Takedown Report

When the ring was the thing in college wrestling

The oldest and greatest sport has undergone significant changes since it first arrived on college campuses in the early part of the 20th century.
Over the years, uniforms have changed … rules have been revised … and a point-scoring system has been implemented. However, for today’s wrestling fans, the most startling difference may be that, prior to World War II, a number of colleges conducted their wrestling events in a roped-off ring like we associate with boxing or professional wrestling. A couple weeks ago, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa shared on its Twitter account a 1933 photo of a wrestling ring at the University of Northern Iowa. This writer retweeted the image … stirring up more retweets — and questions. With all the interest and curiosity generated by that photo, it seemed appropriate for InterMat to serve up a College Wrestling Rings 101 in words and images.

What do you mean by “a wrestling ring”?
Photos indicate that there were basically two types of wrestling rings used at some colleges more than 75 years ago. The most common type of ring set-up appears to have been square wrestling mats placed on the gym floor, surrounded by multi-tiered wrestling ropes connected together with a ring post in each of the four corners of the mat. This describes the ring pictured in the 1930s photo from UNI posted on social media by the Hall of Fame.
Rest of the story and photos at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/20118?fbclid=IwAR0GGHsKnUCWxqnZHn2zbZgGrkBMTuL7YXhFJMqxOwIKegyEPTNVmViUaN0

December 22, 2018 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized