Due to problems in the past with wrestlers dehydrating themselves to lose unsafe amounts of weight, CCS requires all high school wrestlers to perform a hydration test at the beginning of the season before they can compete in any league matches. This has been procedure for the past two years.

The wrestlers give a urine sample and weigh-in to get back a printout of their body mass, body fat, hydration and how much weight they are permitted to lose by the end of the season.

“It’s basically a weight management program,” Coach Randy Jimenez said. “This is a way to safely monitor their weight and make sure they don’t try to kill themselves [by losing too much weight].”

The test gives the wrestlers a timeline of how much weight they should lose per day to reach their minimum weight for the season. It also tells them what weight category they will fall into by the end of the season if they continue to follow the plan given to them.

Weight loss has always been a concern for wrestling officials. Wrestlers often cut weight in short periods of time, which can lead to dangerous physical conditions. The weight loss schedule is formatted for the wrestler to lose the fat in their body instead of the necessary muscle.

“The hydration tests are good for wrestlers; they make us conscious about how much weight weight we lose per season,” wrestler sophomore Roger Hau said.

The test helps prevent potentially harmful rapid weight loss of a wrestler in order to fall into a lighter weight class. While coaches usually know where the kids would “fall into the program” due to their weight, the hydration test is a way to “educate” the wrestlers and give “support” to the coach’s opinion of how much weight is safe for the wrestler to lose.

“Back in the days without the [hydration] test, people could just lose lots of weight,” wrestler junior Rufus Gorkhali said. “I could [have] lost 20 pounds in a week if I wanted to.”

According to Jimenez, weight isn’t a big issue for returning wrestlers who know where their weight will stand, but more for the new wrestlers who have never “been around the program before” or those who want to drastically drop into a lower weight class for an “easier” wrestling season.

The desire to move into a lower weight class may be because of the team’s move up into the higher division, making the competition within each of the classes much tougher. Despite these circumstances, the team is expecting a successful season.