PIAA board refers wrestling weight-class reduction to medical committee
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Thursday, May 21, 2020 | 1:19 PM
Hempfield’s Isaiah Vance greets opponent Hunter Catch of Sun Valley for the heavyweight final match in class AAA in PIAA wrestling championship on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
The PIAA board referred a proposal to reduce wrestling weight classes to the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for discussion.
The proposal would cut the number of weights from 14 to 13.
The PIAA would maintain weight classes 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152 and 160 pounds. However, it would modify the upper weights. Rather than 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285, the PIAA would use 172, 189, 215 and 285.
The medical committee hadn’t reviewed the plan, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said.
Lombardi was optimistic that could happen soon and the proposal could return to the PIAA board for its June 15 meeting.
“I think (the board) wants a good review from the medical experts because we have a number of physicians on there that are very well versed in sport medicine for years and years and years,” Lombardi said. “Some of them have a pretty storied history in wrestling itself.”
The proposal came from the PIAA wrestling committee which met in late April and voted 13-1 in favor.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
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