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Weighing the Options Ken Wharry hopes to slim down, dramatically, for the Veterans World Wrestling Championships By Kris Henry Kids, don't try this at home. That's the message South Medford High wrestling coach Ken Wharry wants emphasized when word gets out of his recent pursuit. Much lower, in fact, necessitating the need to repeat: Kids, don't try this at home. In what's shaping up to be his final trip to the Veterans World Wrestling Championships, Wharry has plans to abandon his usual 167-pound weight class for a shot at 152. Those plans, however, do not include starving himself or putting his body in jeopardy. They involve sweating off the pounds while maintaining a strict diet. Those plans also involve a grown man with 22 years of experience at cutting weight. "It's a pretty crazy goal but if I really want to win it and it's the last time I'll compete, I've got to go for it," says Wharry. "There's no way I'd let any of my kids do this though, and they know that." Wharry will be making his third-straight trip to the Veterans Championships, with this year's event slated in Martigny, Switzerland. He leaves Medford Aug. 14, hops on the scale Aug. 15 and begins his quest Aug. 16 in the three-day tournament. Wharry finished sixth two years ago in the age 35-40 division at 167. Despite high hopes, he placed seventh last year in the same division. "I was winning a few matches but I just choked last year," admits Wharry. "I've never had a choke like that." The hard part for the former Southern Oregon University standout was returning home to friends and family wondering what happened. He's motivated to not be in that same boat this year. "That was just rough," says Wharry. "There really wasn't much to say." Should he make his desired weight, Wharry says he won't be at a loss for words this time around. "If I can hit my goal and be down at 152, there's no reason why I can't win it," he says. "Minimum I should be in the top three. I think I can still be there at 167, it's just going to be a lot harder." Beyond the expected competition at 167, Wharry's concern is that he's simply not built to compete at such a weight. By the time finals rolled around two years ago, Wharry says wrestlers in his division were up to about 188 pounds. "Every guy I've wrestled in the last couple years have been about a foot taller and 10 pounds heavier than me," says Wharry, who stands 5-foot-6. "It's just too big for me. Until Veterans, I've never wrestled above the 149-pound weight class so it's pretty tough for me." At SOU, Wharry won an NAIA national championship in 1988 at 134 pounds. He finished fourth at that weight in '87. To help reach his goal, Wharry is eating anywhere from 800 to 1,000 calories per day, with chicken, fish, vegetables and salads as his main treats. "I don't starve myself, it's just no junk food," he says. "When you're cutting weight it's very, very strict. And if you use a lot of discipline, you can do it right." Nationally, there are rules in place to restrict high school and college wrestlers from cutting too much weight. The prime concern is how detrimental such tactics can be to a body still in development. Wharry says he begins each wrestling season making parents and athletes aware of proper nutrition and weight-loss practices. "The difference here is I know my body and I'm used to cutting weight," he says. "And believe me, if it gets to the point where I realize that it's not really going to happen I won't push my body. That's the difference between me and a kid: A kid won't stop. They'll keep going and going until they get to the point of no return." Wharry need only be down to 152 for the Aug. 15 weigh-in, but if he fails he'll be put in the 167-pound blind draw. "The bad part about that is I'll be down so low and then having to go 167 will hurt my chances," he says. "Those other guys will be down from 185-190 pounds and I'll be close to the other weight (152)." Regardless, Wharry says his days at 190 are history. "I don't want to get back that high again," he says. "When I was up that heavy I started having a lot of back problems and it was hard on me." But not any harder than Wharry will be on any of his wrestlers should they try to follow in his footsteps. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.