth careful consideration
Any proposal to take a new look at the existing weight-class structure in NCAA college wrestling -- whether to add an eleventh weight class, reduce to nine, or reconfigure the existing ten weight classes -- is worth considering ... and should not be immediately dismissed with a "we've done it this way for decades, why change now?" That said, any decision to make revisions must be thoroughly researched and based on analytical analysis (as it appears to have been done when the NFHS added a fourteenth weight class earlier this decade), and that all segments of the wrestling community -- athletes, coaches, fans and officials -- be involved in the discussion.
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