Cutting weight is something people don’t think twice about but for wrestlers cutting weight is the action of briefly losing as many pounds and even ounces needed to weigh below a designated weight class. The stronger their average weight is the better chance they get of winning.
A majority of Hastings High wrestlers cut weight for each season. Some started the practice all the way back in fourth grade. Many wrestlers in high school usually start early November all the way through February.
They have a timeline they use to make sure they can make weight by weigh-in at the end of the week.
“(I start at) around eight pounds over on Monday and gradually lose it throughout the week,”Junior Damen Pape said.
There are many different ways to lose weight, like dieting, exercising, going to the sauna, and layering yourself in clothes.
“I wear a lot of clothes during practice, practice hard for about an hour, hour and a half, I don’t usually go to the sauna, I take baths at home with a bunch of salts so I lose weight that way and then I usually don’t eat a lot,” junior Izaak Hunsley said.
For a wrestler, everything counts even the amount of water they drink. Water makes up 60 percent of a male body, and that means they have to cut down how much they drink.
“Not eating is tough but not being able to drink water is the hardest part,” Hunsley said.
The dedication they make by not eating, drinking, or even at times having a social life. They manage to put everything aside to make weight no matter how hard.
“It is difficult getting to the end of the week when you’re really close to weight because it’s hard to focus,” Pape said.
No matter the process they stick with it and try hard to keep going.
“It’s tough, but I always end up making it and pushing through, but it definitely gets tough for sure,” Hunsley said.
