Columnist Adam Candee: NIAA’s weight-loss program helps keep wrestlers healthy

Adam Candee

Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 9:13 a.m.

Adam Candee covers high school sports for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

TONIGHT'S PREP FOOTBALL GAMES

All kickoffs at 7 p.m.

As a gangly 15-year-old high school basketball player, it looked daunting. As a human being, it looked downright crazy.

Why in the world would one of my classmates be running laps around the gym by himself, layered in a heavy sweatsuit with the hood pulled over his head and looking to be near exhaustion?

The guy was a wrestler, and weigh-ins must have been on the horizon, I realize now. Nearly a decade ago, and for many moons before that, such torture became commonplace for wrestlers trying to make weight before a match.

With such practices in the spotlight after the recent deaths of some college wrestlers, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association is jumping in on a national movement at the high school level to curb unsafe weight reduction.

And it's about time.

"We're doing this with the health of our wrestlers in mind," said Dr. Jerry Hughes, director of the NIAA.

Nevada's program is entering the third year of a four-year implementation of new weight management measures. For the upcoming season, teams will be encouraged to participate in the process designed to keep wrestlers from attempting to cut drastic amounts of weight in short periods of time. The testing will be mandatory next year.

"In many cases, making weight is the biggest stress point for a wrestler," said Jim Porter, Centennial High athletic trainer and a former wrestler himself.

Prep wrestlers will be required to undergo testing that will include a weigh-in, a skinfold test to determine body fat percentage and a urine test to ensure that the person is hydrated at the time of the test.

The exam, to be conducted by either a trained school liaison (who is not the team coach) or a certified outside trainer, can be conducted anytime from next week through whenever the wrestler's first match is to occur.

Once a weight and body fat percentage is determined, a minimum weight for that wrestler will be determined. The wrestler will not be able to compete below that minimum weight for the season.

The formula is based on the idea that the most weight a wrestler can drop in a week's time is about 1.5 percent of his body fat. For an arbitrary instance, a 145-pound wrestler's body weight might be set at 130 pounds depending on his body fat percentage.

"It takes the issue of losing too much weight out," Porter said.

Hughes said the 2002-03 season will be considered "an educational year" before the program comes on line in another year. Coaches will receive training on the new system at their Nov. 13 meeting.

Hughes also said that the system is likely to become instituted on the national level within the next two years. While no system is likely to be without some holes or room for improvement, this is a big step in the right direction toward taking serious risk out of an already grueling sport.

Wooster's Brianne McGowan will attend Oregon State next fall, choosing the smaller atmosphere of Corvallis, Ore., over big-city life at UCLA. The Gatorade Player of the Year for Nevada in 2002 feels very comfortable with her choice.

"I really like the coaching staff and it's a small town and the team's really nice," McGowan told the Reno Gazette-Journal earlier this week.

McGowan tossed a perfect game and a no-hitter at the 2002 4A state tournament to lead Wooster to its third consecutive crown.

Coach to player, in an attempt to fire up his girls: "I want to see you guys covered in sweat by the time this match is over."

Player to coach, in the most literal sense: "But coach, I'm not a sweater!"

Nor a velvet scarf or cotton blouse, for that matter.