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Coach Brian Smith will gather his Missouri wrestlers for a team meal tonight in anticipation of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Thursday through Saturday at Scottrade Center. The pre-tourney dinner has become a ritual for the Tigers, and the table will be especially full and boisterous this year because Missouri is the only team to qualify wrestlers in all 10 weight classes.

What a change from Smith's competitive days at Michigan State in the late 1980s and early '90s.

"The night before a meet, guys would never eat," Smith said. "We'd be trying to cut 10 pounds or more before the weigh-in. I look back and say 'I'm so glad we don't have that any more.'"

But the sport needed a triple tragedy 15 years ago to see the light.

Three collegiate wrestlers died in a span of 33 days in 1997, each trying to "cut weight." The practice involves drastic methods, such as fasting, vomiting, excessive exercise in saunas or sweat suits and other dehydrating practices, to quickly drop 10 pounds or more.

Cutting weight was viewed as a point of pride, a badge of honor, a part of the culture.

The methods caused pervasive physical side effects, including fatigue and greater risk of injury because of a lack of fluids in the joints. Though considered a sign of mental toughness, cutting weight also could exact a psychological toll.

"The kids would focus on the scale instead of wrestling," Smith said. "They would worry about how much weight they had to lose vs. how to improve technique."

The NCAA Wrestling Committee moved swiftly to enact sweeping changes in the same season, and the new rules spread to the high school level within a few years.

Among the changes:

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Wrestlers scale down on drastic weight-cutting measures

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Home » How to lose weight quickly » Wrestlers scale down on drastic weight-cutting measures