Oftentimes, the problem is from outside. Wrestling's lack of coverage in major newspapers, sports publications and websites, and on jock-talk call-in shows is a justified point of contention with those in the wrestling community ... as is the ongoing problem with various athletic sports halls of fame repeatedly passing over significant wrestlers and coaches as they announce their latest inductees. Even more damaging: the disrespect demonstrated when those in positions of authority to eliminate the sport, whether it's college athletic director looking to pinch pennies (or replace it with lacrosse or whatever sport he played in college), or the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee.
The diss from within
Then there's the lack of respect for wrestling from within. The wrestling community likes to refer to its sport as the oldest and greatest. Yet, too many participants, coaches and fans appear to dismiss their own sport's rich history.
This disrespect of wrestling's history and its great wrestlers and coaches is on display more often than fans might realize, in ways large and small. It can be as simple and seemingly small as a high school or college wrestler, when asked which sports figures he admires, mentions LeBron James or Tom Brady, not some all-time mat great. (Conversely, it's hard to imagine that some prep basketball star or football stud is going to say his favorite athlete is Logan Stieber or Cael Sanderson.) It's also on display when the names of current, unproven wrestlers are equated as being as talented or accomplished as past legends in online polls or forum discussions.
Larry Owings defeated Dan Gable in 1970.
This failure to recognize and honor past greatness is not a new phenomenon. One incident that got me to focus on sharing the history of amateur wrestling took place more than a dozen years ago. I saw an online poll, asking "Who's better -- a kid who had just won his fourth high school state title, or Dan Gable? Gable -- yeah, the one who lost only one match in his entire high school and college career, and won the gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics without being scored upon -- was being trounced, receiving single-digit support. Now I can understand that voters could easily be caught up in the afterglow of a kid claiming his fourth prep championship -- no mean feat. And I can imagine that most fans in a particular state would be inclined to vote for the current home state hero rather some out-of-state guy. There's also the issue of timeliness -- someone fresh from his victory, compared to Gable, who wrestled decades earlier. But ... in this historian's mind, four high school state titles does not trump the considerable, hall-of-fame worthy accomplishments of one Dan Mack Gable.
The all-time-great debate: fans vs. historians
Robin ReedWho would the "experts" pick for all-time greatest? Just weeks after Cornell University's Kyle Dake won his fourth NCAA championship in March 2013, Amateur Wrestling News assembled a team of nine long-time historians and writers to rank the top five college wrestlers of all time. They started with a list of twenty candidates, then whittled that down to a dozen. From that list, the historians were asked to rank their five top picks. Every historian put Cael Sanderson at the top of his list. Other wrestlers who earned at least two votes from the nine mat sages: Dake, Hodge, Uetake, Gable, Gray Simons (three-time NCAA champ for Lock Haven, 1960-62), Lee Kemp (three-time NCAA champ for Wisconsin, 1976-78), and Bill Koll (three-time NCAA champ at what is now University of Northern Iowa, 1946-48).
(Note that this list was put together two years before Ohio State's Logan Stieber claimed his fourth title at the 2015 NCAAs. As to why a number of the AWN greats have "only" three titles ... from 1928 until the late 1960s, college wrestlers could not compete at the NCAA championships as freshmen.)
This raises the question: how do YOU measure greatness? Is it strictly by stats -- won/loss record, pins, bonus points scored ... or are there other elements in the equation, such as the quality of a wrestler's competition?
Now, I fully understand that many fans would vote for someone they've seen in action in person (or on TV) rather than some old-time guy whose name they might not even recognize. I also "get" the arguments from many in the college wrestling community who say things like, "The guys of the past wrestled fewer matches" or claim the overall competition wasn't as tough ... or cite developments in nutrition and training as to why today's wrestlers are better. These arguments aren't unique to wrestling; they have been made in regards to athletes in other sports by journalists, athletes, coaches and fans.
Two past greats defend their era
Not everyone buys into the idea that today's wrestlers are indeed superior to their fathers or grandfathers. In 2008, I interviewed a trio of mat stars of 55-60 years ago for an InterMat feature on the 1958 NCAAs, with the idea of providing current wrestling fans with a first-hand perspective of those nationals from back then in comparison to today. One -- University of Iowa's Simon Roberts, the first NCAA African-American wrestling champ -- seemed to agree with the "newer is better" idea. "There's so much more to the sport now -- more sophistication in the training, especially in weight work, diet, and in the strategy during matches," said the man who also owns the distinction of being the first black to win a title at the Iowa high school state championships. However, two of his contemporaries -- Shelby Wilson, Oklahoma State NCAA finalist of the late 50s who won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and the late Les Anderson, two-time NCAA champ for Iowa State -- bemoaned the state of college wrestling in 2008 (which isn't that much different than it is in 2015).
Shelby Wilson"Nowadays, wrestlers keep making the same mistakes week after week," said the former Cowboy, who worked summer wrestling technique camps with fellow 1960 gold medalist, the late Doug Blubaugh. "We had plenty of time to work on technique ... The last guy who really had technique was Cael Sanderson."
Anderson, 1958 and 1960 NCAA title-winner who worked alongside Harold Nichols as assistant coach for the Cyclones for decades, told InterMat in 2008, "There was more fundamental wrestling back then. There was more chain wrestling, less willingness to settle for the easiest thing for example, going for a reversal instead of just an escape."
"The style back then was less 'clinging' -- not as much latching onto your opponent, and pushing him around for a stalemate."
"Our style today is killing fan interest," Anderson, creator of how-to-wrestle books and videos, said in 2008. "We need to award guys who are aggressive, who take shots, who stay active."
The diss = history disconnect?
The phenomenon of fans ignoring or being dismissive of past greats isn't unique to college wrestling. I've seen results of "all-time great" polls in other sports that are heavily weighted towards current or recent stars. One can imagine that the same arguments used by wrestling fans would apply here. However, there may be other factors involved ... and it could be as simple as fans not being aware of past mat greats and their accomplishments.
Imagine that the NCAA conducts an online poll for the 100th anniversary of the NCAA wrestling championships fifteen years from now. Will you be forced to explain why fans in 2030 should consider including Cael Sanderson, Kyle Dake and Logan Stieber among the all-time greats worthy of inclusion on that list?
Stanley HensonWhat's the story? Why is it difficult to find film, photos and info on the top wrestlers of times past? And ... could that lack of access make it more difficult for wrestling fans to appreciate old-school mat stars?
Pin it on decisions made in the past
Choices made in the past by college yearbook editors, student newspapers, and college sports information directors -- along with other outside forces -- now make it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to find any proof of the existence of some old-school wrestlers. Not just on film or video or in photos, but even the most basic information such as accurate statistics and biographical information.
It's an issue that I come across on an ongoing basis as a wrestling writer. Finding correct, useful information about wrestlers and coaches of the past can be truly challenging, whether it's online, or in school libraries or archives, or in books, magazines and other printed materials. I deal with this challenge under various circumstances, whether it's for a profile or historical feature that has no real deadline ... or for a "got to get it done now" project with a screaming deadline, such as writing a tribute to a wrestler or coach who has just passed away.
Photo-frustration
When I'm working on an obituary for a significant figure in the college wrestling community, I like to include a photo of the individual as a wrestler in his prime, ideally, in the uniform he wore out onto the mat ... or in his warm-ups or workout clothes. An image that not only grabs the attention of an internet surfer, but also immediately makes clear "This guy wrestled" ... rather than take the easy way out, and use the readily-available image of an elderly-looking gentleman from a funeral-home obituary that looks like anyone's grandpa, and not someone who might have struck fear in the hearts of opponents years ago. Sadly, that's often easier said than done, in that finding photos of wrestlers from the past in their wrestling gear can often be pretty much impossible.
What's the story? Oftentimes, the blame can be placed on editors of student newspapers and yearbooks and the decisions they made decades ago. From a fundamental standpoint, it can be as simple as the lack of coverage wrestling received from many yearbook and newspapers back in the day. College wrestling fans would be stunned to see the lack of stories and photos of the oldest and greatest sport in the print media at some of the schools that would be considered home to all-time great wrestling programs. In looking at past yearbooks from some Big Ten schools, for instance, the wrestling program is relegated to a half-page or less, forced to share a page with the boxing, fencing or gymnastics team ... while the football program is generously treated to a dozen or more pages. At many schools, the yearbook staff shunted wrestling to the "minor sports" section, where it was forced to share limited space with teams other than football or basketball.
Sometimes, the photo choices themselves can be baffling. This has come into sharp relief for this writer in looking at college yearbooks from the 1960s and 1970s, when many editors seemed to have placed style ahead of substance. Traditional team photos and action shots were often replaced with "artsy" images, cleverly cropped. Close-ups of shoulders or arms or other wrestler body parts ... images that might be interesting to an anatomy student, but useless to anyone seeking to find a specific wrestler or a team photo.
