Determining Wrestling Norms

The Researcher

Devin Roger Zimmers

AP Capstone Diploma Candidate

Class of 2026

Operational Definitions

Weight Cutting - The process of actively losing weight to make a lower weight class for competition purposes

Weight Bullying - A combat sports athlete who drops weight to gain a physical advantage over an opponent at a lower weight class

Problem Statement

Weight cutting is a commonly observed act within wrestling culture. It refers to individuals purposefully losing a set amount of weight before a competition to compete at a lower weight class. While research regarding the adverse effects of weight cutting has been well documented over the past 40 years, its action in the context of competition preparation has been established. Weight cutting concerning interpersonal

Research Question

Is weight loss greater than two pounds or “weight cutting” within the high school setting an established social norm, to be viewed as a reliable teammate within the high school setting?

Hypothesis & Assumptions

Before releasing my survey I hypothesised that individuals involved with the sport and culture of wrestling would answer the survey most accordingly with answers that favored the apparent social norm that individuals are required to cut weight to be viewed as a legitimate and reliable teammate, paired with this assumption I believed that individuals would cut weight to fit into an open varsity spot. This hypothesis had been made because of my experience with the sport of wrestling, I had spoken with individuals prior to joining the sport and I had been informed on the prevalence of weight cutting. Once I officially joined the sport i had been able to observe the prevalence of weight cutting as each upperclassmen could be viewed performing some type of weight cutting technique

Method Of Inquiry

For this research, a quantitative survey was employed to address the research question, which consisted of the following questions, preceded by an informed consent question to ensure participants were informed about the topic. The survey consisted of nine questions, that aimed to see if an individual involved with the sport of wrestling as an athlete had experienced any sort of pressure from their peers to cut weight. Survey questions were organized on a Yes No format as to be most easily identifiable and answered by athletes. The survey itself was meant to be distributed on posters, accessed via a QR code, and hung in gyms that had a popular grappling program, such as Judo, BJJ, or Wrestling of any denomination. Due to unforeseen roadblocks the ability to post flyers indoors at combat sport gyms was extremely limited and it was nessecary to post links to surveys on social platforms. Reddit was the only site used and the survey was only posted on subforums that had a focus on the sport of wrestling, or combat sports. Posts were titled as follows “Hello! I am an AP Research student investigating whether a standard exists in high school wrestling. My goal is to investigate whether there is an established social norm among high school wrestlers that teammates must cut weight to be deemed valuable by their peers. Below, I have linked a survey that will help contribute to my research. Please only complete this survey if you have wrestled in high school for at least a full season.” I had formatted a separate statement to align with the comments of a post, “Yo, if you’re interested in helping scientific research in the sport of wrestling, consider taking my survey. It's super surface-level and benefits everyone involved in the sport.”.

Significance Of Study/Gap

This study will help determine other factors related to weight cutting outside of preparation for a competition. Current literature surrounding the topic of weight cutting has a sole focus on the process and methods by which athletes lose weight, furthermore the consideration of why individuals cut weight had not been assessed. It is important to mention that a definite divide between the amount of weight lost and the age at which weight cutting begins between men and women. By targeting separate rationales for weight cutting support and education on the significance of weight cutting can be distributed accordingly

RESULTS AND FINDINGS/ DATA ANALYSIS

The data presented below was gathered from a Google form distributed on Reddit subforums, specifically targeting grappling combat sports and wrestling. The questions are yes-no questions. The data had been quantified through the central limit theorem, which dictated that for data to determine if a hypothesis could be proven or disproven, there must be a minimum of 30.

The first question had been answered with 55.3% of respondents answering that they had not felt a teammate was more valuable if willing to cut weight.

The second question had been answered with an unequivocal no with 76.6% of respondents answering that they had not felt a teammate was any less valuable if they were unwilling to cut

The third question had been answered yet again with a resounding no, with 87.2% of respondents answering that an individual is not required to cut weight to be viewed as a legitimate wrestler.

The fourth question had been again answered no, with 91.3% of respondents answering that they have never felt the need to cut weight in order to be accepted by their peers

The fifth question had been answered no, with 87% of respondents answering that they had not cut weight as a result of peer pressure

Question six, while not meeting the requirements for the central limit theorem had still be answered no by a wide majority of those who had answered it, indicating that cutting weight would likely not elicit a positive response

Question seven had been answered yes, as most indicated that they had made a weight cut to fit into a varsity spot, with 73.9% of respondents answering yes.

Question eight had been answered yes in opposition to the previous answer trend of questions, being answered by 65.2% of respondents who felt a teammate should cut weight to benefit the team.

Question nine was answered 'no', with 72.3% of respondents indicating that they had not felt any pressure from a member of their team to cut weight, including teammates, managers, or coaches.

CONCLUSIONS

This research project was prominently aimed to see if individuals had experienced some sort of pressure form their peers to cut weight, peers being defined as any member of their team (Coaches, Teammates, Managerial Body). Through a quantitative survey designed to answer this question, I was able to determine that a majority of those involved with the sort of wrestling do not feel pressure from their team to cut weight, however most individuals had cut weight to fit into an open varsity spot, while also maintaining they felt a teammate should cut weight in order to benefit the team, my research while juvenile presents a clear bias in the topic of inquiry

Moving Forward

Moving forward with this research i feel it is imperative certain steps are taken in order for data collection and the distribution of survey sources to be more precise. It would be beneficial of, in the place of surveys, a qualitative survey is conducted in the form of an ethnographic interview targeting whether an individual had cut weight as a result of peer interactions, furthermore a distinction between age and sex is imperative to the type of data is gathered

Significant Sources

Franchini, E., Brito, C. J., & Artioli, G. G. (2012). Weight loss in combat sports: physiological, psychological and performance effects. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 9(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-9-52

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