THE LAST WORD
How do we improve wrestling’s appeal?
was sitting in my office at USA Wrestling on a Tuesday morning in early October when the phone rang. The voice on the other end replied politely, “Hello Craig. This is Chris Mortensen.” Mortensen, the award-winning ESPN reporter, was doing research on a former NFL player who had also wrestled. During our conversation, I mentioned to Mortensen that we had a cur- rent wrestler who may be the best we’ve ever had. His response: “Who is that?” That’s when it really hit home for me. A prominent person in
I
the national sports media like Chris Mortensen didn’t even know who Jordan Burroughs was. He didn’t realize Burroughs has won an Olympic gold medal and two World titles. When I told Mortensen that Burroughs won a 2013 World title
less than a month after breaking his ankle, Mortensen was blown away. “He did what?” Mortensen said, his voice rising. No matter how hard we try, wrestling doesn’t receive a lot of attention in the mainstream media unless it’s an Olympic year. Or if it’s a crazy year like this one with the Olympic fight. So how do we get wrestling more into the mainstream media? Start with Burroughs. He is an unbelievably gifted and driv-
en athlete who is charismatic, personable and a master with the media. He is starting to gain a few national endorsements which can attract non-wrestling fans to the sport. Burroughs’ appeal may open the door for other wrestlers to gain attention. Put on a better show. At the 2013 World Team Trials, the presentation of the event was much better with lights, smoke and walk-up music that showcased the athletes better. Wrestling needs to capitalize the same way mixed martial arts has in that area, in addition to having dynamic announcers. Deliver a better product. The bottom line is the product obvi- ously has to be better for people to pay money to watch it in
person or watch it on television. The new international rules are
much better. Athletes are wrestling more aggressively now because the rules force them to. Matches are more entertaining. The product is clearly much better now. Bring the World Cup back to the U.S. The World Cup,
Craig Sesker
which features top international teams in a dual-meet format, is an exciting event. It drew 15,000 fans per session this year in Iran, with Russia and the U.S. among the top teams competing. The World Championships are back in the U.S. in 2015 in Las
Vegas. The wrestling community needs to step up for that event and sell it out to show the International Olympic Committee how relevant the sport is to keep it on the Olympic program. Convince the college fan base to more closely follow the international styles. Add freestyle matches during college duals. Have the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club battle the Ohio Regional Training Center when Penn State wrestles Ohio State. When Penn State travels to Iowa for the much-anticipated
dual in December, add a few freestyle matches to the program. How cool would it be to see Burroughs battle fellow Hodge
Trophy winner Brent Metcalf during that dual? International wrestling is now in the Olympics through 2024,
but there is still no guarantee beyond that. Wrestling is virtually a new sport now internationally – it has
gained a ton of momentum and attention with all the changes that have been made to improve it. There is no easy solution to the challenges that wrestling con-
tinues to face. What the sport can do is capitalize on this huge wave of positive energy by continung to strive to gain more sup- port internationally and at all levels.
42 USA Wrestler
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