Takedown Report

ABBOTT BLOG: TOP 10 WRESTLING STORIES OF 2020

By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | Dec. 30, 2020, 
I have enjoyed writing an annual Top 10 wrestling stories of the year column for a very long time, but I can absolutely confirm that there has never been a year like 2020. I started competing in the sport in 1972, and have worked in wrestling communications since 1983. This is totally different than any other wrestling year, hands-down.
The COVID-19 pandemic not only had a major impact on wrestling, but has affected every aspect of life on earth. I don’t know anybody who went through the Spanish Flu pandemic over 100 years ago, so none of us have any experience in this kind of thing. The big wrestling stories mostly came off the mat, not on it, and in most cases, they were very challenging or difficult.
So, in a year in which “everything is fluid,” and when everybody has “to pivot” in order to move forward, here are my Top 10 stories for 2020.

1. NCAAs, Olympic Games, Olympic Trials, Fargo and so much more cancelled by pandemic – It would be easy to include COVID-19 in some way in all of our top stories for the year, but we are not going to do that. We are lumping all of the major wrestling competitions which were cancelled or postponed into just one posting, which is clearly the biggest story of the year. The first event that I missed attending due to pandemic cancellations was the NAIA Women’s National Invitational in Jamestown, N.D., which was cancelled in early March. Shortly after that, the NCAA announced the cancellation of all of its wrestling nationals, including what was going to be a record-setting Div. I Championships at U.S. Bank Stadium, a football stadium in Minneapolis. I had been to every NCAA D-I meet since 1983, and the pandemic ended that streak for me. When the IOC postponed the Olympics for a year, USA Wrestling postponed the sold-out Olympic Trials in State College, Pa. for a year. After holding out as long as possible, USA Wrestling ultimately ended up cancelling the biggest wrestling tournament on the planet, the combined USMC Junior/Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D., which was set to celebrate the 50th year of Junior Nationals. The pandemic shut down the sport of wrestling for months, before it was possible to start back up with some youth competitions this summer. I certainly hope that there is never another year where the biggest story is about what didn’t happen in our sport.

2. USA has great Pan American Olympic Qualifier, and has 15 qualified weights for Olympic Games – At the 2019 World Championships, the USA had an excellent performance overall, but qualified just four weight classes for the Olympic Games (two in men’s freestyle, two in women’s freestyle). The next opportunity came at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa, Canada in early March. The first major obstacle was actually having the event held at all, because it was scheduled right at the time when the world was shutting down due to COVID-19. UWW and the hosts in Canada made adjustments and the event went forward. Team USA had a great performance in Ottawa, qualifying at 11 more weight classes to give the USA 15 out of the 18 weights locked in. You needed to place in the top two to qualify in Ottawa. The four U.S. women all reached the finals, with Sarah Hildebrandt, Jacarra Winchester, Helen Maroulis and Kayla Miracle getting the job done. Men’s freestyle got three more weights qualified, thanks to Thomas Gilman, David Taylor and Nick Gwiazdowski making it happen. In Greco-Roman, four weights were qualified, thanks to Ildar Hafizov, Alejandro Sancho, Joe Rau and G’Angelo Hancock making the grade. At 15 qualifiers, the USA currently has the most Olympic weights in Tokyo of any nation, and has one more than the 14 we had at the 2016 Rio Games. There are only three spots left to qualify (two in Greco-Roman and one in men’s freestyle), and we get our final chance at the World Olympic Qualifier in Bulgaria this coming spring.

3. RTC all-star cards and special broadcast events kept the sport alive – When wrestling shut down due to the pandemic, there became a great hunger for wrestling in our nation. Not only did the nation’s top wrestlers want to compete, but wrestling fans were craving to see some great action. Instead of waiting until the world opened up completely, the wrestling community got very creative. …. rest of this fine story at _{^{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/December/30/Abbott-Blog-top-wrestling-stories-of-2020?mc_cid=e4f16a9e0e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}}

January 6, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized