INTRODUCTION: Wrestling weight categories are created to ensure approximately equal condition for competitors in wrestling bouts during competitions. This study presents a review of the distribution of participants into weight categories among schoolboy wrestlers during last six years at the Croatian national Greco-Roman wrestling championships. PURPOSE: The main goal of this research was to propose new unofficial weight categories of schoolboy wrestlers who participate in the national championships. METHODS: The number of wrestlers in each weight category was analysed during the Croatian national Greco-Roman wrestling championship in the last six years. Descriptive parameters were calculated and Chi-square test was conducted at the statistical significance level of p .05. RESULTS: A smaller number of wrestlers was revealed in lower categories, while the number of wrestlers in middle and higher categories was bigger. The analysed results showed significant frequency deviation from the expected number of wrestlers in each weight category of the age groups of schoolboys. Significant deviation was found in seven out of eleven weight categories. A smaller number wrestlers in lower weight categories and a higher number of wrestlers in the official middle and heavy weight categories is probably due to the increased number of children with higher body weight in Croatia. Reason for the decreasing number of wrestlers every year can be withdrawal from wrestling in the first five years of training. Withdrawal from wrestling can be caused by unreal expectations, insufficient motivation, excessive participation in wrestling tournaments, body mass reduction for competitions and by a small number of weight categories at championships. CONCLUSSION: Correction of weight categories is important to prevent withdrawal from wrestling, to increase motivation and decrease occurrence of body mass reduction in young wrestlers. Therefore we propose to retain the existing weight classes, according to UWW, and to introduce four new weight categories (50 kg, 53 kg, 62 kg and 100 kg) as the unofficial weight categories at national, regional and municipal competitions for the age group of schoolboys.
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