Welcome to our “New to Wrestling” landing page. In the event you are new to our sport and/or you are trying to assess if wrestling is the right sport for you, please consider the following benefits associated with our sport:
- Wrestling has a rich tradition of developing many of our nation’s top military, corporate, political, and community leaders. For example, 13 United States Presidents wrestled.
- Wrestling is one of a few sports that anyone can participate in regardless of height, weight, gender, socio economic status, and most disabilities. You might be interested in knowing that the 2011 NCAA Division I wrestling champion was Anthony Robles from Arizona State University. The amazing thing about his accomplishment is that he did it with one leg.
- Wrestling teaches accountability, delayed gratification, and humility. There are no substitutions once you are on the mat. A wrestler must think for himself/herself when on the mat. There is nobody out there to help them once the referee blows the whistle.
- One of the fastest growing high school “girls” sports in America is wrestling. Wrestling is a great sport for teaching self defense but unlike many of the martial arts, wrestling is much safer because there are no submission or choke holds. In other words, wrestling is very safe.
- Wrestling is a contact sport but when some simple safety protocol is routinely followed, the risk of injury is substantially reduced. This protocol includes but is not limited to the following:
a. Headgear should always be worn in both practice and competition. This will prevent one of the most common wrestling injuries cauliflower ear.
b. Every wrestler should shower and thoroughly wash with soap and water immediately following practice and competition. This will significantly reduce the chances of skin infection.
c. Adherence to the national wrestling weight certification requirements is crucial for helping all athletes establish a safe and optimal weight class for competition. Wrestling is a leader with respect to using the latest sport science/sport nutrition technology to maximize performance.
- Wrestling is the ultimate physical fitness sport. It is the only sport in America with mandatory requirements for body fat, weight, and hydration assessments as a condition to participate.
- Wrestling will help you become better at other sports, especially football. Wrestlers learn how to hand fight, move their feet, maintain balance, establish angles, and use their feet. These are all essential skills for playing football at the highest level. Stephen Neal is a perfect example of an accomplished college wrestler who played for 10 years with the New England Patriots (and was on 3 Super Bowl Teams). This is an amazing accomplishment considering the fact that Stephen did not play football in college.
In summary, wrestling is a great sport for “battle testing” young students for later in life. There are few things you will ever do that are tougher. As the legendary wrestler and coach Dan Gable once said, “once you have wrestled, everything else is easy.”