Wrestling is a competitive sport that includes full body contact. In this sport, there are many necessary weight classes.

“Weight classes were set in to make sure every competitor gets a fair opportunity to win the match,” junior Naila Summers said. To keep the balance between bigger competitors and smaller competitors, weight classes were set in place to keep the match fair and even.

“If there were no weight classes the smaller kids would be outmatched against the bigger kids,”  junior Caleb Roessell said. In wrestling, it is important to maintain your weight to stay in your weight class.

“I haven’t changed anything in my eating habits because I am in the lowest weight class. Being in a lower weight class would help me but there are no lower weight classes,” sophomore Georganna Dowdy said.

If a wrestler were to gain weight and move up a weight class, that would put that athlete at a disadvantage because the athlete would be competing against kids who are bigger than what that person was used to competing.

“Being in a lower weight class would help you gain advantage because you’re going to be used to people who are bigger so in comparison, your competitor would be an easier match,” junior Wallace Canada said. Since the wrestlers have started to wrestle they each have made small changes in their eating styles and eating habits.

“Since I have started to wrestle, I have been eating healthier, drinking more water and I have been exercising more,”  Summers said.

Other wrestlers have changed their eating styles completely in order to stay the same weight.

“I went from eating a lot of carbs for football to eating a lot of protein and more healthy foods,” Canada said.

Although  there are some things wrestlers have been told not to do, most wrestlers have admitted to maintaining their weight in a healthy way.

“[Some of the illegals in wrestling include] Running in plastics, and dehydrating before a match,” Roesell said.

Illegal things in wrestling are things that either make you lose weight faster or maintain weight in an unhealthy way.

“I have heard of some wrestlers [not from this school] not eating or spitting out their spit while eating Jolly Ranchers because your spit weighs a lot,” Dowdy said.

Besides not eating and doing crazy exercises, some wrestlers have gone to the extreme of taking laxatives or starving themselves before matches, which is unhealthy as well.

“If anyone on our team were to do anything unhealthy and coach were to find out he’d be disappointed in us because he wants us to be safe and healthy while doing this,” Summers said.

Though none of the teammates have witnessed any of these illegal actions being done, they have admitted to eating less than their normal food portions.

“I eat 2 eggs in the morning, 4 ounces of chicken for lunch and dinner and I drink a lot of water. I don’t eat as many snacks either,” Roesell said.

In order to prepare for a match, wrestlers will stay hydrated, eat less, and get their mind focused on the match.

“Before the match I don’t eat a lot because I want to feel light when I am wrestling. I also drink a lot of water to stay hydrated,” Summers said.

Some wrestlers would argue that being in a different weight class would not affect the outcome because it is all about the skill of the competitor.

“Being in a different weight class wouldn’t really change anything because if there was a good wrestler in 126 then you would want to stay out of that weight class, but if there is a good wrestler in 120 then you wanna gain some weight to stay out of that weight class,” Roesell said.

Photo caption: Junior Jakob Kennedy uses a hold to gain a point against his Thomas Dale opponent. Kennedy won his match at the home meet on January 5th when the team defeated Dale 42-39. Photo by Chance Thweatt.