COACHES CORNER
Greco-Roman, freestyle worth keeping in Olympics
By Steve Fraser, U.S. National Greco-Roman Coach We still have a lot of work to do in regards to getting the International Olympic Committee to keep wrestling in the Olympics as a core sport. With the final vote coming in September, we must continue to build our case and amass worldwide support. And USA Wrestling is going full force in doing just that! Great start: On May 29 in St Petersburg, Russia, we had a
nice victory with the vote by the IOC to include wrestling as one of the three sports to be considered. Squash and baseball/soft- ball are the other two sports that will be on the ballot. New rules: There has been a breath of fresh air as of late,
with the announcement by FILA that wrestling will update and change our rules. The freestyle and Greco-Roman rules, although all the details still not totally determined, have been changed to make our sport much more simple to understand and exciting to watch. IOC: Because of the IOC's effort to keep the Olympic Games
more manageable, in regard to the number of competitors; and balanced, in regard to gender equity, the IOC is suggesting that wrestling drop our overall participant numbers while increasing our women’s numbers. Therefore, FILA has adopted a strategy of altering our Olympic weight classes in all three styles, reduc- ing men’s freestyle and Greco from seven to six weight classes and increasing women’s freestyle from four to six weight class- es, with the thought that this will help our chances of getting back in as a core sport. The United States of America, the strongest nation in the
world, can be a leader. We could lead by defending how impor- tant it is to keep – at a minimum – seven Greco and men's freestyle weight classes. And yes, let's lead the world, and sup- port seven women's freestyle weight classes as well. "Seven, seven, seven" is the right thing to do for international wrestling. If the climate is not right for this now, we need to work on this goal in the future. Keep in mind, Olympic boxing has 13 weight classes (10 men
and three women in the London Games). Boxing has one style. Wrestling has two styles. We should not be apologetic about having two styles of wrestling. Both Greco-Roman AND freestyle are both legitimate sports.
Rumors that some wrestling people in the USA want to adopt
a strategy that suggests we drop Greco-Roman completely from the Olympic program or combine freestyle and Greco into one style in an effort to get wrestling back in as a core sport, is not the right answer. Greco has a great and wonderful history and has had many
great champions like Alexander Karelin and Rulon Gardner (to name just two) which have provided icon superstars and thrilling matches for worldwide fans and children of the world to experi- ence. Just think of the Olympic sports world never having experi-
34 USA Wrestler
enced the Alexander Karelin era or Rulon Gardner (arguably USA's most famous Olympic gold medal- ist) era. How many young wrestlers from around the planet would never have been inspired? Thrilling moments like when
Garrett Lowney (Olympic bronze medalist) back-suplayed Gogi Gogeshivili (five-time Russian world champion) in the Sydney Olympic Games in sudden victory overtime. It was arguably the best throw
of the entire Sydney Games. This will be remembered forever by all who saw this great feat. Garrett Lowney on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znBaPX7E89E There have been many tremendously exhilarating memories
Fraser
and moments just within our USA history alone. Some examples of this are when Matt Lindland crushed all of
his opponents, winning his medal in Sydney (2000); Joe Warren, scoring in the last second to win his World title in China (2006); Dennis Hall defeating four World champions, almost breaking his shoulder and back to defend - in his final bout - to win his World title in Prague (1995); Brandon Paulson surprising the world by outwrestling his adversaries in the Atlanta Games to win his medal (1996): Matt Ghaffari winning four World/Olympic medals losing only to Karelin most years. Greco is the ultimate hand-to-hand combat sport. The rich
history of exciting and thrilling competitive battles among the thousands of fierce Greco-Roman warriors speaks for itself. And with the new rules being implemented, Greco will be extremely exciting; showcasing spectacular throws and maneu- vers like it was in the 1970s and 1980s. When we compare Greco to the other Olympic core sports we
rank among the top in most all categories. Greco has about 180 countries that wrestle worldwide. Greco Olympic ticket sales sell out almost every Olympic Games. Greco Olympic television ratings are high. Greco is one of the most diverse sports when it comes to medals won by var- ious countries. There is a reason Greco-Roman wrestling has been in the Olympic Games from its beginnings back in 1896. It is because it is one of the purest, most physical competitive contests, primi- tive and basic as a sport can be, between two persons, with no weapons or teammates to assist. With the goal of defeating one’s opponent by using mind, muscle, endurance and strategy - period! So let’s band together, as one of the most powerful wrestling
nations in the world, to win the battle and Keep Olympic Wrestling!
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