New Weights Mean New Changes in New England

Let's face it: Today’s kids are smaller than we were… or are they bigger? These questions are always being asked in the wrestling world., And to accommodate perceived changes, weight classes are changed every 10 to 20 years to adapt to the closest group of weights that most athletes “certify” at.

Since 2012 we have had the same 14 weight classes: 106lbs, 113lbs, 120lbs, 126lbs, 132lbs, 138lbs, 145lbs, 152lbs, 160lbs, 170lbs, 182lbs, 195lbs, 220lbs, and 285lbs—with 99lbs being offered as an exhibition at some tournaments. In New England that will change later this year.,

The first six weight classes stay the same; the changes start after 138lbs with new weight classes: 144lbs (formerly 145lbs), 150lbs (152lbs), 157lbs (160lbs), 165lbs (170lbs), 175lbs (182lbs), 190lbs (195lbs), and 215lbs (220lbs). With these weight classes it seems we are gonna see more middleweight wrestlers with 170lbs dropping down to 165lbs the exact NCAA weight, and 160lbs to 157lbs and 152lbs to 150lbs also being big changes. However the biggest in weight at least is definitely 182lbs dropping all the way down to 175 lbs, eliminating any weight class in the 180s.

The country was first notified about this upcoming change back in 2021 by the NFHS when they held their yearly Wrestling Rules Committee meeting in april of that year. were told they would be given three sets of weight classes to choose from. Most states decided to keep the fourteen weight classes instead of the other options of 12 or 13, Minnesota, for instance, chose 13.

On the NFHS website the rationale stated behind the weight shift is as follows:

“ We have more member state associations (30) sponsoring girls wrestling and providing an equal number of uniform weight classifications is now necessary. Due to fluctuating demographics of our student enrollment, each state association shall select one of the three sets (12, 13, 14) of listed weight classes for boys and one of the three sets (12, 13, 14) for girls. These recommended weights are based upon data from over 215,000 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) assessments.”

States got to choose from the following options: (Boys Weight | Girls Weight)

108 | 100	107 | 100	106 | 100
116 | 107	114 | 106	113 | 105
124 | 114	121 | 112	120 | 110
131 | 120	127 | 118	126 | 115
138 | 126	133 | 124	132 | 120
145 | 132	139 | 130	138 | 125
152 | 138	145 | 136	144 | 130
160 | 145	152 | 142	150 | 135
170 | 152	160 | 148	157 | 140
190 | 165	172 | 155	165 | 145
215 | 185	189 | 170	175 | 155
285 | 235	215 | 190	190 | 170
	285 | 235	215 | 190
		285 | 235

Ultimately it seems the goal is to get more participation as the whole reason for switching the weight classes is to cater to the current generation’s average weight. And only time will tell to see if this will help. Many states have already started with West Virginia choosing the same weight classes this past year along with neighboring Virginia. Next door, New York has announced earlier this year that it is changing its weight classes for the second time in three years. Prep schools all across the country all competed in the new weight classes this past year as well. You can read about Massachusetts’s change here.

With new weight’s will be new challenges presented for some athletes to cut down to the new lighter classes; for example, a junior who wrestled at 170 lbs and gains about 15 pounds of weight will have either cut eight pounds to 175 or give up at most seven pounds to wrestle at 190, for a high schooler that can be a huge difference, especially if they are younger.