You are what you eat.
This common saying often describes the relationship between an athlete’s diet and their performance.
Wrestling, in particular, places heavy emphasis on weight by categorizing wrestlers into distinct weight classes with strict thresholds. As classes are separated by only five pounds — starting from 106 pounds for boys’ wrestling — athletes must carefully control their weight.
For sophomore wrestler Quinn Bossow, who is in the 106-pound weight class division, maintaining his weight is key to performance. During the season, Bossow must stay within his own category or risk being placed in a heavier weight class.
“If I’m one class above [my current class], I’ll get beaten up by the bigger people [in the higher division],” Bossow said. “You have to be at the top of your weight class.”
To maintain his weight, Bossow consumes a lean diet, including food high in protein, like chicken breasts. However, Bossow’s experience with weight management hasn’t always been smooth; some “hardcore” methods have resulted in painful side effects.
“Once, I didn’t eat food for a day, and I ended up having really bad stomach pains,” Bossow said.
Senior Keion Ashjaee-Marshall, who competes in the 215-pound weight class, uses a combination of dieting and other methods like sweating — a technique that aims to release all the moisture from an athlete’s body — to control and reduce their weight.
“Wrestling is definitely a sport where you go into it and lose ten pounds,” Ashjaee-Marshall said. “It’s a different type of shape, where you lose all your body fat and build muscle.”
During a weigh-in before a match last season, Ashjaee-Marshall realized his weight was over his intended class by 0.2 pounds, and decided to sweat out excess water weight using an insulated sweatsuit. It worked, but was tiring to use.
Through controlling his weight through diet, Ashjaee-Marshall said he has gained a greater understanding of nutrition. To gain weight, Ashjaee-Marshall recommends foods high in protein and fat, including peanut butter and avocado. To cut weight, he opts for options that are low in fat but still high in protein.
While bulking, which refers to gaining muscle weight, Ashjaee-Marshall has eaten upwards of 3,500 to 4,200 calories a day. He believes that it is necessary to bulk in order to maintain his athleticism.
“The biggest [challenge of bulking] is the mental toll. I’ve been told that I get hangry [angry as a result of being hungry] before my matches,” Ashjaee-Marshall said.
The day of a tournament, Ashjaee-Marshall and other wrestlers eat minimally, often not eating at all. This is to ensure that after a night’s rest, when the body digests everything completely, the athlete’s body weight will not change. Then, after weighing in before a match, the wrestlers are free to eat food, many of whom opt for McDonalds to get a quick calorie uptake.
“If you enjoy keeping your body healthy and you have coaches to guide you, wrestling is going to lead you in the right direction,” Ashjaee-Marshall said. “You have control over your body and it gets you in a shape that no other sport will.”
