Colleges and Universities Dominate the Wrestling Spotlight
Share:
by Brendan Rourke
Established on Feb. 22, 1855, the grounds of Penn State University lie within the aptly-named Centre County in the direct center of the state. Its presence dominates the culture of the surrounding region named Happy Valley, named so because it was generally not affected during the Great Depression thanks to the school. Even the minor league baseball team that resides there pays homage to the school (the State College Spikes).
The mighty enrollment of 88,000+ students and large alumni base are passionate about their sports. The college is home to a perennially-ranked football team and an above-average basketball team that appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2023. However, the Nittany Lions also have a proud history of being highly ranked in another sport – wrestling.
In just under two weeks, several former and current Penn State wrestlers are about to return to the university to compete for the honor of representing Team USA at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. However, Penn State is not the only college that will be proudly represented in multiple quantities at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling, which takes place from April 19-20 on the campus. In fact, attending a college or university is one of the premiere training pathways if an athlete wishes to make an Olympic team. Most of the 230 athletes who have qualified for trials compete (or have previously competed) collegiately. The other well-represented pathway is through the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). WCAP is also responsible for athletes in several sports, most notably shooting.
The NCAA, NJCAA and NAIA have such a dominant presence in wrestling due to a combination of factors. One such factor is quite simple – the sport’s history and growth coincided with the growth of colleges and universities in the United States.
The history of collegiate wrestling in the United States can be traced back to the country’s origins. Native Americans already had their own form of wrestling by the 15th and 16th centuries, when Europeans began settling. The French and English settlers also had their unique form of wrestling as a pastime. Soon after, there were local champions, with contests between each region.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, wrestling became the most popular sport in the U.S., as former Presidents (Abraham Lincoln being the most notable) began adopting the sport. Thus, colleges established during that period, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, began exploring ways to adopt the sport and compete against other schools to provide students with entertainment and a sense of school pride.
The first intercollegiate dual meet (a competition between two colleges) occurred in 1903 between Yale University and Columbia University. Though perhaps purely coincidental, the timeline of this event is crucial. While the U.S.’ more free-flowing wrestling style was rising in popularity, the international wrestling style, which closely resembles today’s Greco-Roman style, was being put back in the Olympic spotlight.
The dual meet occurred just one year before wrestling returned to the Olympics after being omitted from the program in 1900.
Around the same time, four college wrestling coaches – two from Iowa State University, one from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and one from the University of Nebraska – helped create the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA), and organized the first wrestling tournament in 1905. From there, colleges, universities and high schools started hosting several wrestling tournaments throughout the year, launching the sport’s popularity into the stratosphere.
In 1927, Dr. Raymond G. Clapp, a wrestling coach from the University of Nebraska, published the official rules for collegiate wrestling. One year later, the NCAA held its first-ever Wrestling Team Championship on March 30-31 on the campus of Iowa State. Forty athletes from 16 colleges competed in the event, which was the second-ever NCAA-sponsored national championship behind track and field (1921). Wrestling was also the third-ever postseason NCAA-sponsored meet behind outdoor track and field and swimming (1924).
For context, the NCAA did not sponsor a basketball tournament until 12 years later in 1939.
To no surprise, the first college to emerge as a wrestling dynasty came from the Midwest. Oklahoma State won 27 of the first 45 Division I wrestling team championships, including seven straight between 1937 and 1946. The first school outside of the Midwest to claim a victory was Penn State in 1953.
Wrestling’s nationwide expansion in college athletics led to other associations such as the EIWA adopting Clapp’s rules for wrestling. In modern times, it is referred to as “folkstyle” wrestling and is considered to be uniquely American. High schools also teach this style of wrestling. But, despite its differences from the styles contested in international wrestling tournaments (
Freestyle and Greco-Roman), colleges have found that athletes who learned folkstyle wrestling have had few problems when training for international freestyle events. However, athletes training in Greco-Roman wrestling have had a tougher time making the transition from folkstyle. This is primarily because Greco-Roman wrestling does not allow holds or grabs below the waist, while folkstyle and freestyle do.
Currently, U.S. wrestlers have the most total Olympic medals in history with 138 – 55 golds, 44 silvers and 39 bronzes. The 55 gold medals stand as the second-most all-time, but first among countries actively competing in the Olympics (the Soviet Union has 62 gold medals while modern-day Russia has 31).
When looking at each style individually, the U.S. has dominated freestyle wrestling. Team USA has totaled 123 medals – 62 more medals than second-place Japan. The U.S.’ 52 gold medals are also more than any other country, with Japan having won the second-most with 33. However, in the all-time Greco-Roman medals standings, the U.S. has the 16th-most Olympic medals, having won just 15 total medals (three golds) since 1896. The last U.S. Olympian to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling was Rulon Gardner at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000.
Fast forward to 2024, and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are looming on the horizon. It’s only fitting that the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling are being held at a college with so much storied wrestling history.
Despite 230 athletes qualifying for trials, the U.S. has just 13 quota spots for the Olympic roster after three of four continental Olympic qualifiers. While it is the most quota spots that any country has earned so far, the odds are still slim for every athlete. Pressure will be at an all-time high in Happy Valley next weekend, especially for the top three athletes competing in the men’s freestyle 86 kg. division. David Taylor, Aaron Brooks and Mark Hall all have ties to Penn State. But, they’ll have to battle each other for a quota spot.
The entirety of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling will be streamed live on Peacock TV.
Colleges Represented Among the Top Three Wrestlers In Each Style and Weight Class #
Number denotes the number of athletes from that school. Data taken from USA Wrestling
Arizona State University (2)
Augsburg University (3)
Baker College (1)
Binghamton University (1)
Campbellsville University (1)
Columbia University (1)
Cornell University (4)
DeVry University (2)
Diablo Valley College (1)
Ellsworth Community College (1)
Elmhurst College (1)
Iowa Western (1)
King University (3)
LeHigh University (1)
McKendree University (2)
Missouri Valley College (1)
North Carolina State University (3)
North Central College (1)
Northern Michigan University (7)
Ohio State University (5)
Oklahoma City University (1)
Oklahoma State University (3)
Olympic College (1)
Penn State University (6)
Simon Fraser University (3)
SIU-Edwardsville (1)
Southern Oregon University (1)
St. Louis University (1)
University of Colorado - Colorado Springs (2)
University of Illinois (2)
University of Iowa (2)
University of Michigan (2)
University of Minnesota (2)
University of Missouri (2)
University of Nebraska (3)
University of North Carolina (1)
University of the Cumberlands (2)
University of Wisconsin (1)
University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse (1)
William Penn University (1)
Wyoming Seminary (1)
Belarusian State (Belarus - 1 )
Undecided (1)
