MSHSL puts weight class issue for wrestling on hold
A move to cut the sport's weight classes from 14 to 12 was tabled until the board's December meeting.
By John Millea, Star Tribune
Last update: June 11, 2007 – 11:38 PM
There will be no upheaval in Minnesota high school wrestling next season. A proposal to reduce the number of weight classes from 14 to 12 -- which would make Minnesota the only state in the nation with fewer than 14 -- was tabled Monday by the Minnesota State High School League board of directors.
The board voted to conduct a survey of schools before revisiting the plan, which was proposed by the Minnesota High School Wrestling Coaches Association. The board will discuss the proposal again at its December meeting, meaning there will be no changes for the 2007-08 wrestling season.
The coaches association argues that small schools have trouble filling 14 roster spots, and that losing two weights on each team is preferable to losing entire squads every time two schools merge to form cooperative teams.
The proposal is a controversial topic in the wrestling world. Board member Mark Kuisle, activities director at Rochester Century and a 20-year member of the wrestling coaches association, said, "This issue is tearing our wrestling community apart in Minnesota."
The coaches group has polled its members, with 70 percent of the respondents voting to reduce the number of weights, according to Elk River coach John Peterson, past president of the coaches association.
"It's time to act," Peterson told the board. "We've discussed this issue extensively for four years. We do represent the wishes of an overwhelming majority of our coaches. The time has come to settle this issue once and for all."
Wabasha-Kellogg coach Ron Sanders and John Thorn, a wrestling parent from St. Michael-Albertville, spoke against the proposal. Sanders said a change in weight classes will negatively impact schools such as his, which competes against several teams from Wisconsin every year. He also questioned the coaches association's survey results.
"I'm confused on how these votes got the way they did," Sanders said. "I never got the chance to vote for 14 weights. Just about every coach I've talked to wants 14 weights."
Thorn said: "Minnesota wrestling is in great shape. Anyone saying wrestling in Minnesota is in trouble, that could be true at the local level. At the state level, participation numbers are excellent."
The MSHSL has conducted one preliminary survey of schools that sponsor wrestling, with 54 percent of those schools responding. Seventy-nine percent voted in favor of reducing the number of classes, 58 percent said 12 weight classes was the right number, and 84 percent said all three classes (3A, 2A, 1A) should have the same number of weights.
In taking a new survey, the MSHSL hopes for a higher response rate.
"Each of the schools needs to weigh in on some specific questions," Kuisle said. "I think the wrestling coaches have given us great data. It's just a matter of comparing that data and asking the right questions across Minnesota."
