Rule Changes in Wrestling...
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THE CHOPS
- Official BleacherCoach
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- Joined: October 24th, 2003, 10:42 am
- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
Rule Changes in Wrestling...
New procedures drive some crazy
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Wrestling never knows quite when to say no when it comes to tinkering with rules or weight-loss procedures, and this year those in charge of legislating for the greater good of the sport struck the mother lode.
This year is the first that schools are required to follow the PIAA Weight Control Program, one adopted almost wholesale from National Wrestling Coaches Association guidelines.
There is a lot of science involved that requires more space than available here to explain all of the details of the program, but it boils down to this.
All wrestlers must submit to a weight and body-fat assessment, conducted by trained assessors (the PIAA has between 400 and 500 of them), to determine a wrestler's body-fat percentage while hydrated.
The assessment first tests a wrestler's specific gravity of urine to determine proper hydration, then continues using a skinfold caliper to measure body fat.
Using a scientific formula, these assessments will then determine a wrestler's actual minimum weight he can attain during the season while following a specific weight-loss program. That actual weight figure will determine the minimum certified weight for each wrestler.
Once the assessments have been completed (all wrestlers except those still participating in football or those who decide to come out after the beginning of the season have been tested and assessed), wrestlers may lose only 1.5 percent of their body weight per week en route to their certified weight.
An example: A wrestler is assessed at 170 pounds with a body-fat percentage of 18 percent. That wrestler may lose 2.55 pounds per week in a process that must be recorded and submitted by the coaches to a Web site run by the NWCA.
The concept is to draw down weight slowly en route to the certified weight, which in this example is 152 pounds.
Wrestlers may appeal their assessments within 14 days if they come out after the start of the season. Other appeals were due at the PIAA office yesterday. Trust us, the PIAA fax machine is burning up.
In theory, this scientific approach should work. But there is one problem among many that coaches have pointed out that needs to be addressed.
According to the program, there is no variance permitted once a wrestler's minimum weight has been established. Here's the practical application: If a wrestler's minimum weight established by the assessment is 152.19 pounds, that wrestler cannot be certified at 152 pounds; he must be certified at 160. No exceptions.
Needless to say, this is driving coaches, and no doubt some wrestlers, bonkers. It is a rather radical departure from the old days of a sympathetic doctor looking at a kid and scratching 152 (or maybe 145) on the card because the wrestler pleaded with the doc.
We have skipped over a ton of detail in explaining this system, and we're going to skip over commentary by supporters and detractors of the new weight-control program at this point; that's another issue for another time.
But the program is just the most significant of several legislative changes to high school wrestling.
Others include:
The much-discussed new overtime rule that provides for two or even three 30-second overtime periods rather than one 30-second "rideout" period.
In short, the overtime process goes like this: Tie at end of regulation is followed by a one-minute sudden-victory period (starts in neutral). Tie at end of sudden victory is followed by two 30-second periods (both start from referee's position). Score still tied after the two 30-seconds periods, a third 30-second period ensues. If still tied, the winner will be the offensive (top position) wrestler in the third 30-second OT period.
Mathematically speaking, a match going the limit now will last eight minutes and 30 seconds of clock time (instead of 7:30) and heaven knows how long in real time.
Gee, too bad this rule wasn't in place last year when PIAA 119-pound champion Billy Chamberlain of Cumberland Valley, runner-up Walter Peppelman of Central Dauphin and fifth-placer Jason DeLuca of Northern were doing their OT thing. The bouts would have gone on for days, like Roman gladiator fights.
Coming next year: 11 tie-breaker periods just for the sheer sadistic pleasure of it. Just kidding. We think.
Raising the weight limit from 275 pounds to 285 pounds because the national rules committee recognized that athletes are bigger now. This is curious since it doesn't address 103 pounds, the permanent home of freshmen and sophomores.
The match now begins when the proper wrestler(s) report to the scorer's table as opposed to the first action on the mat.
The main idea behind this change is to ensure that, once wrestlers report, they cannot be pulled back by a coach who made a "mistake." In other words, if the wrong wrestler goes out and reports, that bout is forfeited.
Scoring errors must be corrected before the start of the ensuing period or, in the case of third-period errors, before the wrestler or his coach leave the mat area.
