Winning vs long term

[mattman]

http://www.jordanburroughs.com/blog/why-cut-move-up
Cutting weight is no good, especially in prepubescent children! The long term effects and health hazards it can put on a child's body is very dangerous! So many parents put winning first at a young age that they try to pull the weight off a skinny 50,60,70 lb kid just to be sure their son is the biggest kid in the class or to dodge another wrestler. The youth states is a great thing because at this age winning a state title is huge to the kids and teaches them to be competitive and work hard! On the other hand, it doesn't matter if your first or fifth. Teach the kids the fundamentals and strategy of the sport and if they are 68lbs let them wrestle 70 instead of 65. Wrestling the bigger kids will only benefit them in the long run when it counts. I guarantee that when your child goes on a recruiting trip the coach will not ask how you placed in the state tournament when you were 10-12 years old. My son recently received a serious concussion and it totally changed my way of thinking about wrestling and life in general. Scared me to death! If your son/daughter takes a hard hit to the head make sure to see a neurologist and make sure everything is ok because a concussion is a traumatic brain injury and they are nothing to sweep under the rug! Make wrestling fun for the kids because wrestling is tough enough as it is! Add cutting weight to a physically demanding sport and I guarantee its not fun anymore! Good luck to all in Huntington

[Gator]

I had the pleasure to meet and spend a little time talking to Jordan Burroughs a couple of years back. What a very nice man. He is so humble having accomplished all he has. Good article and some good advise Mattman!

[James]

Good post Matt. We have done very little weight cutting. Usually 1 tourney a year, the outcome is usually an exhausted weak wrestler in our case. We think of Pickle everyday and hope he is well. He has been missed in the mat room. You can not ask for a better partner than that dude. And there is no doubt he is one of the best wrestlers in the state. He has proven that a number of times. Hoping he is better.