Understanding weight classes and Championships

Many spectators have recently been asking UNION WRESTLING what are the weight classes and how do championship matches get decided.

Put simply, weight classes allow for fairer contests between competitors of a similar size. Wrestlers can then compete for their weight class Championship, dependent on their Wrestling win record scores, when a Championship Title match becomes available.

Wrestlers earn points in all bouts they compete in sanctioned by the British & European Wrestling Commission. 3 points are scored for a win, 1 point if the contest is a draw. If fighting a Wrestler a weight class above themselves, they will receive 1 added point for a win or a draw. Two weight classes above would be two added points and so on. Wrestlers fighting any weight class below themselves can only earn a maximum of 2 points for the win and 1 point for the draw.

A Wrestler must earn the minimum of 200 points in a period of 6 months before being allowed to apply for a Championship match in their own weight class or above.

The official weight divisions are as follows:

LIGHTWEIGHT: Up to 70Kg

WELTERWEIGHT: 70-75Kg

MIDDLEWEIGHT: 75-80Kg

HEAVY MIDDLEWEIGHT: 80-85Kg

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: 85-90Kg

MID-HEAVYWEIGHT: 90-95Kg

HEAVYWEIGHT: Above 95Kg

We hope this explanation of weight class system is helpful to all our grappling fans!