I’m writing in response to the Feb. 20 story “Grappling with the future — IOC’s decision can’t dampen enthusiasm for sport of wrestling,” about the International Olympic Committee’s decision to eliminate wrestling from the Olympic Games.
With wrestling already less popular than sports like football, baseball and basketball, it’s frustrating to have something of this magnitude taken away. Other sports have professional leagues after college; wrestling’s biggest stage is the Olympic Games. Cutting the sport from the games will create a rippling effect on the sport as a whole.
Kids who are wrestlers in youth programs haven’t had anything to look forward to after college besides the Olympics.
With the diminishing effect of wrestling in recent years, I can imagine that, when high schools have to make budget cuts, we’ll see wrestling on that list.
