To hair, or not to hair, that is the question.

The national media has been reporting extensively on the Buena High School wrestler who was required to cut his hair or forfeit the match. Whether the incident reveals racial bias, that might be a stretch. But it is where the country is right now. To begin, rules are rules, if you don’t like them, change… Read More »

World Freestyle Championships

It was a wonderful showing for the Red, White and Blue. Besides the level of class that each of our athletes demonstrated off the mat, 7 of the 10 came home with medals. Not too shabby, but the best year we ever had was in 1987 with 8 medalists. That was when Barry Davis won… Read More »

Rest in Peace

Last week the sport lost one of the finest men to ever walk on a wrestling mat. Mike Milkovich. There was so much more to Mike than just raising a wonderful family or winning championships. He made the rest of the country sit up and take notice relative to promoting the sport. A consummate gentleman,… Read More »

Wrestling’s Attendance Numbers

Just back from a few MMA clinics in Europe and it’s good to be home. I’ve missed my readership but I’ve also been tied up with my novel. I hope everyone is doing well. Let me begin with the health of wrestling on the collegiate level, which means, the health of all wrestling. Nothing explains… Read More »

Eastern Michigan Drop Wrestling

I think we need to pay closer attention to what is happening. With the loss of EMU, a year after Boise State, which followed on the heels of, well, you get the idea. Every time we have an NCAA Championship, it seems we receive more bad news about some institution or institutions deciding to discontinue wrestling.… Read More »

Observations from the NCAA’s

I was honored to once again be part of the Semi-Final Preview Show at the WIN Memorabilia Show. During one of the segments, I mentioned that Iowa is going to have a very rough time of it getting back to the days of Gable. One gentleman, in particular, took offense at my observation. He challenged… Read More »

The Penn State, Ohio State Dual

A truly outstanding meet with the sport being the ultimate winner. Well, sort of, kind of, well, not really. The very first thing I noticed when I turned to the Big Ten Network 15 minutes before airtime was a Penn State-Iowa basketball game that was taking place in the Bryce Jordan Center. I said, “what,… Read More »

Atta-Boy Rich

It’s only fair that I come out of retirement for this particular blog to congratulate USAWrestling and their staff for a wonderful championship performance. World Champions! It was great fun getting to watch all the amazing competition and the various storylines unfold. To all who gave of themselves to make this happen . . .… Read More »

Boise State

Wrestling’s Loss I was saddened to read the President of Boise State’s review of his wrestling program and the stated reasons for discontinuing the sport, plus the pledge to keep the program on the sidelines as long as he’s in his role as head of the university. The reasons he used for his decision included… Read More »

IOC Cuts Wrestling Participation

The International Olympic Committee recently announced sweeping changes to its program for the 2020 Tokyo Games and presumably on into the future, trimming the field for wrestling by 56 competitors across the three divisions. What this means to us is one of two things. Either there will be 5 weight classes instead of the current… Read More »

Wrestle Where You Belong

If we look for any additional benefits that might arise from adopting a point earned is a team point scored system that I covered in a previous blog, (on the right) it’s that schools would be compelled to wrestle where they belong. I’ll explain. No one knows better than I how objectionable what I’m about… Read More »

Mea Culpa

I’ve received a few comments over the last year asking if I might consider spending more time on stories that uplift. And believe me when I say, nothing would please me more. But our desire to read about wrestling’s glass being half full comes at the expense of knowing that it’s also half empty. We… Read More »

Boise State, another Casualty of Ignorance

The struggle before us is enormous and the fight begins with words that I hope will help us navigate through that which is holds us back. As you know, wrestling is taking a beating and for some reason we’re still cheering. I’m not sure what we’re cheering about; it could be the great wrestling we’ve seen… Read More »

Years to Remember

This is how I remember high school wrestling where I lived; packed gyms and enthusiastic crowds. The photo is representative of a typical District Championship in the state, a week before Regionals and two before States. During these golden days of wrestling in Pennsylvania if you were lucky enough to snag a pair of tickets… Read More »

The NCAA Tournament

What’s not to like; certainly not the wrestling. The competitors did their job and the fans responded in kind. For me, the real fun began in the semi’s when the number one seeds in the first two weights found themselves in the consolation bracket; and then in the finals when two out of three wrestlers… Read More »

