Local wrestlers and coaches are not happy after the International Olympic Committee announced that they are considering cutting the sport from the 2020 games.
Wresting is one of the oldest sports in the world and it has been part of the modern Olympics since it started back in 1896. For many people, this move comes as a surprise.
“When I think of the Olympics I think of wrestling, I think of the Greeks,” stated Solanco Wrestling Coach John Little. “I think of two things, the marathon and Olympic wrestling.”
But now wrestling may be gone. John Little has coached wrestling at Solanco for 33 years and never thought there’d be a day where wrestling wasn’t an Olympic sport.
But the recent move by the IOC has set off an outcry. The Facebook page “Keep Wrestling in the Olympics” got 63,000 likes in one day.
Numerous petitions are circulating online. But there is still some hope.
Wrestling now joins seven other sports, including baseball and softball, in trying to get reinstated. One will get back in.
“It’s like the Super Bowl for an athlete in football,” Little explained. “A lot of these guys train for 15 to 20 years to get where they are.”
Guys like Ronnie Perry are included in this list.
“There’s nothing else for a wrestler after college if there isn’t the Olympics,” Perry commented. Perry is a senior at Solanco and hopes to wrestle in college and dreamed of being an Olympian.
“It’s disappointing. There nothing to watch. There’s nothing for kids to look forward to other than just college,” Perry added. “It’s hard to think that won’t be there anymore and there’s just going to be college wrestling.”
“It’s a big blow to the sport. I can’t believe they would even consider it,” concluded a confounded Coach Little.
In May those seven sports will make presentations in front of the IOC for inclusion into the 2020 games. We will know by September of this year exactly which sport is reinstated.
Wresting is one of the oldest sports in the world and it has been part of the modern Olympics since it started back in 1896. For many people, this move comes as a surprise.
“When I think of the Olympics I think of wrestling, I think of the Greeks,” stated Solanco Wrestling Coach John Little. “I think of two things, the marathon and Olympic wrestling.”
But now wrestling may be gone. John Little has coached wrestling at Solanco for 33 years and never thought there’d be a day where wrestling wasn’t an Olympic sport.
But the recent move by the IOC has set off an outcry. The Facebook page “Keep Wrestling in the Olympics” got 63,000 likes in one day.
Numerous petitions are circulating online. But there is still some hope.
Wrestling now joins seven other sports, including baseball and softball, in trying to get reinstated. One will get back in.
“It’s like the Super Bowl for an athlete in football,” Little explained. “A lot of these guys train for 15 to 20 years to get where they are.”
Guys like Ronnie Perry are included in this list.
“There’s nothing else for a wrestler after college if there isn’t the Olympics,” Perry commented. Perry is a senior at Solanco and hopes to wrestle in college and dreamed of being an Olympian.
“It’s disappointing. There nothing to watch. There’s nothing for kids to look forward to other than just college,” Perry added. “It’s hard to think that won’t be there anymore and there’s just going to be college wrestling.”
“It’s a big blow to the sport. I can’t believe they would even consider it,” concluded a confounded Coach Little.
In May those seven sports will make presentations in front of the IOC for inclusion into the 2020 games. We will know by September of this year exactly which sport is reinstated.