Section V wrestling needs referees and has new weight classes and weigh-in tracking
The demand for high school officials to work games and matches has been high for years, if not a decade.
The Section 5 Wrestling Officials Association has pulled in "good people" in recent years, according to the organization's executive secretary Frank Marotta.
The association would like to draw in more:
Section 5 Wrestling Officials Association training classes begin Oct. 16, "for anyone interested in becoming a certified referee for high school wrestling matches," according to Marotta. For more information, contact Marotta at (585) 750-1541 or fmarotta@rochester.rr.com
The Section 5 Wrestling Officials Association has and plans to work matches in the growing sport of girls wrestling.
"Wrestling is wrestling," Marotta said. "I don't care who you are, as long as you are committed and receive the training to protect the wrestlers.
"Wrestling officials have never been better, because of the training they receive."
Section V executive director Kathy Hoyt said there are signs of interest in officiating high school games and matches in a handful of sports.
"The good news is that many of the boards (groups of officials) have a lot of new officials this year, which is great," Hoyt said. "We always need more."
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High school officials in area sports are under the jurisdiction of the United Sports Board Council, instead of Section V. But clearly, the organizations and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, which sanctions high school sports, need to work together to solve this issue.
"It's improved a little bit but there is a long way to go," United Sports Board Council president Nick Tochelli said. "There is still a need."
New in high school wrestling
Weight watching is very important in wrestling, so there is little surprise that two of the largest changes in Section V wrestling involve pounds.
High school coaches have a new method of tracking the weights of wrestlers. Victor coach and Monroe County league wrestling chairman Craig Kaper said it's the adoption of the system used at the collegiate levels.
"There is a process to make a weight, so there is no crashing to make a weight," Kaper said. "There is a lot of documentation. Every weigh-in will go into trackwrestling.com now."
These are the weight classes in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, that includes Section V. The numbers in bold mark a different figure than one used in 2022-23:
101, 108, 116, 124, 131, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 190, 215, 285
"New York State is going to Federation classes, they adopted the same weights as other states," Kaper said.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V wrestling needs referees and has new weight classes in 2023
