Weight class changes in store for area wrestlers

Virginia High School League wrestlers will be a little lighter in the 2022-23 season.

The VHSL has adopted the National Federation of State High School Associations changes for wrestling weight classes that were first announced in May of 2021, with a deadline to implement them by no later than the 2023-24 season.

States had the options of choosing a 12, 13 or 14-weight class system, and the VHSL chose the option of keeping the established system of 14 weight classes.

The bottom six weight classes (106 pounds, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138) and the heavyweight class (285) remain unchanged, but pounds have been cut from each of the seven other weight classes. The new classes are 144 pounds (down from 145), 150 (down from 152), 157 (down from 160), 165 (down from 170), 182 (down from 175), 190 (down from 195) and 215 (down from 220).

This will be the first time since the 2011-12 season that the VHSL will feature a change in weight class standards. Back then, the NFHS made a move to get bigger, eliminating the 140-pound class to make 145 the new seventh-lightest weight class and adding a 195-pound class, replacing 189 pounds as the third-largest weight class.

The NFHS issued the latest changes based on feedback from various state associations. Local high school coaches didn’t think changes were necessary to the weight class format. They don’t think the new system is going to be a major issue, but it will be an adjustment.

Sherando coach Brian Kibler views it as the NFHS essentially adding another weight class to the middle by taking one from the top. There’s now no weight class in the 180-pound range, with the drop from 182 to 175 being the most significant difference.

“In some years [this move] may benefit us, in other years it may not,” Kibler said. “I guess the bottom line is that they were having a tough time getting heavier kids to participate in wrestling, and I guess that’s why [the NFHS] pulled the trigger on that.”

Clarke County coach Jon VanSice said the toughest adjustment definitely comes with those wrestlers who previously had the 182 class, and now are looking at dropping down to 175 or moving up to 190. VanSice said it won’t affect his team this year, but last year’s Clarke County team had three All-State wrestlers at the 182, 195 and 220 weight classes.

“If you’re weighing 182, 183 or 184, you don’t want to be going up to 190, and going down to 175 is quite a drop,” VanSice said. “It’s those guys who are in between who are really getting penalized. There are a lot of guys who fall in that category. There are a lot of big boys walking around.”

James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw said his wrestlers tended to be a little less than the maximum weight allowed for their given weight class in the past, so the new weight classes could aid the Colonels.

“It seemed that our guys were always a little under that weight anyway,” Crenshaw said. “This year, it helps us in that regard that our kids are not giving up that five pounds or more difference.”

Kibler said his bigger wrestlers usually trend toward moving up a weight class from one year to the next, so cutting weight usually isn’t an issue. Some wrestlers might not want to move up too much though, and Crenshaw said football players who are looking to cut weight might have to be patient because of the changes.

“Some of those kids who are a little bit bigger coming out of football, having to cut that little bit of extra weight, it could slow down their progression in getting down to that weight class,” Crenshaw said.

Handley coach Troy Mezzatesta said out of state competitions will be a slight adjustment for wrestlers. Handley will travel to Manchester Valley High School in Maryland’s Carroll County on Dec. 16 and 17.

West Virginia is adopting the same NFHS 14-class system that the VHSL is using this year, but Mezzatesta said Maryland won’t adopt it until next year and is still using the same weight classes that Virginia wrestlers have been used to since 2011. Pennsylvania came up with its own 13-class system in 2020-21 and this year will use the NFHS recommended weight standards for 13 classes.

“The weight classes still kind of work out,” said Mezzatesta about competing in Maryland. “It’s not that far off.”

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