I haven’t wrestled but my guess is the strain on your body at higher weight classes is a big factor. You just can’t sustain that output without ruining your body like Cain. Cardio doesn’t really carry either. He’s not a wrestler, and it was at altitude, but Błachowicz gassed himself out in round one trying to wrestle Poatan this week. It’s difficult to implement.
My family wrestles and currently my son competes at 215. It's a two part issue.
So few kids above 200 are athletic and when they are they usually play football in High School. So coaches grab any big kid they can get just to fill rosters.
Due to #1 the need to actually impart real training on these kids is limited. Sounds fucked up but it's true. It's a 30-50% chance my kid will have no one to compete against at matches unless they are at a state tournament. Since most of his opponents are not in shape he mostly only needs to avoid takedown attempts and then avoid having them roll on top of him when he does get them down as many lack the strength training to compete at any real level.
Now compare that to the smaller guys and you have a ton of highly athletic opponents where literally the difference in winning can be so slim that they have to really coach those kids so they can be winners. It creates a skill gap that doesn't translate to the collegiate level and beyond. Also, they get injured really easy over 215.
Feel free to disagree tho.
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Discussion: why are there so many monster wrestlers in MMA, but few in higher weight classes? | Spyke
3 replies
I haven’t wrestled but my guess is the strain on your body at higher weight classes is a big factor. You just can’t sustain that output without ruining your body like Cain. Cardio doesn’t really carry either. He’s not a wrestler, and it was at altitude, but Błachowicz gassed himself out in round one trying to wrestle Poatan this week. It’s difficult to implement.
When I was in HS my state had over 10 weightclasses under 199lbs and only 2 above it (215, 285)
My family wrestles and currently my son competes at 215. It's a two part issue.
So few kids above 200 are athletic and when they are they usually play football in High School. So coaches grab any big kid they can get just to fill rosters.
Due to #1 the need to actually impart real training on these kids is limited. Sounds fucked up but it's true. It's a 30-50% chance my kid will have no one to compete against at matches unless they are at a state tournament. Since most of his opponents are not in shape he mostly only needs to avoid takedown attempts and then avoid having them roll on top of him when he does get them down as many lack the strength training to compete at any real level.
Now compare that to the smaller guys and you have a ton of highly athletic opponents where literally the difference in winning can be so slim that they have to really coach those kids so they can be winners. It creates a skill gap that doesn't translate to the collegiate level and beyond. Also, they get injured really easy over 215.
Feel free to disagree tho.