ACUTE WEIGHT-GAIN IN COLLEGIATE WRESTLERS FOLLOWING A TOURNAMENT WEIGH-IN

The purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude of weight gai ned in collegiate wrestlers between the weigh-in and beginning of tour nament competition. Body weight of the qualifiers for the NCAA Divisio n I, II, and III wrestling finals (N = 668) was recorded at the offici al weigh-in and again approximately 20 h later, before the first round of competition in the tournament. The results showed that on average (+/-SD), wrestlers gained 4.9 +/- 2.4% (3.3 +/- 1.5 kg) of body weight before competing. An inverse relationship was found such that wrestle rs in the lightest weight classes gained the most weight (kg) compared with heavier wrestlers (r = -0.45, P < 0.05). Despite the large mean weight gain, the mean discrepancy between first round opponents was 2. 1 +/- 3.0 kg and even less when heavyweight wrestlers were excluded fr om the analyses (1.5 +/- 1.2 kg, N = 607). A significant correlation b etween weight gain and weight discrepancy of opponents was found (r = 0.65, P < 0.05). Conclusion: collegiate wrestlers, excluding heavyweig hts, gained significant amounts of weight (3.7 kg average) during the 20-h period prior to tournament competition. The magnitude of weight g ain was positively correlated to the degree of weight discrepancy (siz e advantage) over the opponent; however, because weight gain of some m agnitude after the weigh-in was common in most participants, the avera ge discrepancy between opponents was only about 1.5 kg.