Wrestling Blogs - Jennifer Chapman

Can't quite remember how this idea came up but since nothing is going on this week it seems like a pretty good week to try it out.

Shooting a documentary on the CMU wrestling program has been an eye opening experience about the sport of wrestling for me. One of the most interesting components has been seeing the guys "cut" weight. Often times I'll come into the practice room to get some footage and the place feels like a sauna, the guys looked like they just got out of the pool. The sport demands both mental and physical toughness but the idea of maintaining a weight or at least knowing where you are at earlier in the week takes the sport to a different level. For one week I thought I would challenge myself to "make weight" and see if I had what it takes to cut down and then be able to do something for 7 minutes. So this week I will try to make 112 lbs since that is a high school weight class. My natural weight usually falls somewhere between 117-119. Monday morning I started at 119! So I have 7lbs to take off, and the guys will be helping me do it the right way. On Saturday morning, I'll weigh in, have an hour to get ready, and then I have to run on the track for 7 mins, seeing how much I can get in. Today was day 3 of getting ready as I try to take the weight off by cutting back on calories, eating healthier, and getting in some good hard sweating workouts.

I woke up this morning and was 119.2. I swam for an hour but was still high 118. Assistant coach Brandon Sinnott, helped me get through my morning wrestling workout.

Side note: Tonight I did another 30mins in the wrestling room and weighed out at 115.0!!