Disheartened to hear
about wrestling
cancellation
Dear Editor,
I am so disheartened to hear about the cancellation of the wrestling program at Colleton County High School.
The sport of wrestling is as old as time and one of the first sports that ever existed. It is unique as it is both a team sport and an individual sport. The beauty of this sport is it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, you are matched to a competitor of equal weight. This levels the playing field and gives every opportunity to all. The team aspect builds character and contributes to an athlete’s sense of belonging.
If you look at all other class AAAA sports programs that have football, they also have wrestling and the football coaches encourage their football players to participate. It makes them better football players, as there are techniques that can be utilized for effective tackling and it keeps the athlete in optimal overall physical shape during the winter months. There are very few wrestling injuries as compared to almost all other contact sports. Although many wrestlers don’t start out as “natural athletes,” wrestling improves balance, reflexes, strength, endurance and agility. Wrestlers are often very lean and strong for their body weight.
I am not privy to the behind the scenes decision making, but it has been suggested that there is not enough interest in this sport. If that is indeed true then I would question how that was determined. Wrestling conditioning starts the first week of November, before the football season is over, so there are many who come out for this sport well into the month of December, as the majority of the matches occur in January. This sport has 14 weight classes. This year they had nine athletes signed up and potentially could have more once the football season was officially ended.
There is also the pandemic aspect, as many may be wary of close contact sports until there is a vaccine widely accessible.
Sincerely,
Michelle O’Quinn
(wrestling mom)
Colleton County