Abstract
1442 The sport of collegiate wrestling, through work of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), has implemented a Wrestling Weight Certification (WWC) program every year since the 1998–1999 wrestling season. The primary intent of this program was to reduce the practice of unhealthy weight loss and increase the safe participation of student athletes within the sport. Previous research has been controversial as to how body composition (BC) changes over a competitive season. PURPOSE: To determine how BC changes in Division I wrestlers at West Point over a collegiate wrestling season. METHODS: Changes in BC of college-age wrestlers (N = 18, 19.2 ± 1.4 years of age, 11.4 ± 3.3 years of experience) were studied throughout the 2002–03 wrestling season (October – April). Wrestlers were divided into two groups, starters (n = 9) and non-starters (n = 9), based on the number of completed matches at the varsity level. Body density was measured four times, approximately every ten weeks via air displacement plethysmography. RESULTS: Over the competitive season, both groups displayed reductions in fat mass (FM) and BF%. Starters showed maintenance of FFM while non-starters slightly increased FFM over time. Although both groups showed a consistent reduction in body fat percentage, no significant interaction effects were seen. See Table 1 (* Starters, followed by nonstarters). CONCLUSION: Taken together, the results of this investigation demonstrate that collegiate wrestlers modify body mass by reducing FM and maintaining or increasing FFM, especially in the non-starter category. This study has shown that body composition in collegiate wrestlers can be modified to include a gain in FFM in addition to a loss in FM. The specific factors linked to this trend may be caused by the adherence to the NCAA WWC program and/or the commitment of each wrestler to the strength and conditioning program implemented by the strength and coaching staff at this institution.Table 1: Descriptive Statistics
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