my friend has a shimano sellus 7' MH crankbait rod. he wants to know if this rod would do okay throwing small swimbaits on every once in a while. none of the lures would be over 1 oz. what do y'all think? i wasnt really sure what to tell him so i came here to ask yall! thanks in advance!

According to the rod's specs on Dick's the rod is rated for 3/8-1 oz. so your friend should be fine.  Some rods can handle more than rated.  Only way to know is to try....with a bit of care. 

The rating state they can, then sure. As the previous post states, sometimes a rod can actually handle more or less than what min/max is.  Sounds they should be fine, I would test it to find out. 

Can't address the sellus as I don't own one, but every single rod I use for my inshore fishing I exceed the max lure weight, with zero exceptions.  Most of my rods are several years old and I use them everyday, to date no problems.  Now that I've said today will be the day I break one............lol.