| Wrestling after High School |
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| Written by Jamie Rutherford |
| Saturday, 02 September 2006 05:41 |
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Many children and young men grow up with dreams of playing in a
professional sport league, such as the NFL or NBA, or they dream of
going to college on athletic scholarship. If they are talented enough,
then there are plenty of opportunities to earn these scholarships in
those sports. But, what happens if your sport of choice is a non-revenue
sport, such as wrestling? After all, many colleges have dropped their wrestling programs in the past couple of decades due to Title IX. They were forced to do so to be in compliance with the gender quotas applied to Title IX. This, in turn, has reduced the opportunities for many wrestlers to continue with wrestling on the college level, although the number of participants on the high school level has increased during this same time period. No longer being a multi- time state champion or placer will garner wrestlers a scholarship to compete in college because of these reduced opportunities. As a matter of fact, not many wrestlers get the so-called "full ride" scholarships. Most wrestlers receive only partial scholarships. The NCAA limits Division I universities and colleges to 9.9 scholarships per team, although there are ten weight classes for college wrestling. This has caused college coaches to get creative when handing out scholarships, so they can field a competitive team. For example, a college coach may give an out-of-state recruit a half scholarship for the first year, then ask that recruit to establish residency in-state during his first year of college as this will cut the tuition cost by a considerable amount. Since all scholarships are based on out-of-state tuition cost, awarding partial scholarships allows the coach to get more scholarship athletes on the team for less money. Another creative solution college coaches have come up with is to hire the wrestler to help with summer camps. This helps the wrestler to off-set the tuition cost that is not covered by his scholarship. Because not as many colleges and universities are offering wrestling, it has become very competitive to even gain a spot on a college team. The National Federation of State High School Association’s participation survey listed 247,343 students on 9,562 teams wrestled in high school during 2004-2005 school year. Compare this with the number of colleges and universities in all divisions offering wrestling, then you can see why it is so competitive. So, what can one do to help increase his chance of getting noticed by a college coach? First and foremost, you need to have good grades in high school. Not many coaches are going to risk handing out money or a roster spot for someone that may not be around long. Besides, your education should be first priority in school because it will help you succeed in life, long after your wrestling career is over. A good SAT score also helps, so you may want to take it more than once to get the best possible score. Secondly, keep track of whom you have beaten in your high school career, and of whom you have beaten during the off season. When you wrestle in a tournament make it a point to find out who you are wrestling; if they are a state placer or qualifier, then write it down on a pad or notebook, list their name, the name of the tournament, the date and the score of the match. In addition, you will need to wrestle nationally, not just locally. After all, there are plenty of state champions and placers in this country, so you will need to try and set yourself apart from others. This means you will need to face the best competition possible, especially if your high school has a soft schedule during the season. Try to go to at least two national tournaments a year, such as: USA Wrestling’s Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, Junior Duals, and the NHSCA’s Junior Nationals, Senior Nationals, and National Open. North Carolina’s own Super 32 Challenge has become the premier preseason tournament in the country. There should be no excuse not to wrestle in this tournament if you are from North Carolina. Do not be afraid of doing some self-promotion of yourself. How is this done? Send college coaches a profile sheet of yourself with your wrestling stats throughout your high school career, who you have beaten during your career, your wrestling accomplishments, and include video of a match or matches of yourself against a quality wrestler or wrestlers. All these things can help you get noticed by a college coach, but there are no guarantees of getting a scholarship or a roster spot on the team. Finally, if you love the sport of wrestling and still want to compete while in college, but the college doesn’t offer wrestling, then look into starting a club program at the school. This is a growing trend throughout the nation. |
