What do I have against wrestling?

This is my 2^nd year as a wrestling mom. Last year was ‘just’ middle school; against other schools but considered “intramural” and not competitive at a regional or state level.  We asked for a scholarship, he got all the equipment and uniform from the team and he had a good time.  It was a learning experience.

This year is his first year in High School and he signed up for wrestling as well as football.  He had one week in between the end of football ‘season’ and the beginning of wrestling practice.  Practices are every school day for three hours, excluding match days.  Matches are Tuesday and Thursday evenings and all-day tournaments are held almost every Saturday during December and January. 

In the coach’s favor, he sent home a packet of forms and information about a week before practices began.  The packet also had a calendar with EVERY practice, match and tournament listed on it, including regionals and state competitions.  I LOVED this!  So much easier to make decisions on schedule conflicts when I have advance notice instead of two days prior to the event.  We were granted a scholarship and all the equipment and uniform items are again provided.

I’ve signed up to donate food for the concession, run the concession for a night and help with the hospitality room during the home tournament.  I’m not going to the away matches or tournaments, but the home matches and tournament I’ll at least stay for the JV portion to see my son.

So far, there have been two matches, both on Thursday nights.  JV starts at 6:30; Varsity at 7:30.  I’m off work at 5-ish and go right after I’m done for seven very important reasons…If I arrive after 6 PM; I’m charged $7 PER MATCH to attend.  If I attended every match and tournament over the season (not counting regional and state) I would be paying an additional $126 for admission alone.  That doesn’t factor in time or gas or the hours spent in an all day match where my son wrestles for approximately 30 minutes over the entire day.

But that’s not the real reason I’m not fond of wrestling.  It’s about the weight.  My 15 year old son has grown roughly 3 inches in about 4 months and has a body-fat percentage of about 7%.  That’s the minimum percentage he can have (in other words he can’t go below a specific weight during the season or he has to sit out).  Here’s the problem:  He weighs a little over 145 pounds; the next weight class is 152.  Sure, that’s only 7 pounds, but that (apparently) is a lot of difference when wrestling.   If son weighs anything (decimal points included) OVER 145, he’s wrestling boys in the 152 weight class which includes boys that weigh 146 to 159 pounds. 

He weighs himself AT LEAST twice a day.  If he weighs even close to over 145 he doesn’t eat for the day of the match.  EVEN though coach has told him that’s not the way to make weight; even though it’s unhealthy; even though he’s a growing boy and he could lift weights to burn the weight and build muscle (which is heavier than fat).

Here’s a conversation from our house last night, before the match: 

Son:  “Mom, I weigh 145.2; should I eat something or wait until after the match?”

Mom:  “I think you should decide on your own, but you didn’t eat lunch and you had very little for breakfast.  Your body needs fuel to grow as well as compete.”

There’s a mom on the team who makes sandwiches and provides snacks and fruits for the wrestlers.  After they’ve weighed in, they can eat to their hearts content.  I love that this mom does this and I’m not complaining about the food.  But the logic is counter-productive to me, because if they’ve weighed in at 145, but they eat afterwards, won’t they actually be wrestling at OVER 145?  Why not just eat a good meal before and wrestle at the higher level?

Coach’s rule is “no sodas, no McDonalds, no pizza” during the season.  Great strategy, but the number of times we actually eat any of those things is possibly twice a month.  We cook at home mostly and eat pretty healthy.  I make homemade pizza crusts and we have lots of vegetables and fruit on hand for snacks and sides.  The wrestling eating strategy also counts out Chinese food, rice, potatoes, and at the weight he wants to wrestle at, almost anything except a carrot stick and water.  In a given school day he’s eaten an Eggo French toast (4 sticks), a pizza stick at lunch with water and an apple at home before the match.

Another conversation regarding dinner the night before prior to an all day tournament; we usually have pizza one night, two times a month. 

Mom:  “What should we do for dinner Friday night?  Should I make pizza?”

Son:  “I can only have one piece of pizza or I’ll just have a salad.  And then I’ll run afterwards.”

To say that I’m concerned is an understatement.  Let’s review; he weighs himself at least twice a day, eats maybe 1000 calories and stresses over every ounce. It’s like living with a super model without the paycheck and the paparazzi.

I’m not against the actual wrestling, although the team last night was extremely aggressive and I felt the referee didn’t call the choking calls he should have. 

I’m not worried about him getting hurt (he’s played football after all).  I think the workouts and training are beneficial and he’s exhausted every day.

I’m not even bothered too much about the fact that girls wrestle against the boys (although I maintain that there are some sports that women should never participate in and especially when they’re matched against men).

But I’ll just say that I don’t think it’s a wise choice to have a sport where people in the growing phase of their life are worried about gaining weight in a manic and unhealthy way.