So, since last week’s impressive performance at the Olympics for Team USA Wrestling, more specifically Men’s and Women’s Freestyle, there has been a debate blowing up between 2 sides of wrestling twitter. Should we wrestle more Freestyle at younger ages so we are more successful in the future? Or should we stick with what we have done with Folkstyle and post season Freestyle tournaments like Fargo? And I’m here to answer that question for you all today.
Now forgive me if this takes a turn down a path some might not appreciate, or even want to hear, but things need to be cleared up here. The Folkstyle vs Freestyle conversation is not what we need to be concerned with here. Yeah I know I said I would answer the question, but the topic is irrelevant if we don’t have the wrestlers to even put on the mat.
The Issue at Hand
Within wrestling media, we have grown from covering an individual state to the whole high school wrestling landscape. If you pay attention, you know who the best kid is coming out of California, Iowa, PA, New Jersey, etc. are. And do not get me wrong it is a great thing that we have it. It has expanded my view on high school wrestling and most likely many others too. But when we cover an entire nation and focus on the top level of competition, we become ignorant to the local, long standing issue. Schools are having a difficult time fielding a full Varsity roster come December.
Now I will only speak about Pennsylvania with this issue because that is the state I want to cover, and I have lived in my entire life. The state of Pennsylvania is known as one of the best wrestling states in the country. The state of PA this year produced 7 NCAA finalists with 2 national champions (Spencer Lee, and Carter Starocci). So, Pennsylvania is up there in the best wrestling states in the country.
Pennsylvania’s Issue
Some people who live in Pennsylvania might not even believe and will deny what I’m about to say. But it is true. This…………
is a common box score for most high school wrestling dual meets during the season. This doesn’t happen at your Wyoming Seminary’s or Malvern Prep types of schools. This happens at the public school, PIAA level. Even in the State Dual Meet Tournament, there are multiple forfeits in a matchup. The best schools in the state are determined by how many kids are on the roster. Now of course these wrestlers have great talent, but if you are a team that has 7 great wrestlers, but you show up to a 13-weight dual meet, you will have a tough time winning that dual meet.
The Wrestling Dilemma
Schools are struggling to field a full roster and are in discussions of combining programs between 2 or 3 different schools in the immediate area. Most kids do not even know what the sport of wrestling is in these areas, and it is made fun of because of the stereotype that we all know kids have said. Kids are more interested in playing football, or basketball and the local glory that brings in over a sport like wrestling or any other unpopular sport at the high school level. The reality of wrestling is that it is in a terrible place with programs either being cut or threatened to be cut. We saw 8 years ago with the IOC trying to eliminate wrestling at the Olympics because the audience is not there, it does not make them any money. We have lied to ourselves in saying that the sport is growing, and we are lying to our peers saying we want to grow the sport.
“We Want to Grow the Sport”
That is the common sentence we hear from wrestling fans and media, “we want to grow the sport.” But nobody is actually doing anything to grow the sport. No one is putting in the extra effort to expose younger generations to the sport. Instead, all of the major tournaments that would draw some kids to the sport just by watching it are hidden behind a pay wall. It cost me $150 to watch PIAA’s this year, I cannot access most rankings because I have to pay for it. Brackets are starting to be more readily available but 5 years ago you could not find brackets to most tournaments. The exposure of the sport costs fans money and sometimes it is a lot of money, and the content is not worth the money. Fans do not want to have to pay hundreds of dollars a year just to know what happens in the sport. Some in wrestling media provide a lot of information for free, and I appreciate those guys, and I understand people are working hard and deserved to be paid, I get that. But we are having bigger issues than a folkstyle vs freestyle conversation, but that is what some are focused on now instead of the real issue.
Conclusion
I hope some have read this far and if you have, I hope you understand that this is a bigger issue than the main talking points that I just talked about. Wrestling could be in a good place going forward but we as wrestling media and fans need to do our part to grow the sport to the point, we can have the folkstyle vs freestyle conversation because it is worth having. We need to support our local programs and support does not mean just paying the programs money. Show up to a local high school dual meet with your children and expose them to the sport. My dad took me to the PIAA wrestling championships when I was a younger kid, I dabbled in wrestling as a younger kid because of it, and I fell in love with watching the sport after I was done participating in it. I proposed a “pro wrestling” idea that you can read if you want. We need to provide wrestlers with the monetary opportunities and the television exposure to draw more eyes to the sport. The more eyes on a sport, the more kids will want to participate in it. I am not saying wrestling is a sport for everyone, it in my opinion is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports that you can do and is not an easy sport to actually do, but if a kid can get that bug watching Gable Steveson takedown Petriashvili in the final seconds on primetime TV it might inspire them to start wrestling. We need to make kids understand that wrestling goals and lessons can be taken into other sports and your life. Wrestling is a building blocks sport that can better kids with attitude issues or kids struggling with picking up a work ethic. Exposure is the first step in growing anything, if we lock everything up behind a pay wall, fans are less willing to spend the money. I hope people will understand that we can do more but until you as a fan or a media member understand you have the power to grow the sport of wrestling and it is a huge need, we cannot have the folkstyle vs freestyle conversation.
