Dehydration in high school girls wrestling.

Little data currently exists for the female wrestling population as the sport is ever-growing. This study is to determine the effect of dehydration on mental toughness for high school female wrestlers. Nine athletes, ages 14–17 years old, underwent two measurements of hydration status which took place at the beginning and middle of the season, and one mental toughness questionnaire completed at the end of the season. The athletes were assigned a personal unique identifier, several non-invasive measures were captured to determine hydration, and the standardized MTQ-10 questionnaire was used to determine mental toughness. A negative correlation was found between the mental toughness attributes of feeling worthwhile, coping, and looking on the bright side to the hydration measure of urine color in the mid-season measurements. No other values were deemed statistically significant. The results provide preliminary evidence that hydration status affects mental toughness and additional research is recommended.