Wrestlers are adjusting well to new weight rules

Wrestlers have changed their weight loss habits as a result of three weight related deaths in 33 days. The dreaded freshman 15. It is the bane of many a first year college student's existence. But to a wrestler, weight gain means much more than social ostracism and love handles. It represents a performance impediment, and, in some cases, a life-threatening calamity. Three college wrestlers died across the country in a span of 33 days this season as a result of trying to cut weight. These wrestlers underwent grueling physical duress in attempts to cut as much as 25 pounds in less than four days. Using methods such as bicycling in a shower room while wearing a rubber suit under their workout sweats, the wrestlers pushed their bodies to beyond the limits -- and paid the price. Eventually their bodies simply quit under the strain. One wrestler's heart gave out as he was crawling to the weigh-in scale. In the wake of the three tragic deaths, the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee made recommendations to the NCAA Competitive Safeguards Committee to institute major changes in the way wrestlers are allowed to cut weight. Those changes will be in effect Friday and Saturday as the Penn wrestling team takes on Cornell and Columbia at the Palestra. The Cornell match will begin at 9 p.m. Friday after the conclusion of the men's basketball game, with the Lions arriving at 2 p.m. the following afternoon. After consultations with such organizations as the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, who were themselves conducting inquiries into the three deaths, the Rules Committee put into place guidelines and regulations which all NCAA programs must follow. The major points of the new rules include a ban on the use of rubber suits, a temperature limit of 79 degrees in practice facilities and a new weigh-in process in which athletes weigh in two hours before a competition rather than the day before. For the remainder of the season, wrestlers will have a seven-pound cushion when trying to make weight. For instance, Penn captain Brandon Slay, who recently dropped from the 177-pound division to the 167-pound weight class, can weigh up to 174 pounds before his matches. Slay appreciates the new rules, and says they have even made it easier for him to train. "[The new rules] have made wrestling more enjoyable for me," Slay said. "I don't have to worry about making weight using plastics." "I just eat right and work out hard, and my weight stays under control." Slay also takes comfort in the fact that he will not have to drop all the way to 167 pounds. Having most recently weighed in at 172 1/2 pounds, Slay calls the weight cushion a "positive feeling." According to Penn coach Roger Reina, the new regulations are not adversely affecting the Quakers wrestling team in the least. "Particularly for our group, we've always had a pretty disciplined approach to making weight," Reina said. "It hasn't been that significant of an adjustment for us." Overall Reina applauded the efforts of the Rules Committee, agreeing that many of the measures were necessary. He does, however, find fault with the outright ban on rubber suits. Reina cited the previous "decades" of the use of rubber suits in the wrestling community, all without incident. "Like a lot of things in life, if used appropriately, [rubber suits] are safe," Reina said. "We've had athletes use them. I've used them myself." "If used inappropriately, combined with a poor diet and poor planning, obviously they can have detrimental effects," he added. Reina is also not worried about the effects of the new weigh-in schedule. As high school wrestlers must check in the day of the match, all the wrestlers have had experience with such an arrangement. The team's travel plans, though, will change slightly. Rather than arrive at a tournament the day before competition starts, Penn will have to arrive the day of competition, putting a different slant on match preparation. Reina tries to encourage healthy weight loss through proper dietary instruction and individual attention in order to find the optimal performance weight. "We don't have control 24 hours a day, seven days a week of what people are eating," Reina said. "So what we try to do is provide as much information as possible." This information comes in many forms, including about half of the wrestlers' training manual and providing healthy food to the wrestlers on road trips. With additional talk of adding more weight classes to wrestling meets next season, the Rules Committee's recommendations stand to be the beginning of reforming the wrestling community at large. "If wrestling can eventually get to the point where guys don't have to pull as much weight and they can just go out there and worry about wrestling," Slay said. "Then wrestling is going to be a much better sport, for wrestlers and fans."

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