Wrestling Break Alert

Breaks through the school year are looked forward to by the student body but these breaks harm the performance of some student-athletes. While many of us enjoy and are relieved when we have breaks others are impacted and not always in the best ways. One group of student-athletes that get impacted by the break are members of the wrestling team. Wrestlers need to maintain a certain body weight to fit into one of fifteen weight classes that permits them to wrestler against the weight class on the opposing team. The weight class is a safety measure to ensure there is no mismatch in the weight and have wrestlers around the same size range competing.

Gavindra Bhagwandeen, a member of the wrestling, said that before he started wrestling his daily life consisted of “ going to school, going home, and playing games.”

In addition, he described himself as being “pretty fat back then.” Being involved in wrestling he has noticed a big change in his body and daily activity but remember having a school break while being in wrestling, was “hell.” The school breaks didn’t affect his weight class but with the most recent winter break he said “ I was about 10 pounds over” and that it’s “ tough at the moment.” Being sick during a portion of the break impacted his eating habits and now he’s wearing layers and working out a lot more than he usually would to try and shed those extra pounds. In addition to that, he said “starving yourself the night before a match just to make weight.”

Gavindra Bhagwandeen on November 17,2018 at a tournament.  Photographer: Grace Mc Nally

Gavindra Bhagwandeen on November 17,2018 at a tournament.
Photographer: Grace McNally

Another member of the wrestling team, Odesh Dhanpaul, said, “ weight didn’t change much”  but said he felt “way slower.” His strength felt the same but if he had not meant his weight class he would be working out a lot more and probably won’t eat food for a day.

A break is looked forward to, but days off impact wrestlers greatly and reversing these changes can be difficult and take a lot of work.

Kenya Leon

My name is Kenya Leon and I’m involved in sport teams like Soccer, Softball, and Basketball.I l love being involved in sport related activities and that’s why I’ve chosen to write in the sports section. Aside from sport my favorite pastimes are reading fiction books, watching Friends and listening to music.