Do you have a problem with having some of the heavier weights being dominated by upperclassmen? 285 is pretty much exclusively for upperclassmen. Very few freshmen and sophomores weigh close to that much. They may be heavies but they are not near the weight.
I think we all know there are a LOT of underclassmen in the heavier weights, but good enough to be varisty at a bigger school and good enough to make it to state? Not usually. I've known a lot of bigger kids that come out freshman year, get tired of getting beat on and just quit. In my opinion 103 being dominated by underclassmen helps curve that and makes them better wrestlers when they get older and get to the middle weights. Just my opinion and feeling, who knows if there's data to support it.
I agree with what you are saying. I see exactly what you are describing all the time.
This is where it gets hairy. Those bigger kids as freshmen come in and are JV, while their counterparts at the lighter weights are varsity. They both could very well be equal in ability, yet one does not have the same level of competition for a varsity spot or even in varsity matches. To me that deters the bigger kids from sticking it out. These bigger kids aren't world beaters, but they are solid enough wrestlers that will contribute as a junior and senior.
When I was a freshman and a varsity wrestler it was cool to walk around with my letter jacket on. It was the coolest thing in the world, but I earned that letter because I was blessed with being small, not because of my athletic ability. There were numerous kids in the school that gave me a hard time because of it. There were two athletes in my class that earned varsity letters as freshmen. It was me and another kid that was a gifted runner and lettered in cross country. Comparing us two as far as athletic ability was laughable.
I'm not saying it is like this at every school, but this is becoming more and more the norm with the new weight regulations and other factors(kids starting school later, etc). We should not be a sport that hands out awards based on size instead of athletic ability.
I am now starting to get a little bit of where you are coming from. I think it is too bad that people look or looked at it that way. Wrestling is the fairest sport that there is possible based on weight classes alone. I never had to deal with that and I think that someone accomplishents speaks for themselves. That's the major reason alot of kids choose this sport that are not tall enough or big enough for basketball or football(lets be honest) . I understand now that you are only trying to be fair and it might be fairer with the weight change but I see it being mostly the same with less forfeits.