The practical application here is that, if a scoring error occurs in the first period and is not discovered until the third, too bad. It stands.
THE CHOPS
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Wrestling never knows quite when to say no when it comes to tinkering with rules or weight-loss procedures, and this year those in charge of legislating for the greater good of the sport struck the mother lode.
This year is the first that schools are required to follow the PIAA Weight Control Program, one adopted almost wholesale from National Wrestling Coaches Association guidelines.
There is a lot of science involved that requires more space than available here to explain all of the details of the program, but it boils down to this.
All wrestlers must submit to a weight and body-fat assessment, conducted by trained assessors (the PIAA has between 400 and 500 of them), to determine a wrestler's body-fat percentage while hydrated.
The assessment first tests a wrestler's specific gravity of urine to determine proper hydration, then continues using a skinfold caliper to measure body fat.
Using a scientific formula, these assessments will then determine a wrestler's actual minimum weight he can attain during the season while following a specific weight-loss program. That actual weight figure will determine the minimum certified weight for each wrestler.
Once the assessments have been completed (all wrestlers except those still participating in football or those who decide to come out after the beginning of the season have been tested and assessed), wrestlers may lose only 1.5 percent of their body weight per week en route to their certified weight.
An example: A wrestler is assessed at 170 pounds with a body-fat percentage of 18 percent. That wrestler may lose 2.55 pounds per week in a process that must be recorded and submitted by the coaches to a Web site run by the NWCA.
The concept is to draw down weight slowly en route to the certified weight, which in this example is 152 pounds.
Wrestlers may appeal their assessments within 14 days if they come out after the start of the season. Other appeals were due at the PIAA office yesterday. Trust us, the PIAA fax machine is burning up.
In theory, this scientific approach should work. But there is one problem among many that coaches have pointed out that needs to be addressed.
According to the program, there is no variance permitted once a wrestler's minimum weight has been established. Here's the practical application: If a wrestler's minimum weight established by the assessment is 152.19 pounds, that wrestler cannot be certified at 152 pounds; he must be certified at 160. No exceptions.
Needless to say, this is driving coaches, and no doubt some wrestlers, bonkers. It is a rather radical departure from the old days of a sympathetic doctor looking at a kid and scratching 152 (or maybe 145) on the card because the wrestler pleaded with the doc.
We have skipped over a ton of detail in explaining this system, and we're going to skip over commentary by supporters and detractors of the new weight-control program at this point; that's another issue for another time.
But the program is just the most significant of several legislative changes to high school wrestling.
Others include:
The much-discussed new overtime rule that provides for two or even three 30-second overtime periods rather than one 30-second "rideout" period.
In short, the overtime process goes like this: Tie at end of regulation is followed by a one-minute sudden-victory period (starts in neutral). Tie at end of sudden victory is followed by two 30-second periods (both start from referee's position). Score still tied after the two 30-seconds periods, a third 30-second period ensues. If still tied, the winner will be the offensive (top position) wrestler in the third 30-second OT period.
Mathematically speaking, a match going the limit now will last eight minutes and 30 seconds of clock time (instead of 7:30) and heaven knows how long in real time.
Gee, too bad this rule wasn't in place last year when PIAA 119-pound champion Billy Chamberlain of Cumberland Valley, runner-up Walter Peppelman of Central Dauphin and fifth-placer Jason DeLuca of Northern were doing their OT thing. The bouts would have gone on for days, like Roman gladiator fights.
Coming next year: 11 tie-breaker periods just for the sheer sadistic pleasure of it. Just kidding. We think.
Raising the weight limit from 275 pounds to 285 pounds because the national rules committee recognized that athletes are bigger now. This is curious since it doesn't address 103 pounds, the permanent home of freshmen and sophomores.
The match now begins when the proper wrestler(s) report to the scorer's table as opposed to the first action on the mat.
The main idea behind this change is to ensure that, once wrestlers report, they cannot be pulled back by a coach who made a "mistake." In other words, if the wrong wrestler goes out and reports, that bout is forfeited.
Scoring errors must be corrected before the start of the ensuing period or, in the case of third-period errors, before the wrestler or his coach leave the mat area.
The practical application here is that, if a scoring error occurs in the first period and is not discovered until the third, too bad. It stands.
THE CHOPS