I found this poll on what's the toughest sport and they have wrestling ranked 5th! Ahead of them is Boxing Ice Hockey, Football, and Basketball! Those are all tough sports except for Basketball but non of these sports are tougher that Wrestling. Thats why our matches only last 6-7 minutes. You can check it out here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

Are you serious? Boxing isn't tougher than wrestling?? Those guys train just as hard, have to cut weight, and get punched in the face while doing it. Wrestling is one of the toughest sports out there, but don't have a biased opinion.

Id say our sport is tougher. They do train hard, but they get round breaks like every 10 min or so and they dont cut nearly as much on average as wrestlers do. Also they only have to cut weight probably 4 times a yr to fight. Wrestlers in one season will cut like 15-20 times to make weight for meets. Also, boxing is so corrupt nowadays that the mystique of toughness is slowly fading away.

The two sections that hurt us was DURABITLITY and NERVE. Which i believe are way off. Overall wrestling ranking is low, even though, we got fifth, I thought wrestling should be top three easy. Durbabitlity, which we recieved an 6.75 rating and basketball 7.75. (laughing) "Trainer I need my ankle taped, its really sore and I think I might of got a splinter from tripping on the wood floor." Well they're right, wrestlers don't get enough credit for injury because we just suck it up and keep practicing. Running up and down the court in the winter season is one thing but we have to keep our bodies in perfect condition for almost four months, make weight every week, get pounded on every day at practice, and then suck it up for a two day tournment in the end of Feburauary that will determine the sucess of our season or career.

Well gents .... that's the problem with polls .... everybody has an opinion (informed or not) ..... we know what we know .... two words: wrestling, rugby.

well I am actually surprised that wrestling was ranked so high. Not that is doesnt deserve to be, I think it should be 1 or 2 but not a lot of people know all the things us wrestlers do so getting that #5 rank proves that it really is the toughest since it was still high without anyone knowing what it is all about

Dingbat, I've grown up around College wrestlers all my life and I wrestle myself. I've met 5or 6 wrestlers who boxed and wrestled and all of them said wrestling is tougher. Yes the training is similar but there is a grind in wrestling that boxing doesn't have. Boxers get to dance around on their feet and throw combo's and stall if they would like but I do agree the hits are devistating. My opinion may be a little biased but I was speaking from a lifetime of experience what I've been told growing up. Boxing is allowed 30 second rests between rounds while in collegite we are allowed no breaks.Freestyle there is a 30 second break but the match still only lasts 10 minutes. Thats why I think wrestling is the toughest sport ever. A wrestler's match only lasts 7 minutes opposed to a scheduled one hour for boxers. The reason of the time difference is because we expend alot more energy in a shorter amount of time. The difference between wrestling and boxing is when a wrestler walks off the mat after a battle his is drained, his legs burn and feel like jello, his fore arms are tight and he can barely grip his jumprope, his lungs burn and he can barely speak, while a boxer ends a bout and runs up and jumps on the ropes pumps his fists and thanks his people and gives shout outs to all of his fans. I wish I had that much energy after one of my matches, that would be wonderful. Think of when a wrestler walks of the mat and talks to Jeff Blatinek after winning a national championship. The guys can barely talk even two or three minutes after their match. Also on a head to head basis we cut much more weight more often. Boxers typically only box 2-6 fights a year while wrestlers typically wrestle 30-50 matches a year. Boxers do get their brains beat more I do agree but our bodies go through a wear and tear that boxers will never know and can't know. The closest thing a boxer could do to find out is fight in a UFC. Boxers need that break because they aren't a tough as us. How long has it been since you have wrestled Dingbat? Have you, or have you just forgotten what it takes? Toughes sport in the world, Toughest sport ever. WRESTLING

Actually, as a multiple state champ and former Division-1 wrestler, I remember "what it takes." I can counter several of your points fairly easily.

1. Come on, you can't be serious. Spar for 3 minutes. It's a lot different than "dancing."

2. Apparently you have never won a big match.

Dingbat congradulations on your accolades. I also have a state title and have also AA at the collegiate level. Lets stay humble and keep the past in the past. Answer to your question: No I didn't celebrate win I won my state title and no I didn't celebrate when I was an All-American in college. I got my hand raised and walked off the mat like it wasn't the first time and it wasn't going to be the last time. Stick up for your sport.

Ahhh....blind loyalty...

Stick up for your sport, support your school, support your country...

It's funny how people will sometimes avoid the truth show their allegiance to their roots. It is kind of like the Rolling Stones fan who went to the 30th reunion tour and forced himself to believe that the 'Stones "still have it."

State your point. All I said was that in my opinion wrestling is the toughest sport to go through. I'm sure you are and were a good wrestler and I apologize for the comment, but I can't understand why you would give boxing so much credit, when you your self competed in H.S. and in College. And if you want to know, yes I do eat, sleep, drink, and live this sport. Every night before I go to bed I think about H.S. and College matches that I wish I could have won. I support wrestling to my fullest ability on and off the mat. I'm not trying to battle w/ you, I know you support wrestling, your view point just suprises me.

