Most popular sports greatly influence players lives. But unlike other popular sports wrestling helps build determination, diligence, character. Wrestling is the combat sport in which two people attempt to bring each other to the mat. The sport of wrestling teaches athletes not to give up and continue fighting because anything can happen at any time. This sport has influenced many lives since the beginning of time starting with the Greek gods to the kids and teenagers that participate in the sport now. Therefore, the sport of wrestling has been a popular sport throughout history, remains one of the most popular sports, and will continue to grow in the future.
Wrestling has been around for a very long time and has a lot of history. The history of wrestling started with the Greeks during the Middle Ages. According to National Wrestling Hall of Fame “Wrestling was the most popular event in the Ancient Greek Games, and lists of Olympic wrestling winner have been recorded since 708 B.C.”. Wrestling also can be traced back to over 5000 years ago when the Sumerians lived. Forms of wrestling could also be found in parts of Egypt. Paintings and drawings on tomb walls describe detailed scenes of wrestlers. Different styles of wresting have developed around the world including the Greco-Roman styles of wresting which was developed in France. This style does not allow for the holding of legs and or tripping. Some styles that originate from Great Britain have rules against floor wrestling. In these styles, the wrestlers must stay standing. The first to reach the ground would be the loser of the match. With the expansion of the Roman Empire came the catch-as-catch-can style which is now known as modern freestyle (Dellinger). In conclusion, wrestling has been around the world for thousands of years.
The sport of wrestling is still performed to this day. It is popular in schools among all ages especially in high schools. According to SoftSchools, “At the high school level, wrestling ranks 6th in participation in all boys sports”. This quote shows the popularity of this ancient sport. An article on Auburn Takedown says, “Since 2002 to 2003, the number of high school wrestlers has grown by 40,000”. This popular sport is not only executed by males only. A dramatic increase in female wrestlers has also risen. The amount of female wrestlers has grown from 804 in 1994 to 8,727 currently. High school wrestlers who would like to continue wrestling can join a college wrestling team. College wrestling has become popular and intercollegiate teams have dramatically increased in number since 2002. (Auburn Takedown). The most talented wrestlers get the opportunity compete in the summer Olympics. Olympic wrestling is said to be very interesting because of the wide variety of styles each country succeeds at. This variety of culture comes with a large variety of techniques which cannot be previously practiced by the wrestlers. Alexandre Karelin was a Russian three-time Olympic gold medalist and was on his path to reaching his fourth gold metal when American Rulon Gardner defeated him in his last match. This victory was important to American wrestling. Rulon Gardner would go to influence and inspire young and upcoming wrestlers around the county. After the introduction of freestyle wrestling in the Olympics, female wrestling became an Olympic sport. This took place during the 2004 games in Athens. (Modern Olympic Wrestling)
Although the future cannot be known for sure, many assumptions and predictions have been made on what the future of wrestling will look like. For example the uniforms that wrestlers wear now will change from a traditional one piece singlet to a two piece singlet. A two piece singlet is primarily a compression t-shirt and compression shorts. This is being done to make the sport more appealing to younger athletes. Another example of change in wrestling is that High Schools all around the country are starting to make more female wrestling teams. This is being done so that female wrestlers can wrestle their own gender. According to National Wrestling Coaches Association “Since 1994, the number of high schools that sponsor wrestling has grown from 8,559 to 10,629”. This shows that because more high schools are sponsoring the sport, there will be an increasing number of athletes that compete in the sport of wrestling. It is predicted that wrestling will continue to change in future years.
So you can see wrestling has influenced people in history, currently and will continue to in the future. Wrestling began back over 5,000 years ago when the Sumerians were still alive and it was the most popular event in the Ancient Greek Games. Wrestling today is still one of the most popular sports, especially in high school, ranking 6th in participation. For example the number of high school wrestlers increased by 40,000 from 2002- 2003. There has also been a greater number of females wrestling saying that it went for 804 in 1994 to 8,727 currently. With all stated information, it can be concluded that wrestling has been and will remain a popular sport in history.