On a smaller -- yet no less frustrating -- level: lack of helpful photo captions. What am I looking for in a caption? Basic information of what's in the image, starting with the name of the individual(s) visible and their schools. Such as "Bob Smith, University of the Midwest heavyweight, pins Biff Jones of State." Instead, too many photo-editors took the easy way out with silly, dismissive, information-less captions, such as "Shall we dance?" under a picture of two wrestlers tussling, or "To have and to hold" under the image of someone caught in a painful-looking hold. Other editors sought a clean look for their page layouts, and banished photo captions completely. That's very frustrating for a writer of today seeking to find photos of a particular individual.
Diss = disappearance and disposal
If you think all that's bad ... how about the actual disappearance and disposal of wrestling-related items? It happens ... and usually not for malicious reasons. More than once, I've contacted the sports information director (the media contact for wrestling programs) to ask for photos and info of one of their past mat greats, only to be told, "Sorry we don't have anything" then quietly confessing, "I think that stuff got thrown out because we were running out of space."
This phenomenon isn't limited to cleaning out actual file cabinets and storage rooms. It would appear that a number of college wrestling programs' websites undergo frequent housecleaning as well. In too many cases, bios, photos, videos, stats and other info on wrestlers of the recent past which had been easily accessible online have vanished into cyberspace ... sometimes, seemingly months after those mat stars had hung up their headgear for good. (While working on this story, I tried to find biographies of a couple NCAA Division I wrestlers who had competed within the past decade for some news stories for InterMat ... and came up completely empty-handed.)
In some cases, I wonder if missing photos etc. may not be a case of items being thrown away, but instead being misfiled or misplaced. It's possible that old photos, stats, films and other mementos of some wrestling programs are hiding in some forgotten storage room or basement at the school ... or maybe in a long-gone coach's attic.
There's always hope. A couple years ago, Oklahoma State posted on YouTube a complete film of the 1962 NCAA championship finals ... supplanting much shorter, highly edited versions that had been all that was previously available for viewing online. Now, I don't know what the story was as to why this "newer", unedited version suddenly appeared online ... but it's possible that the original, complete finals film had been recently uncovered.
The Lost Generation
These challenges caused by missing (or misplaced) photos, films, stats and other basic information about past college wrestlers aren't limited to guys from the 1920s or 40s who wore wool tights and did battle on horsehair mats, or perhaps in a roped-off ring. (Yeah, some colleges conducted their matches in a ring that looked like what you see for boxing or pro wrestling events. The NCAA outlawed rings for college wrestling during World War II.)
There's a whole era of college wrestling that seems to have never existed ... roughly, from the mid-1960s up into the late 1980s or 1990. What I mean is ... it's often impossible to find any evidence of wrestlers from this time span. No photos. No films. No video. Why? In terms of films and video, up until the early 60s, each college that hosted the NCAA wrestling championships was responsible for filming the event, then offering those films to wrestling programs at other schools for viewing. (A number of these host schools still have a copy of that silent, black-and-white film in their archives. Some have posted that film on YouTube; others will gladly make you a DVD copy for nominal cost.)
In 1963, the era of host-school films went away, as the NCAA finals started being shown on TV. In the early years, it was ABC's "Wide World of Sports", then, in the 1980s and 90s, CBS, showing the national championships in a severely edited format (only selected matches show, not always in their entirety), weeks after the event. Recordings of these TV broadcasts from decades ago are pretty much unavailable in any form, other than bootleg copies from the network; for the most part, they are not on YouTube.
Things started to change about 30 years ago, as VCRs became a staple in more and more homes ... with some college wrestling fans recording the network TV broadcasts of the NCAAs on VHS or Beta videotapes. In addition, the introduction of camcorders for individual consumer use made it possible for wrestling fans -- and the parents of college wrestlers -- to record matches and save the matches on videotape, for future viewing. (Realize that today's technology such as DVRs and cellphones which can record video was not available back in the 1980s and 1990s.) Members of wrestler families, along with fans and historians, lucky enough to know someone who squirreled away these tapes might be in luck ... as long as there's a VCR for playing them, and that the tapes don't break.
In the early 1990s, the internet started to become a go-to source for information on college wrestling, with the establishment of InterMat in 1995, and a number of colleges setting up basic websites with some photos and info. (This was before high-speed internet service; websites had to be designed to load easily via dial-up services of that era which ruled out large photos and video.)
Sadly, all this means that wrestlers who competed in the era roughly from the early 1960s through much of the 1980s pretty much don't exist, at least in terms of readily available photos, films/videos and stats/information. During that time, wrestling fans had to rely on printed wrestling magazines, newspaper accounts, and limited coverage from general sports magazines such as Sports Illustrated ... or, from media guides published by colleges to provide info on their wrestling programs to sportswriters.
It's not all about me
Not being able to find photos, videos and other information on old-school college wrestlers is not an issue limited to the small number of writers and historians who chronicle college wrestling's past. More often than you might realize, I hear from family or friends of a wrestler from a couple (or more) decades ago, asking, "Can you help me? I can't find anything on (my dad/granddad/uncle) who once wrestled at ..." For every instance where I'm able to use my nerdy-reporter search skills to find something for them, there are plenty more situations where I come up empty, and have to disappoint someone.
There are larger implications for the sport of wrestling beyond disappointing a long-ago wrestler's kin. For a sport that is often described as being "the oldest and greatest", too many of today's fans and participants are pretty much clueless about the sport's rich history. They don't recognize (or appreciate) the legendary wrestlers and coaches of the past, and, therefore, all too often become dismissive of those greats.
Sadly, this dismissive attitude can be found on display among folks who should know better. A couple years ago, I remember reading an online Twitter conversation between two individuals connected with the coaching staff of a storied Division I wrestling program. One mentioned the name of a long-dead wrestler who many historians would consider to be one of the all-time best amateur wrestlers of the pre-World War II era. In the conversation, it appeared that neither guy had any clue about the greatness of the all-time great, with one questioning how you could even compare old-school grapplers to today's best.
It's one thing for fans to share their cluelessness in an argument on an online forum or in social media. It's another to have two wrestling coaches display their ignorance on social media for all to see. And, as mentioned earlier, it's even worse when those in power -- be they arrogant athletic directors or an Olympic committee -- make decisions to eliminate the sport because they don't know or appreciate the rich history of the oldest and greatest sport.
Why history matters, regarding rules
Understanding and appreciating wrestling's past -- and its past greats -- has implications for the sport beyond being able to win bar bets and settle arguments in online forums. Knowledge of the past can help make the present and future of wrestling even stronger.
A good place to start is rules. When there's discussion about changing the rules for a specific situation, it can be helpful to look back at the rules in the past, to see what might have worked -- or, perhaps, more importantly, did NOT work -- so that the NCAA and those involved in shaping the sport's rules can make informed decisions, and not repeat the mistakes in the past.
I think it's helpful to realize that so many things we take for granted now regarding rules have historic precedent. Rules forbidding specific punishing holds such as the keylock, or potentially dangerous maneuvers such as the full-height body slam were implemented because opponents on the receiving end suffered injuries. (The two examples I just mentioned resulted in rule changes implemented almost immediately after the wrestlers known for those maneuvers had completed their collegiate careers.) Headgear, once optional, became mandatory in an attempt to prevent the growing problem of cauliflower ears.
Rules are always subject to change; right now, the college wrestling community is discussing possible rule changes that might make matches more compelling for fans and athletes, focusing on ideas that might open up scoring, and how to prevent seemingly endless matches that result in a tie at the end of regulation. On the topic of tiebreaking options, in recent weeks I've seen folks make proposals that echo rules that have been tried in the past, did not work, and then scuttled or amended. An understanding of the history of how knotted scores have been handled (and mishandled) in the past would go a long way to providing possible solutions that are truly new and innovative, and don't merely repeat mistakes of the past.
Sometimes, an understanding of mat history can help shape attitudes about today's challenges. Take the subject of stalling, one of the most popular topics to rail against. Most current fans, wrestlers and coaches don't always realize this was a "hot topic" back in the 1960s, 1940s and 1920s, a situation that wrestling writers and coaches have long lamented for decades. Folks today may not realize that one element of stalling -- riding time -- also has roots that go back to the earliest days of NCAA wrestling. Until about World War II, there was no point-scoring system in college wrestling; an athlete won the match by pinning his opponent, or by what was called "time advantage", essentially, who was "in control" the greater amount of time. One way to control an opponent was by riding him. Nowadays, some wrestlers are guilty of what appears to be a lame attempt at riding an opponent's legs. The NCAA has implemented new rules regarding this ... but some in the sport think it's time to eliminate riding time altogether in college.
Just realizing that some issues are as old as the sport itself can help put things in perspective ... and, perhaps, open the door to bold new solutions, rather than re-implement old rules that failed to solve the problem in the past.
History and the singlet
Another challenge facing wrestling that doesn't generate as much heat on online forums or in social media -- but is one that I hear about in emails -- is singlets. Within the past couple weeks, in response to an article I had written about the decline in the number of boys participating in high school wrestling in 2014-15, a wrestling fan with three teenage sons in the sport wrote to say he thought that many potential wrestlers consider singlets were too revealing, and, therefore, a deal-breaker. This sentiment has been echoed by InterMat's T.R. Foley, and Joe Reasbeck, wrestling novelist who has included the singlet as an item that needs to be jettisoned if the sport is to grow. There is a considerable contingent of fans who assume that singlets have always been worn in college wrestling, and, therefore, are sacred and cannot be replaced. These fans might be stunned to know that, 50 years ago, singlets were not allowed by NCAA rules at the time.
In fact, singlets were an answer to an issue in the late 1950s and early 60s: to prevent what the NCAA rule books of that era referred to as "unseemly exposure." Back then, large numbers of high school and college wrestlers competed in trunks, without shirts or tights. However, according to the late, aforementioned Les Anderson (who was wrestling at Iowa State at that time), there was at least one incident where another college wrestler's genitals "popped out" from under or over his trunks ... so the NCAA at first required either tights or shirts (school choice) to prevent another X-rated moment. By the mid-1960s, the NCAA amended their uniform requirements to require college wrestlers to wear both a shirt and tights with their trunks. By the late 1960s, the NCAA reversed course on singlets, permitting wrestlers to wear them ... all with the idea of preventing unseemly exposure. Ironically, exposure is again an issue for some, as today's body-hugging synthetic-fabric singlets can sometimes be just about as revealing as the incident Anderson described.
So ... can history help with finding a new solution that all wrestlers are comfortable with (especially adolescents), and, will prevent any wardrobe malfunctions of the past? It's worth a look back. Perhaps an old-school uniform might serve as the blueprint for today, with modifications, incorporating today's technology regarding fabric and design.
History isn't always as we imagined it
Throughout this piece I've railed how it often appears that old-school wrestlers don't get the respect they deserve. That said, there is a contrasting issue, where past greats are deified, and the old days are viewed by some as a version of perfection that has been lost over the years. Some fans also have a notion that the past was the zenith of good sportsmanship and good behavior.
That's not true. As I wrote in my 2014 InterMat feature "Matmen Behaving Badly?", stories of recent-vintage wrestlers having run-ins with the police or being benched for "breaking team rules" are not an exclusive product of our times; by reading old newspapers and yearbooks, we can see that some mat champs of the past did indeed break rules, and, sometimes, break laws. In addition, there was trash talk ... and some athletes and coaches engaged in making public statements that served as "locker room" fuel to fire up opponents; it just wasn't widely reported. I just read about a rivalry between two top high school heavyweights in a major wrestling state in the 1950s, where one basically "owned" the other because of things he'd say to his opponent to pysch-out the other guy.
Bill KollA study of history can also provide insight into even bigger-picture elements of college wrestling. For example, by looking back, we see that diversity was not in action in the "good old days." Look at college wrestling team photos from 50 or more years ago, and just about every face was white. Some milestone dates to provide some perspective: the first African-American to wrestle at the NCAAs was Harold Henson of San Diego State, in 1949 ... the first black NCAA champ, Simon Roberts of Iowa, in 1957 ... and the first African-American to wrestle at the storied Oklahoma State program was Joe James, who arrived on the Stillwater campus in 1960. The first appearances of Hispanics and Native American wrestlers at NCAAs were within the same time frame.
What can be done?
What can be done to help preserve, protect and share the sport's treasures? If it were up to me, all the photos, films, videos, stat books, coaches' scrapbooks, and other mementos of a college wrestling program would be kept in the school's library or archives, maintained by librarians, archivists and historians. They know how to catalog these items so they can be easily accessed when someone needs to see them (rather than have some poor college intern have to dig through file cabinets in the sports information department) ... and are schooled in the techniques of preservation and restoration, so those images and items will remain in a condition to be useful for future historians. This would also free up sports info directors to concentrate on providing complete, up-to-date information on their wrestlers and the program as a whole, rather than have to deal with storing and finding old info for that occasional request for a photo from the distant past.
