Wrestling! ---> high school state finals start tomorrow at the Delco Center (Austin: public schools)

[Lije Baley]

High school wrestling state finals

This is probably one of the most misunderstood h.s. sports around, especially in a state where it's only officially existed in public schools since 1999. But as someone who wrestled in a college club, Stephen F. Austin State to be exact, despite the intense physical aspect, the seemingly never-ending learning of various techniques and gallons of sweat left behind in the practice room I know it can be really fun and very satisfying - no other sport I've participated in comes close (btw for those that think it's a "violent" sport, last time I checked soccer caused many more severe injuries than wrestling. Same with football).

And I've lost track of how many computer and English majors I met while in that club, and kids into music and art courses that wrestled while I subbed at various high schools (I also regularly worked out with several teams during that time also), so I know that this sport attracts a wide array of personality types.

Lastly I have to give a plug to an organization that has helped college and high school wrestling in a really positive manner, and that is www.flowrestling.org.....and they are based right there in Austin!!

[mayfair44]

Good call!

Wrestling State Tournament — University Interscholastic League (UIL)

[hoffdano]

Yup. My nephew wrestles for Indiana....

[Lije Baley]

Direct link to live stream of the championships that start at 3:00PM today

[Lije Baley]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Yup. My nephew wrestles for Indiana....

Good team to be apart of!

My club team was nowhere near as intense as a college team - Div. I, II or III - and even most high schools were tougher, but it's mostly because club level wrestling at the time (late 90s) was perceived as mostly a fun activity to get away from the academic side of college for a couple hours (not that we didn't leave that practice room every time dripping with sweat - people would look at us like we were nutz! ).*

Nowadays? More and more clubs are as tough as a "real" team, partly because there are many more h.s. wrestlers looking to continue wrestling after high school but also because misapplication of the Title IX gender equality regulations have been killing off wrestling and many other male-dominated teams right & left all around the country the last couple decades , so h.s. wrestlers simply do not have any choice BUT to join a club team.


* we also went on the road to compete with other clubs, including the Longhorn wrestlers there in Austin

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Lije Baley

Good team to be apart of!

My club team was nowhere near as intense as a college team - Div. I, II or III - and even most high schools were tougher, but it's mostly because club level wrestling at the time (late 90s) was perceived as mostly a fun activity to get away from the academic side of college for a couple hours (not that we didn't leave that practice room every time dripping with sweat - people would look at us like we were nutz! ).*

Nowadays? More and more clubs are as tough as a "real" team, partly because there are many more h.s. wrestlers looking to continue wrestling after high school but also because misapplication of the Title IX gender equality regulations have been killing off wrestling and many other male-dominated teams right & left all around the country the last couple decades , so h.s. wrestlers simply do not have any choice BUT to join a club team.


* we also went on the road to compete with other clubs, including the Longhorn wrestlers there in Austin

It is just my opinion, but it isn't Title IX that hurts wrestling and other male college sports. It is football, its 85 scholarships, and the garish amount of money diverted so Div I schools can compete in football.

[Lije Baley]

^ I know there's definitely more to that story than Title IX (specifically, the proportionality "prong" of that law, of which there are a total of three IIRC that a college can choose from), but didn't want to get too off-topic in that post, especially when it involves a sport that in Texas is held in high - really high! - regard. Not to mention that wrestling is not nearly the profit-bringer that football and basketball are, and many times produces negative numbers......but then again, colleges aren't businesses so I don't understand why that should be an issue.

Because of these and other issues, it's doubtful Texas will ever see wrestling at the college level (besides clubs) in the foreseeable future, which is really unfortunate given the fact that so many high schools here are producing literally hundreds of great wrestlers.

[Lije Baley]

Have to point out something that was written last Saturday on the forum of the national governing body of freestyle/greco wrestling (Olympic styles).

Contained in the sixth post of this discussion is the statement that supposedly Deloss Dodds, UT's athletic director, turned down a fifty million dollar donation for a men's program. If that is what actually occurred, why the hell would he do that?! As cheap as wrestling is, I bet they could pay for all the team's expenses just from the interest earned on that amount of money!!

I am positive many wrestling fans would love to see a Longhorn wrestling team compete against the already-existing teams from Oklahoma and other rivals.