John Smith finished second in college as a sophomore, and was a good wrestler. He went on to beat the world champion in the goodwill games later that year, and became America's best wrestler. Smith opted…
+ See More +John Smith finished second in college as a sophomore, and was a good wrestler. He went on to beat the world champion in the goodwill games later that year, and became America's best wrestler. Smith opted…
+ See More - See Less -John Smith finished second in college as a sophomore, and was a good wrestler. He went on to beat the world champion in the goodwill games later that year, and became America's best wrestler. Smith opted out of the World Championship to focus on becoming a NCAA champion first. He won all but one match (his very first match junior year) after that in College. While John Smith was winning two Individual NCAA titles, he also started a string of six straight world championships that included two Olympic gold medal performances in 1988 and 1992.
John Smith is considered by some to be America's best wrestler of all time, and there is no argument that he was America's most brilliant technician. Smith invented a low single shot that was like lightning with its striking penetration at the ankles and lower legs of his opponents. He then invented and refined many kinds of finishes that almost always assured his takedown.
John Smith took over the legendary Oklahoma State program in the early 1990s. He coached his younger brother Pat Smith to four NCAA individual national titles, the first wrestler to ever to accomplish that feat, and won his first team National Championship in 1994. In 2003 he began a string of four straight team NCAA championships.
Despite winning the last four team NCAA titles, Coach Smith is driven to take the Oklahoma State team to greater heights. He and the rest of his coaching staff have their work cut out for them as they will be losing a legendary cast of seniors.
for the simple reason of its boring as hell to watch.
you want to destroy the little support base that wrestling has right now? switch to freestyle.
its less action, less moves, and its very boring.
dont get me wrong, i wrestle it and greco and love them both, but its simply too boring to watch for six minutes straight.
The United States would need to develop a system not unlike that being used by the Soviets/Russians/Eastern Bloc nations. Basically, kids move up in wrestling like we understand martial arts - through a "belt" system, but without the belts. Kids have to prove that they can master an array of moves before they are allowed to move on. Could you imagine that being the case in this country right now? The sport would be dealt a near death knell if that took place right away. Also, their coaches go to college to become coaches and receive advanced degrees in coaching so that they can adequately teach the sport in accordance with the system they preach. The bigger question then would be who develops the system? USAW? NWCA? NHSCA? John Smith? Dan Gable? Bruce Baumgartner? Imported Russians? Also, don't forget that wrestling in many of the top nations in the world are funded by their respective governments. Good luck getting that to happen in this country. They'd rather waste our tax dollars on bogus wars and congressional hearings about steroids in baseball.
The best way to do it, in my opinion, is to begin with the rules. You want the transition? First modify the rules to allow for Freestyle and Greco Roman techniques at the kids and high school levels. It would have to be a five- to seven-year plan before it would become fully functional, but it's possible. In that time, someone needs to design the national system that will allow our kids to succeed. Coaches need proper training, possibly even having the opportunity to earn college degrees to do it. Then you set up a season that allows a blend of Freestyle and Greco or one that separates the two out so kids can focus. The list goes on and on and on.
This is a massive undertaking for sure, but not impossible. The problem is that most people in the wrestling community don't know or understand the Olympic styles and don't want the change for that reason. By carefully adjusting the rules year in and year out over a specific length of time to transition to these styles, people come to know it, understand it and then aren't so opposed to it in the end.
It would make us more competive at world level. I dont think it would be that hard to implement at High school Level. then to college. What would it take to get it done. Maybe we could get Suggestion from Flo people. Perhaps if we all contacted local High school associations. We could get it done . Lets do it.