I am with 24/7 for matside weigh-ins to eliminate all of the bs. I don't think AD's look at as cheating or unethical either. The bottom line is that the rules really don't make sense. It is another case where rules are for the minority and in this case the super small minority of instances where someone takes weight cutting to an extreme. Like many of you, I have been around wrestling my entire life. I have NEVER seen a case where someone has become seriously ill or died and I have seem some extreme weight cutting. From 7th grade until I quit wrestling in college we wore plastics from ankle to neck every day and no one ever passed out or had organ failure. We all know these rules are to fight the "perception" of weight cutting which has damaged the image of the sport. Yes, in 1997 three wrestlers died while weight cutting. Weight cutting was blamed and wrestling took it on the chin but any of you familure with these cases will know that all three were dehydrating while taking a supplement, creatin!
Saylor, 19, died in the morning hours of Nov. 7, 1997, while attempting to lose 15 pounds in 12 hours for his first collegiate meet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a Charlotte News and Observer report there was little doubt that "dehydration resulting in hyperthermia - an exceedingly high body temperature - was a factor in the death of Saylor."
LaRosa, 22, died Nov. 21 while working out for four hours in the early morning, according to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel report. With coaches present, LaRosa was riding a stationary bike in a shower room, wearing a rubberized suit and a sweat suit covering it, the report said. Hyperthermia and heat stroke played roles in LaRosa's death, officials said.
Reese, 21, who died Dec. 7, was trying to lose 17 pounds in "a couple of days," when he collapsed as a result of excessive training, the Chicago Tribune said. The death was due to rhabdomyolysis - cellular breakdown during high exercise that, combined with dehydration, resulted in kidney failure and heart malfunction, said the report.
Questions have arisen since the deaths about whether the use of a popular bodybuilding nutrient, creatine, adds to the hazards of rapid weight loss. Creatine, a combination of amino acids found in skeletal muscles, is popular among athletes in an artificial form that is available in health food stores in powder and capsule form. Wrestlers use it to recover more quickly from workouts and to help develop muscle bulk, but the abuse of creatine without sufficient water intake can cause the body to dangerously overheat.
Bruce Burnett, the national freestyle coach for USA Wrestling, said: ''Creatine retains water in your muscles, so it doesn't work as a coolant. It helps recovery and muscle mass. It's a problem if you take too much and don't follow directions.''
Jones said: ''Creatine is a supplement we use across the board. An athlete who takes it in the morning speeds his recovery for the afternoon. His muscles recover quicker. But if there's a lot of weight loss, don't take it. If you weigh 125 pounds before practice and 119 at the end, that's a 5 percent loss and it's O.K. if you don't dehydrate excessively.''
Jensen, the coach at San Francisco State, agreed that ''creatine is a big thing nowadays.'' He said members of his team used it last season, but ''I told them they needed to get off it.'' A couple of his wrestlers are still on it, including a heavyweight, but Jensen said he does not approve of its use because of concern about possible health risks.
Only these three deaths have EVER been attributed to the sport of wrestling. No high school wrestler death has ever been documented. The body is quite amazing and resilient.
All of these rules, tests, and complexities just make the sport less attractive. Matside weigh would eliminate all of this.
