This past Friday 10-18-2019 St. Olaf a small college in Northfield, Minnesota announced that after 71 years they would be discontinuing their wrestling program. Athletic director Ryan Bowles stated one of the reasons as to why is St. Olaf's inability to be competitive.
Now their is a lot that can be said about that statement. St. Olaf has never been a powerhouse in wrestling but they've had a few times throughout their history where they've done quite well. In the mid sixties they finished in tenth place in the college division tournament. In the late 80's they had some of their best teams producing the most amount of All Americans. Then most recently nine years ago they had a team that finished in sixteenth place at the NCAA Division III tournament. The Oles last All American was in 2016.
The first thing to do is to look at the situation and ask why St. Olaf wasn't more competitive. To look at factors such as costs, academic standards/requirements, recruiting, location & facilities. To wonder if the athletic director Ryan Bowles who was so quick to say, "Inability to be competitive" had something to do with why.
In this day in age it is all about winning. Furthermore it is all about drawing a crowd, putting rear-ends in seats and making money. Now few, if any wrestling teams turn a profit but its harder for administrations to ax wrestling teams that win a conference title and draw a crowd for home duals than it is for them to ax a team that finishes dead last in the conference and has more individuals in the crowd from the visiting team than it does for themselves. Granted Trev Alberts did ax the Nebraska-Omaha wrestling program after winning an NCAA Division II title but we're talking the example, not the exception.
With all of this stated, I have to ask myself the question, is their a place for these "not very good teams?" Do they have purpose? Do they serve a need?
I say yes.
Now this is not a popular opinion. Matter of fact I expect to get more rebuttal and more hostility thrown at me from the wrestling community than I do outsiders who read this. But it is my opinion and I believe it to be true.
Not everyone who wrestles, even if they do pour their heart and soul into it, is going to be good at it.
Their are some wrestlers who work hard, put everything they have into wrestling and they're never going to be someone you read about in the paper. They're never going to have their name up on a wall.
When I was younger, I always thought that if you weren't any good in high school, you had no business wrestling in college. That unless you had some sort of credentials to show a college coach of what you did and who you were, that he'd laugh you right out of the room when you asked to be a part of his team. I suppose that's because I grew up in Iowa. I grew up in Hawkeye territory. I spent time online on various wrestling forums that treated college wrestling as if those who didn't win at least one state title, shouldn't even think about wrestling in college.
Yet when I got to college, during the time I was there, the team at my school was a lot like that of what St. Olaf has been the last couple of years. Moments throughout its history of glory, but for the most part one of those "not very good teams."
The kids that made up the Red Raiders of Northwestern College weren't for the most part what you'd call the elite. Yes, their were a few that were. Their were state champions on the roster. Their were multiple time state place winners on the roster. Yet Their were kids who only qualified for state once. Some kids that never qualified. Even some kids that were like me, losing records.
For the most part these kids weren't going to be legends in college wrestling. They weren't going to win national titles and bring fame and recognition to the school.
What they were, were guys that had a love and passion for the sport of wrestling. Maybe they lacked the skill, the talent & the athleticism to rack up a bunch of medals from a bunch of tournaments, but what they had was a great appreciation for the sport of wrestling. They wanted to be a part of it.
A lot of the schools Northwestern College competed against at the time were in similar situations. William Penn, Si Tanka, Dakota Wesleyan, Briar Cliff, Morningside, ect. Sure they all had kids on the roster that were very good. I can name them. Dana had Terrence Almond, William Penn had Darren Cotton. Yet, a large portion of their roster weren't these superstars of NAIA wrestling like Almond and Cotton. The majority of them were kids you never heard of and never will. They were kids that were nobodies in high school and they were nobodies in college. Yet, if you ever did run into one of them wearing an old shirt that read "Name of college wrestling" and struck up a conversation, you'd see that sparkle in their eye. You'd hear that enthusiasm in their voice. They were part of a college wrestling team, and it was one of the most important and impactful moments of their lives.
I think that has importance in our society. Not only in wrestling but in all sports.
I think the day is coming when we won't have these teams anymore. I think as time goes on winning and being competitive and all the money involved in all of it will eventually eliminate these environments. That homes for those who love the sport and want to be a part of it, but they aren't very good will cease to exist.
I hate thinking that. I hate feeling that.
I'm glad I had the experience of witnessing a time when kids who weren't all that great, who had a great love and passion, could still be a part of it as long as they were willing to show up, put in the work and give it their all. Yet as long as their are Ryan Bowles in the world who justify eliminating wrestling for an "inability to be competitive" I wonder if the days of these types of teams may be numbered.
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