Takedown Report

Let’s Grow Wrestling !

Editor’s Notes; An interesting article passed along to us from wrestling fan and booster Jerry Barker in Raleigh. As he mentions we have some excellent opportunities to see great wrestling. Bring your friends to see some real wrestling. The purpose of wrestling is to help develop better persons by the lessons that can be learned by competing in wrestling. Let us encourage more students to join in this sport.
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Exciting events to encourage your kids & high school wrestlers to attend are upcoming matches with nationally ranked college teams. NC State, coached by Pat Popolizo, is currently ranked 3rd nationally and has some great home matches in Reynolds Coliseum on campus. They are facing #25 Virginia on Friday, January 26, 7:30; #21 ranked UNC on February 9, 7:30; #10 ranked Va Tech on Friday night, February 16, 7:30 pm on campus; and on Sunday February 18 at 4:30 they face #1 Ohio State. The ACC tournament is March 3 at UNC-CH. On Thursday, January18, 5 pm, a strong Appalachian State team visits tough Campbell University.
Let’s do everything we can to get 1000 wrestling fans to NCSU on February 9, 16 and 18 for these nationally significant, power-packed matches. Spread the word with enthusiasm; bring a bus load; challenge others to come see “real wrestling.”
Beyond supporting our local college teams, it is vital for us to work to get more kids, youth and high schoolers involved in wrestling. NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer says our high school focus needs to be more on helping a student-athlete get what they want in life, rather than what they can do for a team, an approach he says has been successful for the Marines.
Equally important is turning to a friends and fundamentals-based approach at youth levels with less emphasis on competition. Moyer believes that attrition at the youth level can be traced to kids who have negative experiences with competition and never return to the sport because they are “not physically and emotionally ready.”
Having more programs like Iowa Class 3A power Southeast Polk would help, too. Polk head coach Jason Christenson told Trackwrestling that the Rams began the season with 114 wrestlers on the roster. He credits a strong team culture and a strong JV program for his team’s success, noting that “everyone gets a chance to compete” with three or four busses of wrestlers going to events each weekend.
“We coach every kid in our program,” he said. “Everyone has a role in our squad, everyone has a purpose. We’re not going to give up on anybody.” What is keeping us in NC from having 50 or more wrestlers on our teams?
180 new college programs have started in the past 16 years. Girls wrestling is increasing 1000-1500 per year, now totaling about 14,500 nationally. 40 colleges have girls programs. Seven states have girls HS state championships. Boys wrestling total about 244,000 nationwide, up 4000 since 2000, but is down 30,000 since 2011. We need to do everything we can to get more kids wrestling and more high schoolers wrestling.

January 4, 2018 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized