The 2011 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia were fantastic. While enjoying this year’s close team race between Penn State, Cornell and Iowa, I was struck by how much talent we have in the USA. The competition was fierce among the many tough and skilled athletes.

As national Greco-Roman coach for our U.S. team I could not help but think how we might capture this great wrestling talent and turn it into Olympic gold medals. I sat in the crowded Wells Fargo Center thinking about how we can help many of these wrestlers go on to the biggest sporting event in the world… the Olympic Games. My thoughts were, “why do so many of these great athletes end their wrestling careers after college? Why are there so few wrestlers that go on and compete in the two Olympic styles, Greco-Roman and freestyle?”

The Olympics! Without a doubt the Olympic Games are the most prestigious sporting event on the planet.

You think winning the NCAA Wrestling Championships is a thrill?! Think about the title, “Olympic Champion.” I can tell you it is the thrill of all thrills! Winning a medal in the Olympic Games or a World Championship is the ultimate high.

Even the big money professional athletes realize how special the Olympic Games are. That is why so many famous pro-tennis players and pro-basketball players try so hard to compete in the Olympics.

So what is it – with our sport? Why does it seem so difficult for the wrestling community to get together and work toward a common goal of creating a wrestling country that promotes all three styles of wrestling… folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman?

Am I wrong when I imagine that “all” wrestling people in the USA feel proud when our country does well in world and Olympic competition? Don’t middle and high school folkstyle coaches walk a bit taller when they see the U.S. wrestlers winning these medals?

I get the fact that the three styles of wrestling in the USA have vastly different rules. But still…. it is wrestling! And the fact is - the wrestlers that wrestle and learn all three styles actually do better in high school and college wrestling than the athletes that specialize just in folkstyle.

For our country to win Olympic and world medals it takes a unified nation. It takes an organized and interrelated approach to guide and develop our talent. As the Greco coach I can tell you that we need help. We need a lot of help from our youth coaches throughout America. We need young wrestlers getting more experience and learning Greco and freestyle skills early in their careers. We need more kids wrestling Greco and freestyle in the spring and summer - throughout their high school and college years.

Why not? We are a smart country. We can surely figure out this dilemma.

These days more and more wrestlers are wrestling folkstyle year-round and do not experience Greco or freestyle at all. I submit that this is a huge problem, a problem that all wrestling enthusiasts, coaches and athletes will regret down the road.  You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that this system is not helping our nation’s Olympic effort.

It is frightening how few Greco wrestlers we have coming up through the youth ranks. It is amazing how well we have been able to do world-wide considering this fact.

In 2007 Greco-Roman actually won the World Team Title. In the last four Olympic Games the U.S. Greco team has won more Olympic medals than every country in the world, except for Russia.

Just think if we had a U.S. system that better developed Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers. I am telling you we would be beating the Russians consistently.

Agree or disagree? I would love to hear your comments, ideas and/or suggestions regarding our nation’s international wrestling effort. Please email me at sfraser@usawrestling.org.

As always…Let’s expect to win, in all styles of wrestling!