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The NCHSAA State Wrestling tournament will be held in Winston Salem this weekend. Some dreams will come true and others will be just out of reach. With an event like this it is important for the athletes to remember that although they are on the mat alone they have gotten to this moment thanks to the sacrifices of many. It is hard to imagine a kid getting to this point without the support of their parents or parent type figure. The example that I know the most closely would be that of my own parents. Our father was a successful high school and college wrestling coach when we were young. He gave up coaching college to coach us in high school. Our mother is a college administrator. They never took a vacation. They traveled but not for vacations. They went where we were wrestling or in my sister’s case playing soccer. When we were in high school we were driven across the state everyday to get a workout. On trips to wrestle they would split meals to save money but made sure that we had plenty after we made weight. They were always there to watch us and make everything easier for us to compete.The other example that I am very familiar with is that of the parents of our club members. Many of our club members’ parents drive several hours every Sunday, sometimes after having driven on Saturday to a tournament, to have their kids in our practices. One family would drive to a tournament through the night and sleep the last few hours in the parking lot in their car. All so they could have their son wrestle better competition in Virginia. Their sacrifices helped their son earn a college wrestling scholarship. Some sacrifices may seem small such as being at every match or even every home match. Maybe the help comes in the form of encouraging words like “I know you can do it”. Some help may come in the form of discipline to keep you on track in school or with your weight. Whatever the case may be it is hard to imagine that you could have gotten to this point alone. You may be on the mat alone but someone is right behind you.
Why does Iowa Wrestling average nearly eight thousand fans at every home match? Is it because they win? Winning helps but Oklahoma State was winning in 2004-2005. That year they were defending national champions on their way to winning another title. The Cowboys won every dual meet that year but their average home attendance was 3,084. Is it because wrestling is more popular in Iowa than anywhere else? Wrestling is popular in Iowa but Iowa does not even rank in the top ten nationally in participants at the high school level. Ohio is fourth nationally and has a top five team at Ohio State but still only manages to have 2,681 people on average attend a home dual. For what it's worth North Carolina was eighth in participation nationally and hardly a few hundred go to watch the college matches in NC. So what is it then? It's the Iowa style. Iowa wrestles an aggressive attacking style. Iowa wrestlers are very physical and mean on the mat. Former Iowa coach Dan Gable called it intense legal pain. A typical Iowa wrestler is physical and aggressive on his feet. He takes the action to his opponent with brutal hand fighting and takedown attempts. Generally an Iowa style wrestler secures a takedown and immediately looks to turn his opponent. If the turn is not imminent he releases the wrestler in a physical manner by pushing him away and goes for more takedowns. After a few takedowns the opponent begins to break mentally and physically thereby making scoring and pinning easier. A few weeks ago we went and watched a few college matches and they were by and large boring, and I love wrestling. Iowa fans also appreciate the passion demonstrated by the coaches for each and every match. The whole staff wrestles the match matside jumping around, demonstrating moves, and yelling instructions. That passion is contagious. Iowa style wrestling is not unique to Iowa. A few other individual wrestlers around the country have the mentality of continuous scoring. Iowa, however, is the only team that totally embodies that mentality. The Iowa style can be learned. When we lived in Iowa the team our father coached would go scrimmage Iowa. Being in the room with Gable coaching and the Brands brothers wrestling we got to see how the Iowa style is taught and practiced. Check out the interview with Iowa's Daniel Dennis to see what I am talking about.Click here to view the interview.
