5 Wrestlers Who Would Have Benefited From The 118 lbs Weight Class

We've seen it numerous amounts of times in wrestling. A wrestler will struggle with bigger, stronger opponents and then drop down a weight class to be more competitive. Yet, if you are at 125 lbs, collegiate wrestling's lowest weight class, there is no going down.

At one time the NCAA had a 118 lbs weight class. If you go back far enough, 115 lbs. This weight class lasted through the 1997-1998 season. After the death of three wrestlers, all of whom died from excessive weight cutting, the wrestling community decided to reevaluate the weight classes and make changes to reflect health and safety. The 118 lbs weight class was eliminated.

Most agree with the changes that were made. The pros of the decision have been illustrated well in the past twenty years. Not everyone is happy though. Ask NCAA champion and 1982 World Bronze Medalist Joe Gonzalez his opinion on the elimination of the 118 lbs weight class. He'll tell you how he feels.

"Wrestling is one of the only sports that gives small, short guys an opportunity to show how good of athletes they are." Says the former Road Runner. "Eliminating 118 lbs is discriminating to the kids that finish their high school career wrestling at a lower weight class. It's like college wrestling is telling those kids they aren't welcome. It is very exclusionary. It isn't right."

 Gonzalez has a point. Wrestlers that wrestled in yesteryear's 103 lbs or 112 lbs weight class as seniors had a weight class they could naturally grow into at 118 lbs. Today's seniors that graduate at 106 lbs would be able to as well.

The truth is, not everyone is big enough to be a 125 lbs wrestler. Not everyone can put on enough size and strength in order to be competitive at the weight class. Looking over the past 19 years, there have been a number of wrestlers who would have benefited from a 118 lbs weight class. We'll take a look at five of those wrestlers.

Jesse Miramontes

The current MMA fighter, Jesse Miramontes had an impressive arsenal of upper-body maneuvers, including a nasty cement mixer that he surprised quite a few opponents with during his time at Cal State Fullerton. Matter of fact, he upset his way to a PAC-12 title in 2004 using the move. Yet the element of surprise is all he had. His small stature and undersized build made it difficult for him to execute his techniques against larger opponents. Had he wrestled during a time when the 118 lbs weight class was still in existence, he would have fared better as a collegiate wrestler. Probably would have racked up a lot more pins too.

Eric Olanowski

Eric Olanowski is another wrestler that comes to mind. He was one of the best 112 lbs wrestlers in the entire country when he graduated high school in 2007. Gaining six pounds to wrestler at 118 would have been a more realistic and doable task than was the trying to put on the 13 lbs to wrestle at 125. If you watch any of his matches, you'll notice that his techniques are there, he simply didn't have the size or strength to execute them effectively.

Thomas Williams

Jermaine Jones (No picture could be found) and Thomas Williams fall into the same category. Both were standout wrestlers in high school whose collegiate careers never rose to the heights that they should have because neither was suited for 125 lbs. Had 118 lbs still been a weight class during their time, both Jones at Ohio State and Williams at American would likely have been stars.

Luke Smith

When it comes to the long list of great talents that never achieved All American honors, the reasons as to why vary greatly. In the case of former Central Michigan Chippewa Luke Smith, there not being a 118 lbs weight class is why. Despite being smaller and almost always giving up both size and strength, Smith still managed to be rather competitive at 125 lbs. He had many quality victories over highly ranked opponents and finished in the top twelve at the NCAA tournament. Had Smith had the option of wrestling at 118 lbs, he likely would have contended for an NCAA title.



Of course this is all speculation and a subjective view of what could have been. 125 lbs isn't going anywhere as college wrestling's lowest weight class. The chances of 118 lbs ever coming back to wrestling may not be 0%, but they might as well be. The point of this article isn't to campaign for the return of 118 lbs. It is simply to make point that there were cons to the elimination of the weight class and despite the many positives that came about, there were negatives too.

And with the question already being begged at this time, it might as well be asked.

Who over the years would have benefited from a 241 lbs weight class? Who would have benefited from a time when the HWT class had no weight limit?