High School wrestling matches are poised to have a different look next season.

While there are still steps to be taken before a shift from 14 weight classes to 13 is officially put in place, the PIAA’s board of directors moved in that direction last Wednesday when it passed on a first reading basis the wrestling steering committee’s proposal that would transform the four weight classes between 170-220 into three - 172, 189 and 215.

Area coaches weighed in on the move, meant to decrease the number of forfeits seen in matches.

“I understand the reason behind PIAA reducing the amount of weight classes,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Shawn Albert. “This does eliminate the amount of wrestlers needed to complete a full lineup. I can go both ways on the change. Eliminating a weight class does take away opportunities for wrestlers to compete. On the other hand, the large majority of high school programs are not currently filling their entire lineups.

“Changing the weights in the upper weights may help in college recruiting and for wrestlers to transition their weight class in college. I’ve always felt that 220, which becomes 222, is an odd weight for a high school senior looking to wrestle in college. They would be considered a light heavyweight, or would need to drop 25 pounds to get to 197.”

Of the eight area schools with varsity wrestling programs, seven are classified as 2A by District 11. Among area schools, only Pleasant Valley competes in Class 3A.

“The small school teams (2A) are generally the teams that are not able to field a full lineup for dual meets,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “In looking back over this past season, I would guess well over half of the AA teams in our district were not able to field a full lineup for dual meets.

“The reduction to 13 weight classes seems like it will make dual meets more competitive by reducing the number of forfeits, but only time will tell. It will make the smaller teams more competitive, but it will also make the strong teams even stronger.”

The Indians were no strangers to the struggles that many have faced filling a lineup, with Brown estimating the team forfeited between two and three bouts per match this past season.

“In prior years, we have been pretty fortunate to be able to have a complete lineup for most duals, but 106 has been the toughest weight class for us to fill,” he said. “We have struggled to fill the 106 weight class the past two seasons.

“It seems many other teams have had the opposite problem and have struggled to fill their upper weights. This past season, we had seven wrestlers between the 220 and 285 weight classes.”

While most schools will have their own set of circumstances regarding how they fill out their lineups, the possibility for logjams at certain spots might be unavoidable.

“I believe it will take opportunities from wrestlers around those weight classes,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Scott Snyder. “For example, maybe a team has four wrestlers between 172-285, and two of those wrestlers are weighing between 205-215. Considering the current weight certification requirements, there is likely not an option for one of them to get down to 189 and have a spot until after the two-pound weight allowance if at all. This results in a forfeit at 189, which is the one thing PIAA is trying to decrease.

“Those types of scenarios may discourage athletes in that position from signing up. The most important thing, in my opinion, is just finding a way to get these kids in the lineup competing, which is why they sign up and what they work so hard for. Removing a weight class is likely not the solution in that regard.”

Snyder did also point out that eliminating a weight class will simplify dual meet criteria in the event of a tie score with total bouts now being an odd number.

Palmerton’s Justin Petersen has also taken a measured approach to the change, and noted that not all forfeits are created equal.

“First and foremost, I don’t ever want to see kids lose opportunities,” Petersen said. “That being said, the upper weights have been the weaker areas in terms of talent and depth. So if we are going to take a weight class away, I think it should come from there. So I am in agreement with that. Using forfeits as a datapoint for this thought is inaccurate, I think. It can be skewed differently depending on how you analyze the data. I had a 106 (pounder) this year that I bumped up on multiple occasions. So those forfeits go into the data as 106 getting more forfeits, even though I had a guy.

“Teams can dictate where their forfeits are, or if they have one at all. It’s not necessarily about what a kid weighs. At the upper weights, if you weigh 182.1, you can wrestle 220. So even though the weight isn’t being forfeited, it isn’t a kid that would be competing there naturally. I would look more at the postseason numbers. This is where you get more quality data because you’re not going to throw someone out there if they aren’t really supposed to be at that weight most of the time.”

In analyzing the proposed weight classes, Northwestern head coach Jim Moll pointed out what could be a big issue.

“It is going to force kids to either cut a significant amount of weight to get down to 189, or wrestle up 10-15 pounds above their weight at 215,” he said. “With all the changes we have made to our sport to prevent kids from cutting weight, it does not make sense to me to create a situation that does the opposite.”

Petersen echoed Moll’s concern.

“It was 189 and 215 just back when I wrestled. Nobody had issues with it then,” he said. “We don’t have kids sucking weight up top. If you could get to 220, you can get to 215; same for 195 and 189.

“I think it would be better to maybe close the gap a little with 172 and 189, with maybe a 174 or 175.”

With the focus centered so much on the impact the change will have on duals, Moll and Petersen are keenly aware of the attention paid to the postseason, another area that could see a boost.

“While dual meets are important, we should be focusing more how we can increase participation in the postseason,” said Moll. “I loved seeing the option to enter more than one wrestler per weight class in the regular season. We took advantage of that last season when we could. We should allow more than one wrestler per weight per team in the postseason as well.”

“I don’t see this really changing the landscapes of a dual meet,” added Petersen. “What I do see is more competition in the postseason. We will have more kids in each weight class and more talent. That is exciting to me.”

Continuing to build that enthusiasm is what most believe will allow the sport to develop sustained success, regardless of the number of weight classes.

“We currently have 14 starters. No other sport has that many,” said Petersen. “Football has 11; soccer 11; basketball five; baseball 9/10, etc. If it’s OK for football to have 11 kids on the field, I think it won’t ruin ours to have 13.

“I think in the long run it will help because who wants to go watch a match that only has eight contested bouts and the winner of the dual meet is determined before the first whistle? We need to make a concerted effort to change the way we do things to make sure our sport gains more popularity.”

The move will be referred to the PIAA Sport Medicine Advisory Committee for its consideration and recommendations, which is expected to have its next meeting in June before the board of directors reconvene again. The change in weight classes would be the first since 2012.

Currently, the weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285 pounds.

The bottom line: Wrestling simply needs more wrestlers.

“We don’t have a ‘too many weight classes issue.’ We have a participation issue,” said Moll. “Small schools will have years that we have trouble fielding a full team. So yes, I guess in that situation it may seem like it will help. But it is going to hurt as many, if not more, teams than it helps. It will literally be decreasing opportunities for wrestlers throughout the state.

“As far as the impact it would have on me as a coach making a lineup: I don’t think it helps me. It doesn’t make my job easier to have one less weight class. I’ve been at Northwestern for 14 years. Some years it might have helped to have one less weight class, and some years it would have hurt. I think having the weight class I can’t fill is better than having to take a wrestling opportunity away from a kid who otherwise would get a chance to compete.”