High School Wrestling Rules

New weights for 10 wrestling classes

CINCINNATI In what is being called the most significant change in high school wrestling weight classes in 23 years, the Ohio High School Athletic Association will adopt the national standard for 10 new weight classes this upcoming school year.

The National Federation of State High School Association Wrestling Rules Committee approved the change in its April meeting in Indianapolis. It begins with an upward shift of the weight classes beginning with the 103-pound class moving to 106 pounds. There are new weights for 10 of the 14 classes.

OHSAA spokesman Tim Stried said the weight classes are what has been deemed the most suitable for today’s bigger high school wrestler. He said the change should prevent many forfeits which often occur in the lighter classes. The NFHS said it conducted studies over the course of about three to four years based on data that was analyzed from almost 200,000 wrestlers across the country.

Stried said he’s heard mixed feedback; he understands not all coaches will like the new classification, but he said it’s the first time data has been available for such an analysis to study and make the weight classes “based on real results not just theories or suggestions.”

The 14 weight classes approved for this upcoming season include 106 pounds, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285. The three middle weight classes – 145, 152 and 160 – and the largest weight class (285) went unchanged.

Moeller coach Jeff Gaier said he likes that the weight class separations have fewer large gaps and are more consistent. He likes the jump from 103 to 106 in that the gap to the next weight (113) is now only seven pounds instead of nine (was previously 103 to 112). He said the upper weights could encourage more football players to wrestle.

But Gaier said a drawback is a reduction in middle weights from four (130, 135, 140, 145) to three (132, 138, 145); it could affect the number of wrestlers participating in those affected classes, which could give an advantage to large school programs.

In 2002, the number of classes went from 13 to 14 and the 215-pound class became mandatory. In 2006, the 275-pound class increased to 285. The last wholesale shift in weight was in 1988 when the lowest weight class was increased from 98 to 103 pounds.

Area teams are allowed to begin practice on Nov. 11. The season starts Dec. 2.

How to condition for high school wrestling? | Summer Olympics

Learn and practice the correct stance. Stand with knees bent and weight on the balls of the feet. Your body should be slightly forward. Your elbows should be in and your hands up in front of you both to block and to attack. Practice lowering your level and moving forward, again using the balls of the feet; this is the penetration step needed for takedowns.

Find a good wrestling partner. There is a saying in wrestling: “Champions come in pairs.” You need someone of roughly similar weight who will work out hard, push you and make you push back.

Learn and practice two good takedowns–for instance, double leg and ankle pick. In a double leg, lower your level, take a penetrating step into your opponent, driving your head into his gut, while bringing your hands behind your opponent’s knees or legs and pulling them in and up, thus knocking your opponent off his feet.

Drill the takedowns dozens of times each practice, sometimes with your opponent resisting you at 50 to 75 percent, so you can see how the move works, and sometimes practicing “live” at 100 percent.

Master the counters to “your” moves. For instance, a typical counter to a double leg is to sprawl, where your opponent will push his legs back away from you, while blocking your arms and pushing down on your head.

Learn and drill two good escapes for when you are in a defensive or “down“ position. A basic escape is a stand-up. Keep your elbows in, to make it harder for the top man to chop your arm and flatten you out. In a stand-up, you must quickly get hand control and come to your feet, driving your weight into your opponent. If you try to come up leaning forward, it will be easy for your opponent to force you back to the mat.

Practice the basic moves hundreds of times to gain “muscle memory,” which is when your body instinctively does the move correctly. You can drill without a partner, practicing placement of hands and limbs and quickness of movement.

The main objective in a wrestling match is to hold down both of the other wrestler’s shoulders to the mat for two seconds, which is known as a pin. If one wrestler is pinned, the other wrestler is deemed victorious.

However, there are many wrestling matches where neither wrestler is able to pin their opponent. There are high school wrestling rules for dealing with these types of matches, which operate on a scoring system.

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