Why Wrestling?

"As a young man, I participated in wrestling, and later had the privilege of helping others experience the sport as both a teacher and a coach. Wrestling has played a vital role in developing our nation's young people. No sport demands more in courage, discipline, and perseverance."

Dennis Hastert,
Fmr. Speaker of the US House of Representatives

Why wrestling belongs in your state:

• Indigenous To Your Geographic Area
• Wrestling provides opportunities for all sizes and promotes diversity
• Opportunity For Regionally Competitive Program
• High School Participation Trends
• Academic Achievement of Scholastic/Collegiate Wrestlers
• Modest Cost for Establishing a Program
• Wrestling's Outstanding Americans

Diversity: anyone can be involved

• Wrestling has weight classes from 103lbs to 285lbs so all students of any size have an opportunity to compete
• Historically, wrestling is a "blue collar" sport that attracts student-athletes from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
• Wrestling is one of the few sports that provides opportunities for the blind and physically handicapped
• On the 2004 US Men's Olympic Freestyle Team six of the seven athletes were minorities

Wrestling is growing

• The National High School participation rate for wrestling has shown an increase the last five years. (In 1999, scholastic wrestling had the fourth largest growth of all boys sports nationwide).
• Since 1994, the number of women participating in high school wrestling has grown from 804 to 4975.
• Since 1994, the number of high schools that sponsor wrestling has grown from 8559 to 9744.
• Combined total of Male and Female wrestling programs is 10,825
• Since 1994, the number of high school participants in wrestling for boys and girls has grown from 222,429 to 256,509.