Why Not

There is little question that wrestlers are America’s cream of the crop when it comes to being the toughest and best conditioned athletes. This image we’ve earned is really something to be proud of – but, with this comes, responsibilities. The first is to be aware that society tends to believe that anyone who falls… Read More »

NBC Coverage, Not

The following article appeared recently in FloWrestling which I find consistently to be the sports leader in original journalism. They always cover stories that others shy away from with a writing style that is always smart and crisp. __________________________________________ Recently, United World Wrestling announced a multi-year partnership with NBC Sports — an agreement that will… Read More »

Have You Ever Seen A Time When

The swearing in of the next President of the United States involved two men who sharpened personal skills in the sport of wrestling: Donald J. Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts. It certainly was a memorable day for the country and the sport. Intermat; Foley’s Mail Bag The following question was recently asked of T.R.… Read More »

Child Abuse or Child Development

Wrestling is still wearing its shirt inside out, and our leadership seems to be okay with the look. Somehow they feel it’s fashionable to show everyone ragged seams and a wrinkled tag when it comes to the sport in general, and specifically for this blog; youth wrestling. So as I attempt to turn everything right… Read More »

A Potpourri of thoughts . . .

Did you know . . . That the average roster size for college programs has shrunk in size from 37 wrestlers in 1975 to 23 today? Scholastically almost 1/3rd of all high school matches are forfeits. Yet the sports leadership, at all levels, is operating under the assertion that all is well. There isn’t a single… Read More »

Last Words on Rio

Should the IOC Keep Wrestling in the Olympics Of course they should, but will they? After you read this you decide. But to start, I’d like to take my hat off to Martin Floreani and FloWrestling. They’re the only media outlet we have that has the nerve to do investigative pieces in areas that wrestling would… Read More »

USAWrestling; Red, White and Feeling Blue

Before USAWrestling has much of a chance to spin the results of the Games, you might like to know a few facts. Out of 72 medals that were awarded for wrestling in Rio America won 3 of them. That alone should tell you where we stand in the world and the job Colorado Springs is… Read More »

Olympic Notes

Maryland On The Move Besides being known for blue crabs, rock fish and black-eyed susans, Maryland can now claim to be the home of Olympic Champions. That’s important to the state because before Rio the only thing Maryland could say with regard to wrestling was it bordered on Pennsylvania. Now it has two larger than… Read More »

Emails and America’s World Cup

The following is an exchange I had with one of the nation’s most recognizable wrestling officials. I thought you might find it interesting.   Wade, This note to you is long overdue – I’ve read every one of your blogs and your writing is spot on. Well stated – many times over. I’ve shared your… Read More »

J is J

I’ve known J Robinson since the early 70’s and he has always marched to his own drummer. He’s an opinionated winner, a stubborn and rugged individualist, a person you can count on to reject political correctness while he embraces discipline and personal responsibility. I’ve always found J to say what he believes and believe what… Read More »

A Combination of Thoughts

I’d like to start by complimenting USAWrestling and for some that might mean breaking out the smelling salts. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now given I don’t hesitate to call their leadership out when their priorities get out of whack. So to begin, I’d like to recognize their staff and every… Read More »

Regional Training Centers . . . a cause for concern.

I guess I should apologize for starting this by mentioning the good old days when wrestlers didn’t have to qualify their weights before going to the Olympics; to a time when our athletes had enough confidence to achieve their potential; and to a time when you could trust the leadership at USAWrestling. Regrettably that’s not… Read More »

The NCAA’s that Changed Wrestling

Before I share my thoughts on this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championships, I wanted to remind everyone of the most important blog I have ever posted. It’s entitled; A Point Scored is a Point Earned and it’s the most significant alteration to the rules I’ve ever suggested and if nothing else ever happened in wrestling, and… Read More »

United World Wrestling Faltering

It really wasn’t that long ago that the International Olympic Committee asked our leadership; “isn’t there something you can do to enhance your sport, make it more spectator friendly, find ways to put more points on the board, make the experience more exciting?” The response they heard was, “absolutely, we’ll assemble a group of our… Read More »