NCAA adjusts wrestling rules

Less than six months after the deaths of Michigan wrestler Jefferey Reese and two other collegiate wrestlers, members of two NCAA committees presented yesterday official recommendations to improve the safety of collegiate wrestling.

Most of the six recommendations reaffirm ones enforced by the NCAA in January. They also mirror changes - including the banning of rubber suits, self-induced vomiting and the use of laxatives - made to the Michigan wrestling program several months ago.

One of the changes includes adjustments to the sport's 10 weight classes. NCAA officials said they were made to reflect the current pool of high school seniors entering collegiate wrestling, as opposed to wrestlers entering the sport when the classes were originally set.

"We've already had three deaths in this sport and we're trying to prevent them as best we can and certainly people have to be aware that when they try to subvert roles and try to do things to gain a competitive advantage, some times they may endanger their health in the process," said Bryan Smith, a member of the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

The recommendations are being forwarded to the NCAA's championships committees for approval in the coming months. For the recommendations to be mandated at the University and other institutions, the divisions' championship committees will have to approve the changes.

The report was presented by the NCAA's Wrestling Rules Committee and the organization's competitive safeguards committee.

"I'm very happy with everything that was done," said Michigan wrestling coach Dale Bahr. "Everything that was suggested by the Big Ten and the University to the NCAA was implemented, and in some cases, it was taken even further."

The recommendations come at the end of a school year marked by tragedy at the University and throughout the college wrestling world.

Reese, a Kinesiology junior, died Dec. 9 after working out in excess to shed pounds to qualify for a lower weight class.

Reese was using a sauna and wearing a rubber suit for an extended time period shortly before he collapsed.

Less than two months prior to Reese's death, two other collegiate wrestlers - Billy Saylor of Campbell University in North Carolina and Joe LaRosa of the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse - died under similar circumstances.

"All of these changes are to insure safer conditions and a safe future for our sport," Bahr said. "There will be a lot of paperwork to get used to, but that's OK with me."

Athletic department officials have pledged to change the Michigan wrestling program - regardless of nationwide recommendations.

"We've already committed to practicing ... medicine in this way," said Associate Surgery Prof. Stephen Papadopoulos, a member of the Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics. "From a competitive viewpoint, it's nice to know everybody else is going to do the same."

Papadopoulos, who also served on the University's wrestling task force, said he is not only pleased with the changes but also with the NCAA's timeliness in making the recommendations.

Mike Moyer, chair of the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee, said three guidelines drove committee members' decisions.

"The first principle is to eliminate from the sport of wrestling any and all practices, activities and devices that could potentially risk the health of the participants," Moyer said. "The second principle was the focus in our sport should be on competition and not on weight loss, and the third principle was to make sure all rules were practical, effective and enforceable."

In addition to adjustments made to the 10 weight classes, the NCAA committee made the following key recommendations:

n Banning of practice rooms that exceed 75 degrees,

n The initiation of a preliminary weight-assessment program during Oct. 1-7, taking into account body weight, body fat and gravity of urine. Wrestlers' minimum wrestling weight would be determined from these factors. The committee suggests wrestlers not lose more than 1.5 percent of body weight per week. The process would be repeated in December.

n Holding weigh-ins for dual matches one hour before the start of the first match and having a random draw decide which wrestlers are weighed-in first. For tournaments, weigh-ins would occur two hours before the first match.

n Requiring all coaches to be certified in cardio pulmonary resuscitation and first aid.

Moyer said that although the recommendations will not solve all safety problems, they are steps in the right direction.

"I think we all recognize that these changes may not be the very end," Moyer said. "There may be some additional changes that need to occur, but we're well on our way to certainly making the necessary changes that address our three guiding principles."

- Daily Sports Writer Jordan Field contributed to this report.

04-14-98