For us mere mortals - and a few certified coach potatoes - the weight loss numbers can look crazy, and we've all heard stories (mostly from 20 years ago) of high school wrestlers dehydrating in scary ways to make weight.

But what I've seen first hand with the VT wrestlers (and other D1 wrestlers) is that they really know how to control and manage their weight. The one thing to realize about the weight loss is this: The workouts (both on the mat and in the weight room) that these guys do on a regular basis has them burning Michael Phelps level calories on a daily basis. They need to eat A LOT just to maintain weight during these workouts. If they need to lose pounds, they mostly just have to scale back food intake. Sure, sometimes they have to go extreme for a few days if they have not managed it well, but the focus of the coaches and the more experienced wrestlers is fully controlled maintenance within a range that they (a) can carry a few extra pounds most of the time, and (b) stay within a range that they can drop the extra pounds with just a few days of discipline. Doesn't work all the time, but that is the goal.