Wrassling!

When you think of wrestling, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? For most people, wrestling is associated with World Wrestling Entertainment also known as WWE. As entertaining it may be to see people jumping of ladders, hitting each other with tables and chairs; wrestling was actually a very serious sport. Originating in Greece, wrestling was used as a means to train its soldiers. This wrestling however was much more brutal than the wrestling we see today. Soliders were often beaten for losing in wrestling, some were put to death. Modern day wrestling has developed into different variations and has been an part of the Olympic Games since 708 BC. The different variations of wrestling are as follows: Greco Roman, Freestyle, Entertainment, Sumo, Folkstyle and many more. The type of wrestling I will be talking about tonight is Folkstyle wrestling.

As a former high school wrestler, I am very familiar with Folkstyle wrestling. Although I've only wrestled for two years, I've seen the dedication of people who partake in such an underrated sport. A lot of high school students saw wrestling as just a bunch of dudes rolling around on a mat but there was so much more to it. The technique, endurance, and strength you needed to have to play in such a competitive sport was tremendous. There were only three rounds in a wrestling match which lasted from a minute and thirty seconds to two minutes. Let me just say that those are the longest two minutes of your life in the wrestling ring. Now they didn't just pair you up with anyone to wrestling with, students were divided into different weight classes to ensure that everyone had an equal opportunity to demonstrate their technique, strength and endurance. The weight classes, in pounds, were divided as follows: 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, eventually making it to heavy weights which were 285. The rules were simple; win by pin or win by points. To pin someone, both parts of the shoulder blade had to be in contact with the mat. Winning by points meant you had to score with taking down your opponent, achieving near fall, and escaping. Taking down your opponent meant throwing them down without brutal force to the neck or over-strain of the legs and arms. A near fall was basically keeping one of your opponents shoulder blades on the ground for more than 6 seconds, awarding you points the longer you kept them down. Escaping is essentially escaping the control of the wrestler in top position. There were essentially three positions in Folkstyle wrestling: neutral(both wrestlers are in standing position), bottom(one wrestler is at bottom position, trying to escape) and top (one wrestler has to maintain control over the bottom wrestler).

As easy as the rules were, wrestling someone with the same weight as you yet varying in different body mass composition was very difficult. You had two opponents who were doing their best to take each other down. Technique was vital in planning your next move and being quick to do so. The rounds do take a toll on the body and wrestlers are subjected to the body's desire to give out. The mentality to keep pushing forward and draw energy from what you had left in your body, is what made wrestling an exciting sport. Wrestling displayed the will power of those who desperately wanted to win. I hope I was able to educate my fellow readers with an underrated sport that should be highly acknowledged. That's all for tonight! This is Leonard Yalong, signing off!!!