For states that follow NFHS rules, this past wrestling season was the first under new guidelines regulating athletes' weight management. Most coaches, administrators, and state association officials feel the changes, aimed at making the sport safer, have been positive.

The new regulations focus on preventing wrestlers from starving and dehydrating themselves to make weight in the lowest possible class. The key provisions are a minimum body fat percentage (seven percent for males and 12 percent for females) and a prohibition against losing more than one and a half percent of body weight per week during the season. All wrestlers are required to undergo a preseason evaluation, where a state-certified assessor determines their baseline weight and body fat percentage in a hydrated state. Safe minimum weight and allowable weight loss are calculated based on those results.

"This was definitely a year of adjustment for us, but the vast majority of our state's wrestling programs adapted well, and I heard a lot of people say this was overdue," says Dale Pleimann, Assistant Executive Director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) and a member of the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee.

Previously, Missouri had few regulations on weight management, so the MSHSAA made sure coaches weren't caught by surprise. "We distributed our plan to all the wrestling schools in our state before the 2005-06 season, which gave everyone a year to familiarize themselves with the policy and ask questions or raise concerns," Pleimann says. "That really helped ease the transition."

In Pennsylvania, the process was aided by the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Web-based Optimal Performance Calculator. State officials used this program to create a statewide database of athletes' minimum competition weight, complete with a breakdown of the minimum each wrestler could weigh for any given match on the schedule.

"Every school and wrestling coach had access to the program, and all of our assessors could use it as well," says Dr. Robert Lombardi, Associate Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. "After the assessors put in the initial numbers, coaches could easily see their athletes' minimum weights, and athletic directors could review everything to make sure the rules were being followed.

"Before each match, a team would print out a weigh-in sheet from the program with the minimum weight each athlete could wrestle at that night," Lombardi continues. "It was really simple."

Utah also used a computer-based weight tracking system this winter, but theirs went even further to help athletes stay healthy. Once each participant's weight, body fat percentage, and other basic information were entered, the program offered personalized suggestions on eating habits and calorie intake for weight maintenance or safe weight loss.

Illinois was among a handful of states that implemented weight-management rules in advance of the NFHS mandate--this was the Prairie State's third year under a new policy, and it has found that practice makes perfect. "This year went by almost without a hitch," says Dave Gannaway, Assistant Executive Director of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). "And when you look at the benefits--protecting the health and safety of our athletes--it's really hard to argue with that."

With the initial quirks worked out, the IHSA is now fine-tuning its system. The state added a growth allowance last year, which lets athletes who gain up to two pounds during the school year due to natural physical growth remain in the same weight class throughout the season, even if their actual late-season weight would bump them up a class. "Those are the kinds of issues we're tackling now," Gannaway says.

In other wrestling news, there will soon be a fifth U.S. college sponsoring varsity women's wrestling. Oklahoma City University, a member of the NAIA, will begin offering the sport in the 2007-08 season. Women's wrestling was added to the Olympic games in 2004, and OCU hopes to ride the sport's wave of growing popularity among females.

"If we're going to begin a sport, it's not bad in my opinion to be at the forefront of it," OCU Athletic Director Jim Abbott told the Associated Press. "Will we create Olympians at OCU? Maybe. Will we have 5,000 people come to a wrestling match? Maybe. Will we educate young people that go do cool stuff? Absolutely."