wc- I think you make 2 excellent points here.

1st- are cheerleaders needed? No. sports competitions will go on with or without cheerleaders. I think sometimes some cheerleaders feel the Football game, or Basketball game or wrestling match is played (or wrestled) to give the cheerleaders an opportunity to cheer. The cheer leaders are there to support the event, they are not the event. However I do feel that when cheerleaders are there in that role (support) they are able to take the atmosphere of the event to the next level.

2nd- I fully agree with you that if a wrestler can't hear his coach, he is not focusing on the right things. I wrestled in some extremely loud situations, and ALL I could hear were my coaches.

First and foremost I agree completely with wc. I'm also a wrestling cheerleader and i don't think we get enough credit for what we do. sorry ron morgan..don't mean to sound rude or ne thing but maybe u should be paying more attention to ur matches and not the cheerleaders, again i agree with wc u should tune us all out not pay any attention to us just the match at hand and to ur coach. takeyoudown, if everyone follows KSHSAA rules there should be no glitter worn while cheering at anytime..whether it be for football, basketball or wrestling, because the glitter can come off and get on the floor or whatever and make it slick and it puts the player or participants and more risk of getting hurt. i will admit sometimes i go to the meets to check out the guys in their singlets, but HELLO! i'm a teenage girl what the heck do u expect? but for the most part i have a "job" to do when i go to the meets, cheering for the wrestlers the best i can and getting the crowd involoved in the matches, whether there are 200 people from my town there or if there are 20 ppl there, and believe me i've had close to both. idk bout u guys in eastern ks but out here in western ks a lot of times we try to figure out cheers from the other teams if we think it's cute so i think that's how everyone comes up with the same cheers, and it does get annoying, but whoever said life wouldn't be annoying right?

Thank you for understanding....people like to complain to much....and i definately agree with you scwrestlingfan that life is annoying in all kinds of ways...i dont think that the wrestlers should think that they can blame the cheerleaders for losing their matches because we are a distraction...they actually lost their match because they arent good...so wrestlers dont take you loss on someone else just face it....your not good

WC is exactly right, i'm an experienced wrestler that knows enough to block-out cheerleaders' voices, and if you cant hear your coach, TELL HIM TO YELL LOUDER you pansies, i think you all should worry a little less about the cheerleaders and focus on your matches, while us Quitters sit in the stands and worry about the cheerleaders, and not our matches, HA!! go WC!

Everyone complains about wrestling cheerleaders, but the moment the school gets rid of wrestling cheerleaders the parents would throw a fit. We should all just be glad that there are girls out there who still want to cheer for our wrestlers and not those guys out there playing buckets. Just think, they don't cheer for the "sexy" sport (in most schools) and also give up most of their Saturdays for about 3 months. Keep cheering girls, just stay out of our way, and away from our boys during the tournament.

at football and basketball it aint that bad compared to wrestling. they dont have to think as much when they are working as a team. in wrestling its only one person reling on himself and the coach. cheerleaders make it so the wrestler cant hear his coach and it makes them frustrated. most parents think that having wrestling cheerleaders is dumb because most girls are there to hang all over the guys and parents dont want them there cuz they make them mad since they hit the mats and are in the way some of the time

I respect those teams that have cheerleaders, just as I'm glad our team doesn't have them. But it's not while they are cheering that bothers me. At one tournament this year the entire squad was quarralling, and since they were sitting next to us we "enjoyed" the entire argument. When feelings were hurt some of the girls came and sat on our boys' stuff. They didn't pay attention to when matches were, so they were up and down the bleachers, pausing in front of us to discuss hair, makeup, and other important things, causing us to ask them numerous times to please move so we could see the mats. Some teams have cheerleaders that are respectful of other towns and their teams, but there are several who seem to feel that showing support for their team means being disrespectful to other towns.

On another note, I have seen some of the most respectful wrestlers this year, and I applaud you! It is nice to see common courtesy!

NO PROBLEM COACH! is ne body on this post from western kansas? or is it just lil ole me?

yea i agree that cheerleaders are annoying sometimes but they are great for wretlers use: backrubs but beyond the point of back rubs they serve no purpose except to cheer you on otherwise cheerleaders are not needed at all

My goodness is it ever nice to be back in Iowa where pretty much EVERY school has wrestling cheerleaders, where we make fun of those few that don't, where the cheerleaders both and love and respect the sport and, most importantly, wrestling IS the sexy sport! It's pretty sad that this even has to be a point to discuss!

...one other thing

To those of you wrestlers who said that the cheerleaders were distracting, then your head is in the wrong place.

The more people you can get involved in a sport, the better, regardless of their position. This is especially true for the greatest sport of all.

Ahem Coach DeWitt!

You guys should be grateful these young ladies want to be there. And instead of making a bunch of junior high comments, or worrying about them bothering you, you ought to thank them. Our cheerleaders are considered to be a vital part of our program, and as a coach I'm grateful for their contribution, and I know our kids are.

we talk about this BS last year

I am a cheerleader so yes I have an obligation to stick up for my sport(yes it is a sport), but I'm not going to rant and rave about getting the short end of the stick. Though I will say that most of the time we do. I understand that wrestling is a tough sport maybe one of the toughest. But if you are truely comitted to wrestling then all you should be concentrating on is your opponent and the coach not what is going on elsewhere. Cheerleaders cheer deal with it, it's what we do! Maybe instead of complaining about how annoying we are or how hott we are (cause I know that it happens) you should pay attention to the match whether your in it or not. Plus cheerleaders are not the only ones yelling, I don't know if anyone has ever noticed but there is a crowd. That and come on even wrestlers yell for wrestlers so you can't pin the noise or annoyance on one thing or group of people a.k.a cheerleaders. About the glitter thing like SCWRESTLINGFAN said it is against KSHSAA rules and most cheerleaders follow them or at least my squad does. So sorry if I affended anyone but I just had to get my point across.

Jay Fan -
Cheerleading is a sport? Hmm.. Ok, I agree somewhat with CHEERLEADING being a sport. Wrestlerettes are not "normal" cheerleaders. You sit there and hit the floor. You get no physical exercise at all (excluding the OH SO TOUGH hand gesters and movements). I can see how cheerleaders at football games can argue that its a sport. They are actually getting physical exersice and working up a sweat. I'm not saying that you dont sweat while sitting on the floor and yell.

I'm not going to continue because I could type a two page essay on my philosophy of cheerleaders in wrestling.

no im not johnny c... thanks for asking

ok, i for one think that cheerleaders are awsome. they give you back rubs, unusual converation, and most importantley......something to look at besides sweaty guys in tights......BUT there is one thing and one thing only that i hate about them, that i despise about them. i will have gone without food or water for what seems like weeks. (really a few days but u get the point) i can make building blocks with my spit because im so dehidrated that its thicker than foam. Then i get the sent of Mcdonalds, Burger King, Daylight Dounuts, and of course CRISPY CREAMS!!! that seem to somehow drift from the front of the bus to the back of it where i am huddled next to a heater pouting about being hungry. That and this is all i have to say.....girls, i love you and what guy wouldnt....its just that on the way up to the tournoment....please dont bring food on the buss and if you must (i know your gilrs and u must eat) make it something like wheat thins, crackers, ect something sentless so we dont suffer all the more. subway wouldnt be all that bad either cuz ya know its only 6 grams of fat. it keeps u easy on the eyes. Thanx for your suport, your coroporation, and your love of the sport!!!!!!!!!!

Like Vikings manager I could go on forever about cheerleading and being a sport and what not, but i can say this: Our cheerleaders do not pound on the mat, bother our wrestlers, or sit there and "ACT" like we know whats going on. We make sure we are always aware of what is going on and only do cheers at the appropriate times. I hate it when people don't like cheerleaders because of those other certain squads who make the rest of us look bad. As far as it being a sport, if we dont know cheers or are late for practices- we run,or do pushups- hows that for "not being a sport" ?. We support our team and for state we make baskets of food candy and gatorade. All in all, I dont think we are too bad..?!

Jays2 you forgot to add that we get up at 5 in the morning to practice 3 days a week and a 3 hour practice once or twice a week ... yea it might not be as much as what a wrestler does but hey its more than any other squad around us ... or at least it shows!(for most)(not all) no affence lol