By Jason Bryant, W.I.N. Columnist

The easiest thing to write today was the disclaimer at the end of this column. The good folks at W.I.N. Magazine have thrown me a proverbial bone and will be running my rants this season on the world of wrestling, college and high school and probably a shot or two at FILA, which comes with the territory.

So deciding whether to start the story or finish up this MySpace bulletin has me a twisted, torn and a broken man.

The pressing issue in the wrestling community is always saving and trying to entrench our sport in the schools that already have it and build new opportunities for those schools that don’t. Everyone that’s followed the Eastern Illinois and Oregon stories this past year know what that bitter taste is in the back of your mouth.

It’s something wrestlers, coaches and fans have had to deal with every single time a program gets cut for reasons that boggle the minds of those of us that like to use common sense as a standard thinking practice. It stings.

The group in Oregon trying to save the wrestling program is the current staff, former coach Ron Finley and alumni from around the state, including now-Oregon State assistant Kevin Roberts. Fans and high school coaches have been working diligently to not only show that the sport needs to stay at Oregon, but that the fan support can be there.

Fan support is an interesting scenario in the Oregon case. On one hand, the folks at Nike U. (a.k.a. Oregon) think baseball’s going to be a revenue sport just like that. They might want to call down the road to Corvallis and ask the Beavers how many fans they draw and for how much, in seasons they didn’t win the national championship.

They might want to call the non-power programs and see how they call baseball a revenue sport. Won’t be happening. When I was in college at Old Dominion, classmate Justin Verlander was throwing straight gas on CAA and Southern opponents. He became the No. 2 pick in the Amateur Draft, AL Rookie of the Year and Sports Illustrated cover boy. At ODU, Verlander helped draw an average crowd of probably 100 people and students got in free.

I don’t have any figures in front of me, but I’d be lucky to think the amount of colleges that bring in money for baseball as a revenue sport might be on the same level as how many women’s college basketball teams do the same. That’s not an assumption based on assumption. It’s based on observation. That’s far from fact, but I’d like to see how it actually works out.

But back to the main point. SaveOregonWrestling.com has been a great asset to the folks in Oregon, but come November 19, one of the two major wrestling events to hit Oregon this year will be taking place in the state and more specifically, Eugene.

The NWCA All-Star Classic pits 20 of the best wrestlers in the nation in the 42nd installment of the event. Dallas and Stillwater have hosted the previous two events, while the state of Oregon last hosted the All-Star Classic in 1990. It’s the fourth time the event will be in Oregon, with Corvallis hosting in 1977 and 1979 before Oregon and Oregon State co-hosted the event in Portland in 1990. The second event in Eugene will be the Pac-10 Championships at the conclusion of the regular season.

The point the SaveOregonWrestling movement is making is showing support for wrestling in the state at the collegiate level. I believe a big, boisterous crowd is needed, but that’s not exactly an earth-shattering and innovative idea, it’s just what we need to do. The two largest crowds in NWCA All-Star Classic history came during the 90s, and both came in the confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Oregon wrestling fans … this is your time to step up. Your target is to draw 8,850 and set the All-Star Classic attendance record. I challenge you. It’s time to man up and do something. Pack the cars, the vans, the school busses, get them there. Show Mr. Pat Kilkenney and school president Dave Frohnmayer this was the wrong move.

That’s provided they even show up. But don’t let that stop you. Get to Mac Court.

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