Sophomore Rawlison Zhang’s stomach growls.  The only thing he’s eaten in the past two days is water, Pedialyte, and half an energy bar. He sits in the cafeteria as his mouth begins to water while he watches students eat fries, burgers, and pizza.

“Wrestlers have certain weight requirements. This week is the first week I’ve had to actually cut weight, like not eat, so I haven’t eaten for the past two days,” Zhang said.

Wrestlers have to weigh in before every match. Their weight determines which weight class they can enter and who they can and cannot wrestle. In addition, only a certain number of wrestlers can be in each weight class.

According to Zhang, the physical, mental, and emotional affects from not eating have been minimal.

“For me, I’m a little bit tired, and I just have to be running a lot, so my legs are really sore, heavy. I kind of zone out a little bit, but it’s not that bad,” Zhang said.

Because he hasn’t had very much homework, the biggest burden is that “I constantly have to think about my weight.”

This all came about when his coach wanted him to drop down a weight class.

“He usually asks you if you can do it. He just checks with you if you’re willing to go down a weight,” Zhang said.

Head coach of the wrestling team Keith Watson says that none of his wrestlers are presently involved with starving themselves to make weight.

“That is a misconception, [starving yourself] doesn’t work. What we consider starving ourselves is probably different from what you would consider it to be,” Watson said.

“It is very important that my players make weight. There are 14 weight classes, and every player has one to make. If they don’t it throws everything into a tailspin,” Watson said. “It’s all about self-control.”

There are many reasons for Zhang wanting to drop a weight class. For one, it’s easier to wrestle against smaller guys.

“If you’re at like the very tip of the weight class, it could be much easier to wrestle. Plus, if you have less body fat you can move faster, and have more muscle,” he said.

In addition, he explains he needs to cut weight so he can take forfeits for another player on his team who is “really good.”

“A lot of teams usually forfeit to him, so I can take his forfeit and he can bump up and wrestle someone else,” Zhang said.

While Zhang has changed his diet, he is also exercising more.

“I had practice from like 3:05 p.m. till 5:30 p.m. and then after that I had to run for an hour, because I was 179 and I need to be around 174 or 173. [Watson] asked me if I really wanted to go down, so I said ‘yeah, sure,’ so I just ran,” Zhang said.

Zhang is not the only wrestler who stopped eating to lose weight. Senior Jay Etkins has also had to cut weight for matches. He said that last year he lost ten pounds in 24 hours. This year he said he is much healthier, losing seven pounds spread over seven days.

“During school it’s hard to concentrate because I’m thinking about eating and drinking. It’s terrible when you are hungry or thirsty,” Etkins said.

During the match, Etkins said that “the adrenaline rush overcomes the physical fatigue.”

On the other hand, some wrestlers do not cut weight. Sophomore Chris Almony said he does not cut weight.

According to Zhang, his friends haven’t really noticed. With his large amount of off mods, “they assume that I ate already.”

For him, the hunger is not a constant challenge.

“Usually, if I’m doing something, I don’t really care, but if I’m in the cafeteria watching everybody else eat then, I’m going to get hungry,” he said.

“Wrestling has always been a sport where people deprive themselves and binge afterwards [to make weight],” health teacher Teresa Gauthier said. “However, I do think it has gotten better. It should be a combined effort with the parents and coaches [to keep the players healthy]. Not every wrestler does it. Many maintain a normal weight without it.”

As far as the negative consequences of the starving and binge eating goes, Gauthier said, “they can develop poor eating habits and it can affect their schoolwork and studying as well.”

Vice Principal of Academics Gary Scholl openly shares his experience as a wrestler struggling to make his weight class in high school.

“In my freshman year, I wrestled at 98 pounds,” Scholl said. “For my sophomore year, I was 112 pounds and had to cut down to 103 to make varsity. I was so tired that one day I told my biology teacher that I was cutting weight, and so she called my coach and he told me to go home and eat. Then by my senior year, I was tired of cutting weight. I remember walking down the aisles of grocery store thinking about all of the food I would eat,” Scholl said.

When he became a wrestling coach himself, Scholl was determined to keep his players healthy.

“No sweat gear was allowed during practice. If you didn’t make weight, you couldn’t challenge it,” Scholl said.

“In this day and age, the physicians will decide what weight is right for the player. They are trying to keep it healthy, get their weight down and keep it down,” Scholl said.

Hope Kelly and Lauren Fabiszak are In-Depth Editors for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.