Wrestling is one sport that requires an individual to sacrifice for the greater good of winning. Individual success and winning spawns drive for Zac Hartley, a freshman wrestler. 

Hartley stated, “Losing weight makes you feel tired and weak all the time. I find it hard to focus in class after cutting a lot of weight.” Hartley believes it is not in his standards to force such strict body limitations on such young athletes.

Brodie Carley, a junior wrestler, spoke on this season’s injuries. “I wrestle pretty competitively and had a very bad elbow injury recently. I also play baseball and was totally bummed when I couldn’t get back in the game because of wrestling.” He said wrestling is a harsh sport that beats down even the toughest after years. The University of Rochester Medical Center wrote that “concussions, scrapes, bruises, tongue cuts, and cauliflower ear occur often. However, knee and shoulder injuries occur with more severity than all other injuries and are responsible for the most lost time, surgeries, and treatments.” 

Mr. Panagos, a former Wrestling coach, said, “First, we don’t make kids lose weight. The Virginia High School League, along with the National Federation, has a very strict policy and process designed to allow the athlete to safely reach their desired weight class.” The National Federation has taken many precautions to make wrestling as safe a sport as possible.

Wrestling has grown in numbers greatly in the past few years. FloWrestling research shows how wrestling has grown 9.6 percent since last year and has reached 300 thousand participants for the first time since 1978.

When asked about cutting weight, Panagos commented, “The athletes and their parents work that out. Some of them consult a nutritionist, some of them go online for recommendations and some just cut back on the junk, eat healthy and work hard.” Panagos agrees that wrestling is a fun sport that teaches us about the real world. “Sport, particularly wrestling, provides the student athlete with moments of individual adversity. Working through those moments provides the student athlete with an opportunity to develop the coping skills, experience, determination and confidence to face future adversities head on.” Panagos claims weight loss is purely determined based on the athlete’s body fat percentage, which is proven to be healthier, but the exhaustion from cutting is still there.

Weight loss and weight gain are an undeniable part of this sport. We should still listen to Hartley’s wisdom, and he states, “Wrestling is a fun environment and we should focus on not only our individual success, but also the team’s success. It is very important to form these lifelong friendships and bonds.”