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Courier - Journal - Indiana wrestling rules undergo changes


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http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011304280106

shows picture of figure four in article

 

Indiana high school wrestlers and coaches will be grappling with rule changes next season.

by: Justin Sokeland

 

The National Federation of State High School Associations wrestling rules committee approved different weight classes that will be implemented in 2011-12. The committee also ruled the popular ?Figure 4? hold around the head as illegal.

The smallest weight class was changed from 103 pounds to 106. The other divisions now include 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285 pounds.

The shift was an attempt to keep seven percent of wrestlers in each class.

?In the end, wrestling is wrestling, and whatever they say for us to weigh is what we will weigh,? said Jeffersonville coach Danny Struck, the new vice president of the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association. ?Every coach has to deal with it, every coach will have the same advantages or disadvantages with the changes.?

The last major shift in weight classes came in 1988, when the lowest weight class was increased from 98 to 103 pounds. Other changes were implemented in 2002 (adding the 215-pound class to make 14 divisions) and 2006 (when the 275-pound class was increased to 285).

?At our upper weights it will be an advantage because we have an abundance of heavier kids right now,? Struck said. ?But it will be a disadvantage for our lower-weight kids as they have one less weight class to fit into. And people think by changing the weight classes, kids won't cut as much weight. We will try and fill the best team possible, teaching kids to do the right thing.?

Struck's bigger concern was the ban on the ?Figure 4.? That move, a favorite with the Red Devils, allowed a wrestler to wrap his legs around the opponent's head to force a pin. It's created by locking the right foot behind the left knee, with the legs forming the ??4.?

?This is our bread-and-butter move for our lightweight kids,? Struck said. ?Last season alone we had over 100 pins as a team with this one move.?

The committee cited injury risk as the reason for the ban. The ?Figure 4? was already illegal when applied to the body and both legs.

 

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