By Ed Piper
At this writing (Mon., Nov. 13), the Viking wrestlers have their annual weight assessment conducted at Clairemont High at 3:45 p.m. That's a good thing.
In the old days, when I was in high school (though not wrestling), wrestling athletes could balloon way up during the season, and then drastically drop their weight overnight in anticipation of "making weight" for a big meet the next day. That isn't good.
I once witnessed a classmate who was on the school's wrestling team (this is in Ventura County, which is in the CIF Southern Section) running in the activity room (part of our P.E. facilities behind the gym) with a plastic suit on. He had asked for the room to be heated up as warm as possible, and he was jogging in place, etc., in an effort to dramatically drop his weight for the next day's meet.
It was a vivid picture from my younger days. I was relieved, when I began to take photos of La Jolla's program in 2013, to find that the rules had all changed and you could no longer endanger your health with such a reckless maneuver in a high school sport.
The permission form for Viking wrestlers on weight is quite extensive. The coach signs, after each wrestler's personal physician (who hopefully knows the individual), in a line of responsibility and checks-and-balances to try to help ensure the safety of each competitor. The thoroughness of the checks on the form impressed me as I looked at the packet emailed to each family by head coach Kellen Delaney.
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