About the author: Tony Greathouse is the founder and owner of MichiganGrappler.com as well as the Associated Wrestling Press. He wrestled collegiately at Michigan State and scholastically at Mason HS and is currently the Head Wrestling Coach at Brighton High School.
Greathouse can be reached via email at associatedwrestlingpress@gmail.com
Questions for Tuesday Morning Takedowns can be submitted via email or by messaging us on twitter @michgrappler
Wow! What a great wrestling weekend. We had an enormous amount of Michigan kids wrestling in Virginia Beach at all ages- Elementary through High School, and we also had some of our best preps in action at the FILA Cadets in Ohio. Ben Freeman, Ian Parker, and Landon Pelham all stood out to me at FILA Cadets. Freeman just keeps getting better, the kid beat 3 Fargo champs last weekend! I dont have all the VA Beach results in front of me, but we will have a full recap coming out at some point this week. I do know that the Bad Boy teams were impressive as heck. The HS team took 4th after advancing all the way to the semifinals and the MS team took 7th out of 74 teams!
I was pretty entertained all weekend long keeping up with the action and watching the live video feeds. I know this has already been mentioned, but I REALLY hope that the NHSCA gets trackwrestling next year, because it would make the VA Beach Duals so much easier and more fun to follow. The only time I really knew what was going on was from my wrestlers and friends texting me updates of mat #, who they were wrestling, team score, match score, etc. A live feed is SO much better when you have all this information. Not to mention, there were hundreds of huge individual matchups that nobody will ever know about from the event because it is impossible to find on-line.
Kudos to NHSCA for upping their game with the live feeds, now lets go a step further and get TrackWrestling!
With Delporto gone who do you think is the best to take over at Eastern Michigan? -D.J.
Let me start out by saying that I was and always will be a huge Derek Delporto fan. He had a lot of charisma and made people believe in Eastern Michigan Wrestling again.
There has been a lot of discussion over the past week about who EMU is going to "bring in" and it is disturbing that so many people are even thinking along these lines, because for me it is an absolute no-brainer that David Bolyard should slide right in as the next Head Coach for the Eagles. Bolyard has been an integral part of the rebuilding process as Delporto's right hand man for the last 7 years, and if you have ever been around him you know that Bolyard is as technically knowledgable and sound as anyone in the country and he is a class-act, respectable dude who parents can trust to mentor and coach their kids when they leave the nest.
Moreover, Bolyard has had several opportunites to take Head Assistant positions at larger scale programs around the country, and he has turned them down due to his commitment to the EMU rebuildling process, so to not reward him for that commitment would be a slap in the face.
For the majority of my lifetime, EMU has been somewhat irrelevant in the MAC and the NCAA, however, Delporto and company have changed the culture and turned things around to the point where the Eagles can legitimately compete with the other D1 programs in the state and they are competeting on the national scene as well. I think it is best to not to try and reinvent the wheel here, so move up Bolyard, keep Luke Smith on staff for the lightweights, and then go find a good 2nd assistant so EMU can keep moving in the right direction.
Will USA Wrestling ever be popular again in Michigan? I graduated in 03' and at that time USAW was popular at the kids level and they had to go through Districts and Regionals to make it to state and the cadet and junior levels had over 20 kids in them at state. I know myway has taken a lot of the crowd but will freestlye ever be popular again in michigan or is folk-style going to remain king?
- Robert
There are a couple elements to this question - 1) The popularity of international styles (Freestyle/Greco) vs. Folkstyle and 2) USAW's presence in Michigan.
To answer the first part of the question, I think that in general across the country, Folkstyle wrestling has completely taken over as the primary style for youth wrestlers. From what I can see, most youth wrestlers (grades k-8) are wrestling folkstyle primarily, and then electing to wrestle freestyle in addition, if they are up to it. I am about the same age as you and I have the same youth wrestling memories as you - I started out wrestling freestyle (USAW) and then it was "cool" to get to start wrestling folkstyle in 4th grade when my Dad and I discovered MMWA. The primary discipline for us as youth wrestlers was freestyle, and then we started adding folkstyle in addition. So we have seen a complete role reversal in terms of the styles of wrestling, and this trend has swept the nation (it may have started right here in Michigan with MYWAY).
The logic is pretty simple - parents want their kids to get ready for High School and College, because what are the odds that your kid is going to the Olympics?
Looking at some numbers, Michigan is down in terms of youth freestyle participation compared to other solid midwest states. Michigan had #244 youth kids (Schoolboy and below) competing at the freestyle state meet. Wisconsin and Illinois (two predominant USAW states) had #442 and #405 respectively. Both WI and IL had significantly stronger youth Freestyle representation than Michigan, however, WI and IL also had close to triple the amount of youth wrestlers competing at their Youth Folkstyle State Tournaments, showing that the popularity of Folkstyle over Freestyle is not just a Michigan thing.
The extenuating circumstance that makes Michigan dynamically different from most other states is the presence of MYWAY. MYWAY has solidified themselves as the dominant folkstyle organization in our state with just under 2,000 wrestlers competing at their State Tournament this year (with another couple thousand who stayed home after not qualyfying out of one of the 8 regional tournaments).
States like Illinois and Wisconsin do have really big folkstyle state tournaments, however, they are ran through USA Wrestling, the same organization that runs their freestyle state tournament. It is likely that having two separate organizations in USAW and MYWAY is a big reason why our freestyle numbers are dropping. Our Freestyle organization is unable to efficiently recruit from our large pool of folkstyle wrestlers - the primary style of wrestling at the youth level. Nor are they able to work together to build their events off the Folkstyle events.
In conclusion, the answer to your question is no, freestyle will never be as popular as it once was, especially at the youth levels, and quite honestly I don't think it should be. Our primary focus for youth wrestling should be folkstyle because that is what they are going to wrestle in high school and college if they get that far, so it makes sense to focus on it when they are first getting started. Can we get freestyle and greco up to par with over states in terms of popularity? Yes, we surely can, but it would require either A) USAW Folkstyle to regain popularity over MYWAY or B) MYWAY and USAW to work together. Neither of those appear to be in the foreseeable future.
Answering your other question - will USAW be popular again in Michigan - it is highly unlikely as long as MYWAY is around. As I have outlined above, if you are targeting the youth wrestling crowd anywhere in the US, folkstyle wrestling is the name of the game, and MYWAY has that audience pretty much locked up right now because they put forth a great product. MYWAY has well ran tournaments, a well ran organization, and they do a lot to give back and make people feel good about being in the organization. I dont have all the numbers in front of me, but I know for a fact that MYWAY has made 6-figure investments to save Olivet College Wrestling and to bring back Alma College Wrestling. I would be willing to bet that over half the wrestlers who competed at Virginia Beach last weekend from Michigan were on a MYWAY sponsored team that cut down costs and gave more kids from Michigan the opportunity to compete...in an event with absolutely no NUWAY/MYWAY ties, pretty amazing. MYWAY is doing this year-round - sponsoring teams to compete nationally, sponsoring kids to compete nationally, sponsoring training facilities, pretty much supporting anything that makes Michigan folkstyle wrestling better. One of the selling points of MYWAY (and NUWAY for that matter) that really hits home for me is that they are a Folkstyle organization that is solely focused on the betterment of folkstyle wrestling. They stick to that message all the way through, pouring tons of money back into folkstyle wrestling at the college and high school levels. While USAW has some really competetive Folkstyle State Tournments in states like Wisconsin and Illinois, I would be curious to know how much of that money went back into folkstyle wrestling, and how much went to Colorado Springs and the Olympic movement? This, in my opinion, is the take home message as to why USAW will never get back to the level of popularity where they were when you and I were kids - folkstyle wrestling is the name of the game in youth wrestling, so it will never make sense for a Freestyle/Greco organization to be running that show.
I became and Distributor for Advocare health & nutrition products a little over a month ago and the more I delve into this company, the more I love it! The products are absolutely amazing and the people I am involved with are fantastic to work with.
Advocare has a huge line of over 100 different products, so I am going to spotlight something new each week in Tuesday Morning Takedowns.
This week's Advocare Spotlight is Spark Energy Drink which is Advocare's most popular product. As described in the photo to the right, Spark is not your ordinary energy drink, which is why I dont even like calling it an energy drink. I refer to Spark as a mental focus vitamin supplement. It gives you the energy of other caffeinated drinks, but without the jitters and without the crash that follows many energy drinks. Throw in that your getting 21 vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, only 45 calories and it's sugar free and Spark is a no-brainer!
I used to live on coffee and soda. 3-4 cups of coffee each morning, followed by roughly a liter of Diet Coke/Mountain Dew in the afternoon to keep me going. Since I started taking Advocare products I have totally eliminated coffee and soda from my life - I drink a Spark in the morning, and another around lunch, and I am good to go. They taste great and make me feel better! Spark is amazing! If anyone is interested in trying it out, shoot me an e-mail associatedwrestlingpress@gmail.com and you will send you a free sample to try it out!
