New style uniforms hit the mat with Berg Middle School team

Gavin Slycord is a traditionalist. Caleb Wilkins not so much.

Slycord and Wilkins are eighth-grade wrestlers on the Newton Berg Middle School wrestling team. Slycord is the “veteran” wrestler of the two as Wilkins competed in his first season of the sport this winter.

The Newton team was one of a few Iowa wrestling teams to offer members an option of wearing the traditional singlet or the newly-approved two-piece uniforms of compression shorts and matching, form-fitting compression shirts. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) passed the new uniform rule in May.

High school and middle school wrestlers across the country have the option to wear either the traditional one-piece singlet or the new two-piece uniform.

“I’ve been wearing a singlet since I could wrestle. My brothers wore them when they wrestled,” Slycord said. “I think we should all keep wearing singlets because that’s how it always has been. I don’t like the shorts and shirt uniforms mainly because the short material is slicker so it’s tough to get takedown shots in.”

Wilkins said he didn’t like the shape of the singlets. He did admit singlets allow wrestlers move faster because they fit tighter.

“I chose the shorts and shirts because I’m more comfortable in them. When you’re down on the mat, the shorts don’t bother you,” Wilkins said. “I just prefer the shirt and shorts.”

Newton’s middle school team was about half and half in wearing the singlets and the new uniform this season. The Cardinals finished a solid season on Tuesday.

“With the rule change, we gave those out for the team this season the option of which one they want to wear. Most of the eighth-graders who wrestled last year chose the singlets,” Berg Middle School head coach Cooper Heath said. “My plan for next year is to have all our wrestlers in the two-piece uniforms.”

Heath said the thinking behind the uniform rule change was to encourage more boys ad girls to go out for wrestling. He said the singlet is not for everyone and might discourage youth from trying the sport.

“You see more and more of the two-piece uniform being used and a lot of states have gone to the option. We’d like to see more kids — both boys and girls — out for the sport. With the new uniform, I think more kids will feel comfortable wearing it over a singlet.”

Here are the NFHS requirements for the two-piece uniforms:

“The compression shorts or shorts designed for wrestling shall be school-issued and shall have a minimum 4-inch inseam that does not extend below the knee. The form-fitted compression shirt shall not cover or extend below the elbow and shall have a minimum 3-inch tail. The shirt may be worn under a singlet or with compression shorts or shorts designed for wrestling.”

Newton High head wrestling coach Andy Swedenhjelm said the school just purchased new singlets a few years ago. The high school team did not switch to the new uniforms this season.

“I think that the kids feel more comfortable in it They get used to wearing similar attire in practice, so it translates to the competition field a little more,” Swedenhjelm said. “They also like the look of new uniforms. We talked a little bit about it this past week, and the kids were overwhelmingly in support of having them, especially as an alternate or championship uniform.”

Heath said during the middle school wrestling season, there were three other schools Newton competed against which had them. He said he expected the usage of the two-piece uniform to grow each year.

None of the area high school wrestling teams — Colfax-Mingo, Lynnville-Sully, Prairie City-Monroe and Baxter — have the two-piece uniforms. Colfax-Mingo head coach Erin Hume and Lynnville-Sully head coach Jason Walston told the Newton Daily News they prefer singlets.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com