Takedown Report

So I Went To My First Penn State Wrestling Dual Meet, Or Is It Match?

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Interesting article and a fun read. Would like to attend a match or meet at State College sometime. E-mail your vote or view in that is it a Match or a Meet?
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It’s something I had never thought about until I was waiting in line outside Rec Hall on Friday night. How come there aren’t more kids in Beaver Stadium? In reality I know the answer to that. Tickets are too expensive to take an eight-year-old so he/she can get lost in the crowd when you were waiting RIGHT HERE outside the bathroom 10 minutes before kickoff. But they’re all over the place at Rec Hall. Sons holding their dad’s hand as they eagerly find their seats. There was a little girl enthusiastically cheering on Penn State wrestlers by name. It felt like a family affair, young and old, rich and not so rich. All there to watch some of the most talented wrestlers on the planet.

It’s ironic in a world that puts such an emphasis on having the best facilities possible that Rec Hall exists largely unchanged while housing maybe the most successful wrestling program ever. One of the main apparel shops may as well have been a broom closet cut into the wall. There are no flashy lights, no over-saturation of brands. It’s pretty much just wrestling and if you want a shirt well Sharon has them over there. That’s fitting in a way though, wrestling is one of the oldest sports humans have played, and like soccer it requires next to no equipment to actually do. There is something primal and very natural about nothing more than a test of physical strength. It’s a reminder that we are not in fact all that different from the rest of the animals roaming the Earth.

I’m burying the lede here a little bit. Until Friday night I had never been to a Penn State wrestling dual. I’ve watched plenty on TV, it’s hard to cover Penn State athletics and just not pay attention to the most successful team in town, but I had never made my way into Rec Hall to see it in person. So, since I had the time and the urge, I fired up StubHub and got myself a ticket. The other thing here is that I don’t know that much about wrestling. I understand the scoring -sort of- and I’ve watched enough MMA in my life to grasp the basics of a ground game. I know what riding time is and I sort of understand takedowns.
Rest of the story at http://www.statecollege.com/news/psu-sports/so-i-went-to-my-first-penn-state-wrestling-dual-meet-or-is-it-match,1478774/?mc_cid=3c5d796fba&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

January 16, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized