Area wrestlers not at risk

Steve Cunningham

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 12:48 p.m.

Wrestling is a sport that is embraced almost fanatically by its participants, but largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Thousands of athletes toil year after year in relative obscurity, whether they are in the Olympics, in college or at the high school level. However, the deaths of three college wrestlers in the last six weeks has thrust the sport into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

All three died while undergoing a rapid weight-reduction program. Michigan's Jeff Reese collapsed last week after losing 18 pounds in two days while attempting to qualify for the 150-pound weight class in the Wolverines' season-opening match against Michigan State.

Complicating matters, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it would be investigating the deaths of Reese, Joseph La Rosa of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Billy Jack Saylor of Campbell University because it had received information from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that a dietary supplement may be connected to cases.

The incidents and their ramifications are being felt mainly at the college level, but area high school coaches have taken note. Most were stunned at the back-to-back-to-back fatalities and insisted they had to be isolated cases.

"It's scary stuff," Green Valley coach Jimmy May said. "It's unusual for three to happen in one season, much less six weeks. I've been involved with wrestling for 30 years and I haven't heard of anything like this."

Cimarron-Memorial coach Tim Jeffries said, "Years ago, (rapidly losing weight) was something that definitely took place. There were a few people who did it. But today, people have become more aware of their diets and how to stay at their target weights."

College wrestling is a high-pressure, win-at-all-costs proposition in some places. Budget cutbacks have eliminated unsuccessful programs at several schools so those involved are, literally, fighting to maintain their meal ticket.

It's much, much different in high school. Sure, programs want to be successful and individuals still strive for glory, but the same mentality doesn't exist as it does at the college level.

That's why occurrences such as the deaths of Reese, La Rosa and Saylor are rare at the prep level. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association has a strong policy to deter wrestlers from attempting to lose weight in an unhealthy manner.

The plan is set up like this: Weight certification, as it is called, tries to ensures that wrestlers are never put in potentially health-compromising positions. When a participant competes in half his dual matches at a certain weight, that's where he'll compete come the postseason; if he fails to maintain that weight, he is ineligible.

There is a growth allowance, though. A wrestler who is certified at 119 can gain two pounds after January and still be eligible to compete in his designated weight class during the postseason.

"It's a good plan," Jeffries said. "It controls people from dropping weight rapidly at the last part of the year."

Still the possibility exists for abuses, although they are almost non-existent in the area, according to May and Jeffries. That same wrestler, certified at 119, could gain 10 pounds over the second half of the season and go to extremes to retain his eligibility.

That's where coaches have to be alert for warning signs.

"If we see a kid is cutting too much weight, we step in," May said. "It's not a positive thing at all."

Said Jeffries: "We'd definitely talk to him, tell him this is only a temporary activity not worth risking his health for."

Cimarron tests wrestlers before the season for body fat. The school brings in a physical therapist who checks each kid and puts into numbers how much weight he could lose without affecting his health. With those kinds of plans in place, May and Jeffries both insist that the sport, at the high school level, can't be judged by what people are reading in the newspaper.

"I don't think it's happening here in Nevada," Jeffries said flatly. "As long as you keep the sport in perspective as a coach, the health of the wrestler is the most important thing."