Welker: Where have all the scholastic wrestlers gone? And why?

Photo: A large crowd swarmed the mat for the Super 32 finals in 2011. Bill Welker, a longtime wrestling coach and historian, recalls how many high-school dual meets would draw similar crowds historically, but today’s scholastic dual meets are few and far between, comprised of many forfeits and underwhelming fan attendance.

By Bill Welker

Before answering the aforementioned questions, allow me to share my background with you. A native of Shamokin, Pa., I started wrestling in the third grade. We youngsters had a six-week wrestling program, learning the basics, with an intrasquad tournament at the end of each year. Other than a couple local dual meets, the same was true in junior high school.

I was a fair wrestler in high school, but in college, I was sick of dieting. We were not given any guidance regarding proper weight management in the 1960s. Thus, I changed my priorities from wrestling to academics. That is not to say I didn’t learn many positive traits from wrestling. Because I did.

After completing my master’s degree in 1970, I moved my family to Wheeling, W. Va. There I was a K-12 classroom reading specialist who coached, officiated, promoted and wrote about wrestling for the next 40 years prior to retiring. During that time and the years following retirement, I have observed many changes in the mat sport—some good (e.g., weight management and wrestler-safety programs), but others not so good.

West Virginia, being a small state, is a microcosm of what has been happening to wrestling nationally over the years. Thus, the reason for this editorial. Let’s start with the elementary programs.

YOUTH WRESTLING

As was mentioned, wrestling at the elementary-school level was all about teaching the fundamentals, and competition was kept to a minimum. Not today. 

Contemporary wrestlers in youth programs seem to compete almost the entire year, with tournament after tournament. In fact, they now have national wrestling tournaments which include first graders. And even though the medical profession emphasizes that kids’ bodies are growing at this age group, there are still some parents who continue to have their offspring lose weight at the youth level. Shame on them.

Furthermore, these youthful wrestlers are involved in matches of high intensity due to the pressures they feel from their coaches and parents—be it subtle or observable. Such stress has its limits on these youngsters. After losing close matches, many youth wrestlers can be seen running off the mats crying. Don’t tell me these young kids are having fun.

What’s the result in many cases? They’ve had enough of wrestling even before they reach the middle-school level, choosing not to compete anymore. In reality, they are “burned out.” You can “sugar coat” the positives of youth wrestling today until you’re blue in the face, but that’s a brutal truth in my opinion.

SCHOLASTIC WRESTLING                                                                                                   

First of all, most high school wrestling coaches nowadays believe in the philosophy of “wrestle, wrestle, wrestle” in local tournaments week after week. They believe this strategy will make their proteges more competitive.

Often, the reverse is the case. Many of their wrestlers get tired of losing to the same opponents on a weekly basis and decide they’ve had enough of it, often quitting before the season even ends.

Of course, one could argue, “But what about all the wrestlers who rejoice having 100+ wins on the mats due to the ‘tournaments-only’ concept? That’s an amazing accomplishment!”

Really?

Time for another reality check. On the flip side, most of these wrestlers have defeated the same opponents multiple times throughout the course of the season.  Furthermore, I did some research regarding Pennsylvania wrestlers with 100 or more wins listed in Tom Elling’s Pennsylvania Wrestling Handbook. Less than half of them placed at states. 

Please don’t misunderstand me. The elite wrestlers of today are outstanding world-class competitors, demonstrating much better technique than we possessed in past generations. However, my concern is for the other 99% of wrestlers who are often neglected but gain so much from the sport of wrestling. Unfortunately, we are losing them by the 100s, maybe more.      

THE SOLUTION

It’s easy to complain about something, but not offer any solutions. I have a possible one. And folks, it’s nothing new, but it worked, benefiting all the wrestlers on our high school wrestling teams.

In reference to youth wrestling, the season should last no longer than a regular high school schedule, not including postseason action. Maybe even less. You want them to peak in high school, not in elementary school. College and university coaches don’t recruit youth wrestlers. Enough said about that.

When I first started coaching in West Virginia, the bulk of the yearly wrestling schedule was comprised of many dual meets with one or two invitational tournaments throughout the regular season. There was a complete junior varsity dual meet before the varsity wrestlers competed and the stands were full. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. 

When was the last time you went to a high school wrestling dual meet? There are few of them anymore at the scholastic level. 

If you have attended dual-meet competitions, you saw a small group of fans in the stands. Moreover, you witnessed one or two exhibition matches and many forfeits in each team’s varsity lineup. That’s not good. It’s happened in West Virginia and throughout the entire country.

I suspect my advice will be ignored, but the solution to this problem is quite simple—return to a “robust” dual-meet schedule. Forego all the long-weekend tournaments far from home that have created this negative wrestling phenomenon.   

The positive benefits of dual meets are three-fold:                                                   

1.  Home dual meets build a “following.” Local sports enthusiasts will come to an hour and a half dual meet, but not travel to a tournament that’s miles away and sit there all day, waiting for their wrestlers to compete. 

Furthermore, as the dual-meet season progresses, more and more fans will be enticed to attend, getting to know the wrestlers they are cheering for on a personal basis.

2. Athletes like to compete in front of large crowds, not 20 or 30 spectators. When potential mat men see larger crowds, they’ll want to become a part of it. Thus, the squad grows in size.

That not only fills the whole varsity lineup, but team practices become more competitive, with numerous wrestlers vying for a varsity slot in each of the weight classes. Likewise, you will see the reemergence of junior varsity teams, which further assists in producing powerful wrestling programs.

3. Youth and junior high wrestlers will want to attend the meets to watch and applaud their favorite varsity and junior varsity performers. Hence, you’re building a foundation for future success of the school’s wrestling program. 

In closing, we constantly hear wrestling authorities say our sport builds character, self-discipline, a strong work ethic, self-reliance, humility, self-confidence, etc. And that is quite true. However, the problem today is the fact that we spend so much time promoting, praising and glorifying the elite wrestlers, who are very few in number. But unfortunately, we forget to give credit to those with lesser mat skills, who are the vast majority of wrestlers.

Our goal should be to encourage as many wrestlers as possible to participate in scholastic wrestling so they may gain the positive personal qualities mentioned above. This outcome can only be accomplished by returning to the dual-meet format. It most definitely worked in the past.

I know it did…because I was there as a wrestler and coach.

(Bill Welker, EdD, is a guest columnist who enjoys writing articles on wrestling and education. He can be contacted by e-mail at mattalkwv@hotmail.com.)