EXECUTIVE NOTES By Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director
Bringing international wrestling to the United States is an opportunity to promote and grow the sport If there is one thing that we have learned in 2013, when the
sport had to battle its way back onto the Olympic program, is that we have an obligation and an opportunity to help promote international wrestling to the masses. A key factor in our suc- cess in saving Olympic wrestling was the commitment by FILA, USA Wrestling and wrestling federations around the world to do a better job promoting our great sport. With that in mind, it is in USA Wrestling’s best interest to bring
as much quality international wrestling to our country as we can. This allows us to improve our performance in all the Olympic styles and showcase international wrestling to a larger fan base. For example, in the 1993-1996 quadrennium, the USA won
two World Team titles and claimed the medal count at the 1996 Olympic Games in freestyle. In those four years, the USA host- ed the 1996 Olympics and the 1995 Freestyle World Championships in Atlanta, and two World Cups in Chattanooga, Tenn. There were tons of exhibition dual meets against foreign teams held across the nation. The USA will again host two major international events on our
soil this season, the 2013 New York Athletic Club International in New York City in November and the 2014 Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo in February. Both events feature talented foreign opponents, and we’ll pro- vide a live video stream for those who can’t attend. USA Wrestling is very excited that FILA awarded the 2014 Freestyle World Cup to Los Angeles, Calif., March
15-16.The USA developed the World Cup event, hosting it 24 times over the years, but the last time was back in 2003 in Boise, Idaho. This is a fantastic event, as the top 10 teams in the world are required to compete. We aim to draw a big crowd and media coverage of the event in one of the world’s premier sports cities. Along with the World Cup will be the opportunity to host more international dual meets, which we are currently organizing. Also in November, we have two USA vs. Russia duals in New York State, and in December, two USA vs. Russia women’s duals in
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New Mexico and Colorado. Add in other key events, the Jack Pinto Cup in Greco- Roman, the Beat the Streets Gala in men’s freestyle and the Curby Cup in Greco-Roman, and we will have a rich lineup of international events to work with. We are also partnering with other
groups to showcase wrestling. We will present international matches alongside the NWCA All-Star Classic in November, and the Grapple At the Garden in December. Top international wrestlers will be promoted at the Victory Wrestling Challenge in November. There will be other opportunities for our great ath- letes to compete in creative new settings, something which we encourage and look forward to helping develop. Plans are already underway for the 2015 World Wrestling Championships which we will host in Las Vegas, Nev. It will be our first World Championships since the 2003 World Championships in men’s and women’s freestyle held in New York City. Once again, we have an opportunity to put on an amazing showcase for our sport, helping raise more awareness and support for wrestling. It is our goal to put on the greatest World Championships ever held. As part of last year’s effort to save our sport, USA Wrestling
was able to invest in our presentation and promotion of our top two domestic Olympic-caliber events, the U.S. Open and the U.S. World Team Trials. This was a good first step for us and was well received. However, it is our intention to reinvent these two events moving forward, using imagination in its presentation and marketing, as well as learning from other successful sports on their best practices. Our nation’s best wrestlers compete in these events and our aim is to expose more people to their abil- ities and their personal stories. I believe that the threat to wrestling’s position in the Olympics presented us with the greatest opportunity in our sport’s history. Remaining in the Olympic Games was just the first step in the evolution of wrestling in our modern world. We invite you to be active participants as American wrestling comes together in a unified effort to elevate our sport to the next level.
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