Like most high school sports, wrestling requires strenuous practices, dedication, and mental toughness. However, it's the only sport where weight matters to compete.

High school wrestlers must weigh in at a specific weight class to participate in competition. In most cases, wrestlers choose to lose a lot of weight to gain a bigger advantage at a lower weight class.

For wrestlers at Wai`anae High School, weight maintenance has been an issue. "I weigh about 180 right now, but I'm going to wrestle at 160 because it would be better for me," varsity wrestler Kanoa Matutino said. He plans to cut about 15 to 20 pounds.

The theory, according to Seariders who wrestle is that a wrestler who cuts weight to compete in the lightest possible weight class is stronger than an athlete who competes at the natural weight in that weight class. The time they have to lose the weight is the biggest issue.

When normal exercise is not enough to lose the weight, some wrestlers resort to desperate methods such as extra running, skipping meals, consuming laxatives, spitting, going to the sauna and other creative techniques. "Sometimes I take X-Lax," Matutino explained. "I usually lose about four to five pounds after taking it."

"I have to wear a sweat belt to practice every day," said junior Fuschia Keli'ikipi. She has also skipped meals just to "make weight."

Coach Jeremy Johns believes that these methods are harmful. "Wrestlers try to lose the weight the wrong way, they tend to get dehydrated and they lose a lot of energy," Johns said. "I don't encourage this type of weight loss, but sometimes they have to do it."

Although Seariders have not experienced it, losing too much weight too soon can be fatal. Joseph LaRosa was one wrestler whose death in 1997 brought up questions about athletes' means of weight loss. The Wisconsin athlete was trying to cut four and a half pounds between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m. for a meet that same morning. Shortly after, he collapsed and died.

"Most times wrestlers look towards rapid loss of water weight. They sweat to lose about six to eight pounds in a two to three hour time frame," Johns said. "It's not healthy."

To prevent such incidents from happening, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) implemented weight monitoring programs in 2007 that wrestlers are instructed to follow. It does not allow them to lose too much weight at one time. Still, athletes have managed to work their way around the system when they have failed to follow their diets.

"Poor diets is the main reason why they're having trouble cutting weight," Johns said. "Wrestlers have a lot of discipline on the mat, but they're not disciplined off the mat."

HHSAA wrestlers wrestle at specific weight classes ranging from 108 pounds to 285 pounds for boys, and 98 pounds to 220 pounds for girls.

Johns explained that wrestlers lose the weight for that weekend only, then gain it back after the tournament is over. The same happens week after week.

"In previous years, there's been times where I had a wrestler that had to cut about  17 to 18 pounds in one week to compete in a tournament that weekend," Johns said.

Johns scheduled a nutrition meeting for the team before the season started. It helped wrestlers schedule a meal plan for a low calorie diet. However, it is the wrestlers who decide whether to follow it or not.

"If they just diet and exercise the right way then it would be a lot easier," Johns said.