Weight management plays a big role in wrestling. It is a popular sport at Vista del Lago and part of this sport is keeping your weight under control. It can be easy for some to maintain their weight, but it is difficult for the majority of wrestlers. Losing weight in such a small amount of time can make you feel fatigued, weak and sick; but losing weight can not only affect your performance, it can also take a toll on your schoolwork.

There is a very wide variety of weight classes for wrestlers. They try to get in the smallest class in order to have an advantage against more inexperienced wrestlers. But, they must have at least 7% body fat for a male wrestler or 12% for a female wrestler if you want to compete in matches.

Wrestlers also dehydrate themselves to lose weight fast. The problem with losing too much weight in such a short time period is that it can be very unhealthy. It can make you feel fatigued, unfocused, weak or even sick. A big downside of dehydrating is that the symptoms can take effect while you are in school. It can bring down your grades and it can make paying attention in school nearly impossible.

Those symptoms don’t stop Izzy FaGalde; it’s what she loves to do. Wrestling has always been with her, she would wrestle with her family when she was little.

“Wrestling was a bonding experience,” FaGalde said.

She believes it brings people, especially with family. Wrestling with each other as a contact sport can help bond with the people you are doing this with.

There are a lot of downsides to cutting weight in wrestling so fast, but what are some benefits?

“Wrestling can keep you in great shape,” said FaGalde.

Wrestling keeps people in great shape by making them more organized and more strategic in the way that you can eat healthier and be healthy. Instead of eating whenever they feel like it and only eating what they want, wrestlers can make a plan about it and decide what would be the best for them.

There is no ideal weight class for a wrestler. It’s all based on what they  feel most comfortable in and which one they  have the most fun in. There is sacrifice with any sport — with wrestling there is cutting weight in short amounts of time and having a hard time with managing school work and wrestling, but that’s not stopping the wrestlers at Vista.