You can also buy it from my Advocare Website - GrapplerNutrition.com
WORLD TEAM TRIALS
A big weekend on deck this weekend with the US Senior and Junior World Team Trials going down this weekend in Wisconsin. A ton of big name Michiganders will be top contenders to win their weight classes, most notably US Open Champ Brent Metcalf, former World Team member Nick Simmons coming back to try to get back on the team, Wynn Michalak, Jon Reader, and many more!
At the FILA Junior level, former Michigan prep studs Adam Coon, Gabe Dean, and Kevin Beazley will be among the Michiganders in the mix to make the Junior World Team.
SCHOOLBOY, CADET, JUNIOR, DISNEY DUALS
The next month features pretty much non-stop National Duals action with the Schoolboy Duals going down next week in Indiana, followed by the Cadet Duals in Florida, and then the Junior Duals in Oklahoma along with the Disney Duals in Florida. We will be providing coverage throughout so stay tuned for what should be pretty great competetion with some solid Michigan squads in action.
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Joe, I am not saying that at all! What im trying to point out is that the list that Ryan Provided that DOES wrestle FS and Greco Roman is a list of some of the best! You are doing numbers and percentages and that does not work in this instance and here is why. The list that Ryan provided is NOT a complete list of wrestlers who competed in FS and Greco Roman. It is a list of Michigan National Team members from last summer who were also MHSAA state placers this March. Now, in order to be … Read More
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USA Wrestling is currently working to monopolize grassroots wrestling across the country. They have bylaws that don't allow other oganizations to exist in Illinois and Nebraska. They are trying to get this done in Iowa. They ae attacking organizations like Rocky Mountain National Events and others. It is not just NUWAY. Some people might think this is great. It is great if you like having your fees jacked up. We could introduce more levels of coaching certifications. We can pay high … Read More
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Joe, I agree with Ryan on this one! Yes although there were many other MHSAA state qualifiers, this list is a very good chunk of Michigan best! Look at the number of state champions and placers on that list. So I ask the question. Do you want your son doing what the state qualifiers are doing or what the state champions and placers are doing? Seems like a no brainer to me bro! The Michigan National team has some of the best there is, not only in the state, but in the country! FS and Greco are … Read More
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Wade ... took your advice and just looked at the list and by my count there are #14 state champions listed, that is 1/4 of the state champions in the state. So 75% of the state champions in our state last year DID NOT compete on the freestyle national teams, but you guys are telling me my kid needs to wrestle freestyle to win a state title????
While I appreciate the fervor of Michigan wrestling that Michigan Grappler provides, I must respectfully disagree with your sentiments towards Olympic styles of wrestling. And while one could write a book on the importance of freestyle and greco, I will leave you with empirical data. The following is a list of all state wrestlers that competed last season at the MHSAA individual finals that also were on a MUSAW national team the prior summer:
Ben Freeman State Champion
Dominic LaJoie State … Read More
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Ryan, I totally agree with you. Many of our best high schoolers do great at the national level in Freestyle and Greco, no doubt about it. For high school wrestlers I think wrestling in the off-season is great regardless of the style, mat time is mat time and a takedown is a takedown, so if you prefer to wrestle Freestyle/Greco in the off-season, that is awesome. Plus Fargo is the best exposure tournament out there for high school kids to get noticed (just bareley better than the GFC :) ), so … Read More
You listed less than 50 kids who qualified for the state meet that wrestled on FS/GR teams, and that is supposed to impress us? Bro, there are #896 state qualifiers each year in all 4 div. combined, seriously? Your 50 kids you listed is literally like 5% of the state qualifiers. So what were those other 95% doing last summer? Cuz that is what I want my kid doing! Way better odds of being a state qualifier if he is doing what the other 850 kids NOT listed here were doing!
Great Article about USA Wrestling popularity in Michigan! Its too bad that these organizations such as MUSAW and MYWAY cannot work together more for the benefit of the young athletes and wrestling in general!! EXAMPLE: MUSAW says that they will no longer recognize MYWAY State Champions as part of the "Tripple Crown" which includes Folkstyle, Freestyle, and Greco Roman wrestling. The reason MUSAW gives is because of a dispute between the two organizations. So because of this dispute … Read More
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Tony,Well said on David Bolyard.
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