OK, how about your favorite amateur wrestling movie?

Chances are, you can name a ton of great movies about other sports... but even the most obsessed wrestling fan may have trouble getting beyond the 1985 mat movie Vision Quest that helped launch the careers of Matthew Modine, Forest Whitaker and Madonna.

All that's about to change.

There's a full roster of films featuring amateur wrestling coming soon to a theater (or DVD player) near you... fictional Hollywood movies, as well as real-life documentaries. Here's a brief look at the flicks of possible interest to fans of the oldest and greatest sport:



Twilight series star Taylor Lautner plays a high school
wrestler in the movie AbductionAbduction: A few months ago, College Wrestling Examiner reported that Taylor Lautner, who plays hunky werewolf Jacob Black in the popular Twilight movie series, would star in a Vision Quest remake. In July, the teen screen heartthrob was in Pittsburgh to film Abduction, playing a high school wrestler. The thriller, directed by John Singleton, also stars Signorney Weaver, Maria Bello and Alfred Molina... and actual Hampton High wrestler Jake Hart as Lautner's mat rival. It'll be months before you see Lautner as a Pennsylvania high school wrestler... and perhaps years before he plays Louden Swain in any Vision Quest remake.

College Wrestling Examiner, July 23: Taylor Lautner to play high school wrestler in a movie, and it's not Vision Quest



Beyond The Mat posterBeyond The Mat: This movie, with a target completion date for fall 2010, describes itself as the "next classic sports movie... imagine Friday Night Lights but on the on the wrestling mat" invoking the much-loved film and TV series about Texas high school football. Here's the synopsis for Beyond The Mat as posted at the movie's website: "Set against the backdrop of a suburban high school in Middle America, Beyond the Mat is the coming of age tale of Aaron Miller. Amidst the struggle of a disintegrating friendship, the tormenting of a cross?town wrestling rival, and the blossoming of a new love, Aaron is forced to come to terms with who he really is." Among the cast of this movie: Kurt Angle, two-time NCAA heavyweight champ for Clarion University, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and pro wrestler, who plays the wrestling coach of Aaron Miller's rival.

Beyond The Mat: Official website



Independence High School's wrestling program
is the subject of a brand-new documentary Independence: Wrestling With A Community: The state of Iowa is arguably one of the nation's great hotbeds for high school wrestling. Now there's a documentary about 2009-2010 season for the wrestling program at small-town Independence High School in northeastern Iowa, not far from Dan Gable's hometown of Waterloo. Independence is the brainchild of coach Keith Donnelly and filmmaker JD Oliva. The documentary is premiering Saturday, August 14 in the town of Independence.

College Wrestling Examiner, August 9: Coach, filmmaker talk about new documentary on Iowa high school wrestling.



Legendary: WWE does a movie about real wrestlingLegendary: WWE Films (yep, the pro wrestling folks) have produced a new movie about high school wrestling... with the focus on an undersized, unathletic 15-year-old in small-town, blue-collar Oklahoma who sees wrestling as a way to bring together his family. Legendary stars heavyweight Hollywood talent in the form of Patricia Clarkson and Danny Glover, as well as WWE star and action movie hero John Cena as the older brother who was once a former high school and college wrestler. Opens in theaters September 10, 2010.

Legendary: Official website







Lance Palmer at Ohio high school state finalsPinned: A documentary that's a tale of two wrestlers at two different high schools in one Cleveland suburb who share the same goal: to be an Ohio state champ. One is Matt Curley, who wrestles at Lakewood High -- the public school that hasn't had a state champ in a half-century. The other is Lance Palmer, competing for Lakewood St Edward, the Catholic school that's a national mat powerhouse. Palmer later went on to craft a great college career at Ohio State, where he won the 2010 Big Ten conference title, and was runner-up at 149-pound finals at the 2010 NCAA Division I championships... and has just announced he's entering mixed martial arts competition.

Pinned: Official website

College Wrestling Examiner, July 7: 2010 NCAA finalist Lance Palmer to appear in LA premiere of Pinned










Takedowns and Falls presents prep wrestling as its done
in PennsylvaniaTakedowns and Falls: We've mentioned documentaries about high school wrestling in Iowa and Ohio; now, here's a look at the sport from the state of Pennsylvania, yet another hotbed for wrestling. Takedowns and Falls showcases the sport of high school wrestling as it chronicles the 2006-2007 season of the Central Dauphin High School wrestling team in Harrisburg, PA, celebrating the sacrifice of athletes and dedication of coaches, with a focus on the quest for the state championships. This documentary, which has been shown at various locations around the US, is now available for purchase on DVD.

Takedowns and Falls: Official website



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Want the latest and greatest from Examiners? Subscribe to our newsletters! .Examiner.com on Facebook.Mark Palmer's Preferred Links
•InterMat Holiday Gift List for Wrestlers, Fans
•A Century of Penn State Wrestling (non-fiction book)
•Cowboy Up (non-fiction book -- 2005 season of Oklahoma State Cowboys)
•Glory Beyond the Sport : Wrestling and the Military (non-fiction book)
•A Distant Flame (Jack VanBebber, OK State wrestler/1932 Olympic gold medalist)
•The Fighting Scots of Edinboro (non-fiction book)
•Firehouse, Takedown (fiction)
•NearFall (fiction book series)
•Oklahoma Shooter: The Dan Hodge Story (non-fiction book)
•Pinned (fiction book)
•A Saint in the City (non-fiction book about Santa Ana (CA) HS wrestling program)
•Strobel (non-fiction book -- ex Lehigh coach Greg Strobel bio)
•Takedowns and Falls (documentary on Pennsylvania high school wrestling)
•To Be The Best (fiction book)
•The Ultimate Guide to Wrestling Camps (non-fiction)
•Veritas (documentary film on former Lehigh wrestler Jon Trenge)
•Wrestlers at the Trials (US Olympic Trials 1960-1988)
•Wrestling: A Boy's First Book (fiction)
•Wrestling Spoken Here (fiction book)
•Wisconsin Wrestling: 1940-2007 (book about HS and college wrestling in the state).

Nix,

You are a bigger wrestling nut than I am. I like your style. Go Nix, Go Nuts, Go Nix all night long. I think that would have made a great wrestling cheer. I hope little Nix is doing well.

As a Lehigh grad, I am biased towards "Veritas". My 6 year old novice even quoted Coach Strobel almost verbatum (sp?) on keeping your cool on the mat. It a great one if you haven't seen it.

C. Andrews

Reversal is one from the recent past

lee, thanks for the words, truth is i own a roofing company, and in the winter work is slow, so i have plenty of free time on my hands to r

i love looking for wrestling movies and reading everyones posts and i like sharing what i find.

as far as little nix he is done for the year, we did not wrestle subs. good luck to all of you. i have one and last final post and i am off of here till next year.

Win Win is a new wrestling movie, came out the 18th not sure where you can watch it and not sure when it will be on DVD but it looks good.

My name is Jose and for long time I am looking for a wrestling movie, it was great but nobody can tell me its name.
It was about a boy who joined his high school wrestling team. It was so boring because nobody really enjoyed it. Then he decided to turn everything to make the wrestling something that everybody can enjoy. When he was fighting and winning he stopped it and gave advantage to the opponent. Because of that more and more people start coming to see him. He was a great wrestler and he was looking to defeat the best in his weight from another school. At the end when he was fighting with this guy. He hit him in the face and was disqualified.
Really the best movie about wrestling that I have ever watch.
Could you help me to find it?
Thank you for your time reading me,
Sincerely,
Jose