For those concerned that archiving these wrestling historical materials in a library will cut off fan access, nothing could be further from the truth. It never ceases to amaze me that the library/archive professionals I've worked with over the years are not only very gracious but also incredibly knowledgeable, and more than willing to help provide you with what you need. And, if you're not able to visit their facility in person, they are usually willing to photocopy or scan photos and articles -- and even make DVDs of wrestling films -- for a nominal fee. Even better, more and more facilities are now digitizing their holdings, so that historians and the wrestling community can use these items at their convenience, at no charge.
What can YOU do?
As for what the college wrestling community can do ... for starters, if YOU have old-school photos or films or videotapes or yearbooks or newspapers in your attic or garage, I encourage you to find a way to share with your fellow fans. Consider putting them online for the rest of us to see. Better yet, turn them over to the library at the appropriate school, so they can preserve, protect and share them. And ... as you come across items of historical interest online or while browsing your library or old bookstore, be sure to share your find with other wrestling fans by posting your discovery online, or contacting a wrestling historian. (I'd be happy to help you spread the word.)
There are various historical resources already available to you, many online. A great place to start is Tom Fortunato's mega-website, WrestlingsBest.com, which has links to thousands of websites related to the sport around the world, including sites for specific college wrestling programs and wrestlers, as well as historical treasures such as photos and collector cards. Another great starting point is the National Wrestling Hall of Fame website [NWHOF.org], which, in addition to providing informative biographies of honorees, also has scans of NCAA Wrestling Guides, annual publications which provide recaps and results of that year's action along with team photos, and explanation of then-current rules with illustrations. WrestlingStats.com is another treasure-trove of information, including brackets for NCAA, Big Ten, Big 12 and EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) championships, and career stats for individual wrestlers at a number of top college programs. Over the years, InterMat's Rewind features have profiled legendary wrestlers, as well as providing historical perspective on topics such as rules and uniforms.
A number of college newspapers have digitized their past issues -- including those at Cornell University, Illinois, Lehigh, and Oklahoma State -- making it possible for fans and historians to view their coverage of wrestling online at no charge. A number of schools have also provided free access to their vintage yearbooks online, including "The Illio" (Illinois) and "Redskin" (Oklahoma State); the website e-yearbook.com also has scans of tens of thousands of college yearbooks available for an annual subscription (though you may not find the school or year of interest to you.)
Social media can also provide you with photos and info from college wrestling's past. Some Facebook resources that I can recommend include Bobby Douglas' page, along with various state chapters of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame providing pages such as I Wrestled in Tennessee, I Wrestled in Georgia, and I Wrestled in Virginia ... with more to come. Some college wrestling programs incorporate information and photos from their past in their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
To get a stronger sense of the overall history of college wrestling, I would recommend subscribing to the magazines that cover the sport on a national basis, such as Amateur Wrestling News, WIN (Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine), and Wrestling USA. (Some of the specific features that provide a look back include "The Centenarian Files" by Donald Sayenga in Amateur Wrestling News, and Mike Chapman's column in WIN.) In addition, your state may be blessed to have a publication with more of a localized focus, such as "The Guillotine" which covers wrestling in the state of Minnesota.
There are a number of great books that provide tremendous historical perspective on wrestling. One book I refer to often is "The History of Intercollegiate Wrestling" by the late historian Jay Hammond, which provides a year-by-year review of college wrestling, along with features on some of the major wrestlers and coaches who have shaped the sport. The 2005 printed book is now available as an updated e-book. This website's InterMat Reads has featured articles on a number of books -- too many to list here -- which offer a look back at wrestling. A couple older (pre-InterMat) books I can recommend include Mike Chapman's "From Gotch to Gable" about the history of wrestling in the state of Iowa, Doris and Bob Dellinger's "Cowboys Ride Again" about the Oklahoma State mat dynasty, and Wade Schalles' photo-book of the 1980s "They Call It Wrestling" which provides images of some of the all-time greats in action.
If you have ties to a particular college wrestling program, do some research about its history. A great place to start is that school's wrestling media guide; most are available online at the program's website, and most have some photos and info on their all-time greats, along with team stats through the years. Go to your alma mater's library and check out the old yearbooks and newspapers to see what the wrestlers looked like long before you were on campus. Pick the name of a wrestling legend you've heard of but don't know much about, and do some digging of your own. Start online ... but don't be surprised or disappointed if you don't find much in the way of photos, video or info on the internet. (Now you have an idea of what life is like for a wrestling historian.)
I encourage you to explore the history of this great sport and its legendary athletes and coaches. You will uncover information that will provide you with new insights and appreciation into wrestling as it was ... as it is now ... and its future.
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