Can Ben K make 197 lbs next year?

[bourbon n blues]

OH, OK, Yes I too am a Powerlifter. started after my college wrestling career ended as did many wrestlers back in the day. Have had goo success at local drug free meets over the years.

Was taught be my father to LIFT and GET STRONGER instead of cutting weight! He was dead on when it came to this. Over the years I would try and explain this. The easiest way is to ask why kids cut weight? The main reason is STRENGTH or lack of. While there could be other factors such as making Varsity, or avoiding a Spencer Lee for example. The main reason to do it is because you feel you will be better off down lower and that is not because lighter guys skills aren't as good!

So it seems that your son was making a mistake and I have seen it so many times. When he did the Powerlifting, what was his age, weight class and best lifts? I like to compare numbers whenever I can to kids I train. My son, who just finished up his HS Soph wrestling season at 172. He does not power lift yet but hit these numbers as a freshman at about 180. 275 Bench, 475 Deadlift. We did not take a heavy single in the Squat but was doing Reps of 5s in the mid 300s.

He hasn’t lifted in many meets but as a raw 132 lber he did a 245/155/365 I think . He missed some thirds that year. When he bumped up to 148 he was lifting heavier and continued until he was 200 ish. He suffered from some injuries while working ( as an engineer he often traveled ) and couldn’t just powerlift but he’s done what he could do .
His best deadlift was in the high 500s maybe 570? Prior to getting hurt while he weighed about 200. Now he dabbles in training combined with trail running.
Basically after wrestling he’d only cut 5-10 lbs if that and lift. From 16 he weighed 140 or so and he ended up around 200 lbs. he also grew 6” in height. Now I think he’s around a solid 185.
In his case, for his wrestling team, there was an experienced guy at around 140. So they had him move down. He wasn’t given a chance to wrestle at that weight or even learn and sit on the bench for a while because they had an open spot at that weight.

 

[PD4thespawn]

My kid had no choice and I wasn’t going to force him to quit. When he was done with wrestling he went into a powerlifting meet. His weight was near 140 and he went down to 132. This was a 24 hour weigh in federation so the cut was easy. As soon as he weighed in we ate and hydrated.
That was easy. After his junior year he just quit and concentrated on academics. He was on the varsity rowing team at Lehigh one year but again decided after that season to just workout and study. He’s an aerospace engineer now and doing well.

So he couldn't get into Harvard?