In the sport of wrestling every pound matters. There are 10 different weight classes that wrestlers compete in.

The 10 different weight classes are; 125 pounds, 133 pounds, 141 pounds, 149 pounds, 157 pounds, 165 pounds, 174 pounds, 184 pounds, 197 pounds and last but certainly not least the heavyweight division, where wrestlers wrestle at 285 pounds.

A competitor must be exactly at that weight in order to compete in matches.

Coach Ryan Ludwig said before a meet each wrestler must go through a very specific process.

“Actually in beginning of the season before we even can start our official practices, there is an NCAA certification process that the guys got to go through,” Ludwig said. “Where they measure their body fat percentage, body weight and also their specific gravity and that’s related to a urine test dealing with hydration. So they need to meet a perfect criteria of that to make sure they’re capable of making the weight they want to achieve.”

Later in the season, the wrestlers go through another process to make sure they cut down on weight in a healthy fashion.

“Now after that as we progress to the season, there is a gradual defense process we bring our guys down on per NCAA regulations,” Ludwig said. “[This is] to make sure they’re cutting their weight in a proper and timely manner in order to avoid any safety concerns and as we progress through the week where the guys get down closer, we make sure that the guys are eating healthy meals and staying hydrated and getting extra workouts in, in order to keep their metabolism very high.

“We monitor very closely whether guys are you know whether they seem to be a little lethargic or out of energy and in those cases we kinda tend to start talking to the guys a little heavier about whether there keeping themselves hydrated and getting their meals in correctly and making sure that they do.”

If a wrestler is unable to make weight they are disqualified from the match, Ludwig said there are things the team does to avoid having to forfeit matches in the event somebody can’t make weight.

“Yeah, now sometimes that can be the case but, typically we’ll travel more than one guy per weight class, just in case something crazy like that should happen.” Ludwig said

Redshirt freshman Ethan Davis, who wrestles at 141 pounds, said wrestlers are watching what they eat throughout the entire week

“You really just have to watch what you eat and make sure you’re eating the right things,” Davis said. “You know you’re gonna make sure you’re not really skipping meals, but you’re eating the right things. So like, at the beginning of the week, I mean, I personally have oatmeal like every morning and then some kind of like chicken breast or something like that for lunch or dinner, or some sort of meat a protein and then like small snacks like healthy stuff throughout the day just to like, keep your metabolism going.

“Later in the week, you know, you kinda start cutting back on the amounts of food you start eating.”