Forfeits, Evolution, Current State of Wrestling

[Bearhugger]

I log on today and read discussion topics BY OTHER PEOPLE that pertain to the overall state of affairs with WV high school wrestling. I applaud these people for choosing to talk about such unfavorable and unpopular topics.

When the middle school wrestlers first hit the mats at the WSAZ to warm up, I thought to myself...…………."we got to get these wrestlers to high school and keep them on the mat".

[dontlikethelights]

First and foremost I would like to state that the dearth of participation in wrestling is quite concerning. If you ask any coach I'm sure they would tell you they would love to have enough wrestlers out that they would have to make cuts to fit in their room. I'm sure they would also tell you they've stood in the hallway/cafeteria and tried to talk kids into giving wrestling a try until their face turned blue. There seems to be a major cultural shift with kids not wanting to participate, not just in wrestling but in all sports. Our local middle school football team had 15 kids stick with it this year. 15! Try fielding a team with those numbers. There also are a lot more opportunities for kids these days. The more sports and clubs you have with the same number of kids starts to stretch your numbers thin, not to mention "travel teams" and single sport specialization.

I think there are many factors involved, but one that is seemingly overlooked is the current situation of the state itself. West Virginia has had over an estimated 2.5% decline in population since the 2010 census. West Virginia also has the oldest median population in the country at over 40. The biggest red flag; however, is there was a 5.73% drop in the 5 to 17 year old age group from the 2000to the 2010 census'. Simply put, the kids just aren't there to participate any more. I've noticed a major drop in participation in multiple sports, just not wrestling.

Now if we look at the percentage of weights not filled since 2004 at Winner's Choice (I just picked it, since this is the one we as a forum crucified the most), we'll see a trend of about a 5-7% increase in vacancies which mirrors the decrease in population (5-17). Correlation does not always represent causation, what teams attend, injuries, etc. There are too many external factors to give a definite cause. The average over this time is 20%, median 19% and standard deviation 5.54%. From a statistical analysis standpoint 2019 would be an outlier and thrown out from consideration.

2004 - 19% 2012 - 16%
2005 - 21% 2013 - 21%
2006 - 14% 2014 - 18%
2007 - 13% 2015 - 24%
2008 - 15% 2016 - 25%
2009 - 18% 2017 - 25%
2010 - 15% 2018 - 26%
2011 - 19% 2019 - 34%

The point I'm trying to make here is I have seen first hand coaches, parents, and people in general do care about the dwindling participation rate and they are trying very hard to do their best with what is available. Frankly as a fan of the sport, I find it flat out insulting to all the coaches, tournament directors, parents and volunteers that there is a constant undertone on this forum that they're doing a terrible job getting kids out or running their tournaments. I have no problem discussing the state of the sport in a civil manner, but often these discussions turn into rambling debates of no substance that clog up the message board and distract from things that actually promote the sport. Example; there are 5 threads in a row towards the top of the message board that are all about the number of forfeits, while posts about major milestone wins are being pushed down. If we're going to have these discussions can we at least keep them in a thread or two?

I would like to thank all coaches, parents, volunteers, and post contributors(yes even the ones I disagree with at times) for their interest and time invested in building this great sport.

My two cents for the year,
Ian Webster

[J.W.]

Fully agree with you. My write up was supposed to show that it is not the coaches, tournament directors, high school teams fault and have also even posted years ago about the decline in population.

I was giving my opinion that we need to get back to focusing on the community feeder teams, where kids train together and become team mates, recruiting more kids at a younger age into the sport and stop separating them when they are younger. I believe that the super clubs, taking kids from all areas have actually hurt the sport much like the new travel baseball teams that pop up every year so everybody can be an all-star.

Sorry if you lumped my write up in with those that complain and direct problems at those that are not to blame. I was merely making the point of hoping to fix a decline by promoting at the younger age.

With you, not against you!

[dontlikethelights]

I totally agree with you J.W.! I thought your post was spot on.

[Monarch1996]

I log on today and read discussion topics BY OTHER PEOPLE that pertain to the overall state of affairs with WV high school wrestling. I applaud these people for choosing to talk about such unfavorable and unpopular topics.

When the middle school wrestlers first hit the mats at the WSAZ to warm up, I thought to myself...…………."we got to get these wrestlers to high school and keep them on the mat".

Bearhugger, I've always appreciated your posts through the years I was a mere lurker. I don't think you've crossed any lines, honestly. Your concern for our great sport is one I share.

Your final paragraph holds true--so many of my junior high teammates never bothered to hit the mat in high school, and some that did gave up when they didn't have the easy success they had in junior high. Heck, I've seen state placers give up for various reasons, and do think part of the reason is specialization. Demographically, it's going to be hard to have WV be a top state in this sport, even when we recognize how good South is. It would be awesome to one day have multiple WV teams ranked nationally, but I fear that is but a pipe dream.

[Panther_coach]

If I had a nickel for every time I have been asked “What happened to all those great kids you had at Milton...” For a few years there we were pretty much on top of the middle school heap then cars, girls, jobs, video games, academics, coaches from other sports discouraging wrestling, transfers to other schools, club teams and just plain old burn out and laziness took their toll. I feel confident if those kids had stayed the course and kept wrestling, they could have won a state championship or maybe more. They did not lose to another WV school (and rarely anyone else) in a four year span but pfftt, come high school they disappeared. I am sure many conversations in many areas of the state about wrestling start with “what ever happened to ...” It is a common problem and one I am at a loss to suggest a solution for.