Saved

We can all have a sigh of relief after the announcement on September 8th, reinstating the sport of wrestling back into the 2020 Olympic Games. Back in February, I was shocked that the sport was put on the chopping block. Of all sports, really? Isn't wrestling the oldest sport? The sport that was part of the Ancient Olympic Games? 

This is how I felt in February.

Although I have obviously never participated in the sport, my brother Blake was introduced to wrestling by Jon Morrison's (OK State) dad, when he was just about 5 or 6 years old. I remember Blake thinking that he was going to be giving people the Stone Cold Stunner and showing them what The Rock was cooking. He found out very quickly that was not the case, but started to love the sport anyway. I remember getting up entirely too early in the morning (I'm not a morning person) for weigh-ins and sitting in a gym for countless hours every Sunday. After time, I started to love the sport too. In high school and college I was constantly checking Illinois Matmen, The Mat.com, and Flowrestling for coverage, stats, and wrestling talk. I even wrote an article for class about the Minooka Wrestling team and their 2010 Illinois Dual State Championship. My article about Morrison and his experience at Oklahoma State was featured on Illinois Matmen. Very exciting! Being so far away from my brother in Iowa for college, I was unable to see the majority of his matches in high school. These sites were all of my outlets, along with fellow fans and parents texting me the play-by-play.

There is something about the mental and physical toughness in wrestling that is so great to watch. You don't have a team with you on the mat. Its just you against your opponent. Although Blake has taken a different road to the sport of golf, I think that wrestling taught him respect, discipline, and mental toughness to never give up. Its not just a sport, it teaches kids valuable lessons for life. Blake was lucky enough to have some pretty great coaches, team mates, and fans surrounding him.

Because of the long tournaments, traveling, and amount of time that you spend with the people on your team, it creates a new family of its own. A wrestling family. My own family has met so many wonderful people because of the sport. I met one of my best friends when we both attended the 2008 NCAA tournament in Saint Louis, MO. I have some friends for a lifetime. 

I think its a testament to the wrestling community how much support has been generated to "Save Olympic Wrestling." Football has the NFL, baseball has the MLB, but wrestling only has the Olympics. I'm so glad that young men and women still have the opportunity to make the Olympic Games their ultimate goal in the sport. With the Olympic success wrestling has earned recently, how can you take it away? Well, I'm glad the IOC didn't. 

I want to say thank you to everyone who helped "Save Olympic Wrestling."