You shouldn't still be thinking about matches JJETC, you have to let it go. You were a stud and should be happy about it, it's not healthy to keep on replaying things like that.

But really guys, every sports has its own sort of wear and tear that it places on its participants. In the end, after a rough career, the outcome is basically the same: both people have been bruised, battered and whatnot. Heck, in terms of seriously hard sports you could include pitching in baseball. Those guys can only pitch once or twice every four or five days and even then their arms are torn up. Plus they all get injuries quite often.

What I'm trying to say is that all sports are hard, don't just support wrestling because you do it. Have an open mind.

Here here, mancerl

heres my take. physically wrestling is very tough. the toughest? always debatable. the toughest sport(s) i think,combining physical and mental toughness are anything where its one on one. yes, ice hockey and rugby are very tough sports physically. but mentally i think wrestling would beat them. you got to be mentally tough to step out there on the mat alone and compete. theres nobody to help you out, nobody to let you down. so i'd say toughest sport could be a tossup with wrestling, boxing, kickboxing...basically a one on one fight of some sort. basketball being ranked ahead of us is a flat out joke though. people dont have a clue....

Also, if wrestlers stall in a match then they are penalized, which means we have to generally push the pace of our matches. Thus it gets very physically draining.

Boxing on the other hand is riddled with boring stalling and backing up. If they went all out in 6 minutes like a wrestler does then they wouldnt need to have like 8 rounds in one fight.

I believe that Motocross should be in there somewhere. 3 thirty minute moto heats ten minutes apart over incredibly rough terrain at very high speeds, finding yourself 30 feet or more in the air over jumps, plus the added bonus of pretty certian serious injury if you crash at speed. World class motocrossers have to be in unbelievably good aerobic condition to do what they do, you see a lot of old boxers or wrestlers but a 30 year old world motocross competitor is extremely rare. That is a real burnout sport.

Checkers... Need I say more.

Lancer M, do you think I like going over my old matches. I hate it. I despise it. If I start thinking about old matches, I'll try and block them out so I can go to sleep. Don't you accidently think about old matches sometimes and just want to forget about it? It's kind of like thinking about an ex-girlfriend and getting tired of thinking about it. Another thing I played all sports. I played 3years baseball, 4 years football, and 4 years wrestling. I played basketball in Middle School, I bowl, I play softball, I golf and I've even put on the boxing gloves a few times. My point is I know all sports are tough and I pitched in H.S. so I know what your talking about when you say pitching is exhausting. I know my opinions are a little biased but I've played many of the sports that are on subject. I don't think I chose wrestling as the thoughest sport because I do it. I chose it becuase I believe it. I must admit I've never trained for boxing and I've never actually got in the ring. Another thing,the sorest I've ever been is after Football games in H.S. Hitting in football is like car wreck after car wreck. I can remember on Saturdays after film our coaches would make us massage eachother and I would almost be crying and laughing at the same time my muscles were so tender. In my OPINION football makes you the sorest. After football you find sore spots you didn't know you could have.

I have boxed a few times in our local "fight club" which is pretty much just abounch of highschool kids that get together and box. And i would say that they are pretty close to the same, i dont really see how boxers go that many rounds even with the breaks. we would box three 2 minute rounds and i would be exausted.

Just a few comments…

As you can see by my posts, I never take the time do so, but rather I spend most of my time just browsing around on here. However, this particular topic and some things that were posted about it compelled me to respond.

First off let me state that this is not intended to start an argument, but to only state my personal opinion, and maybe a fact or two along the way.

I noticed that JJETC and Dingbat had exchanged their opinions on the topic, and it seemed to get a little testy.

Dingbat I don't know you, but I do know JJETC very well. I know in his posts that it may have seemed like his opinion was being lead by, what you called, blind loyalty. However, of all the friends I have, including those in the world of wrestling, it's JJETC that I'll come to when I want an honest and open-minded opinion. Especially when it comes to the sport of wrestling. I know that might not mean much to you Dingbat, but consider it a more educated assumption, if you will, from somebody who knows JJETC very well.

I believe his passion and loyalty for the sport was coming through a little stronger than he intended in his post, and I think we all know that sometimes what a person means and what comes across on here sometimes is misinterpreted. It's understandable. And let me just add that the kind of passion and loyalty (not blind) displayed by individuals like JJETC are what make this sport the greatest sport on Earth.

Now on to my opinion on this topic…

I've always said that boxing is the one sport that you can justifiably, in terms of guts, heart, and toughness, compare with wrestling. I still tend to give our great sport of wrestling the nod, and here's why...

It was stated in a couple of posts that boxers get a 30 second break in between rounds. They actually get a 1-minute break. Not a huge difference, but definitely a difference. I feel that there is a good reason that wrestling matches are only 7 minutes long. I believe that with the overall body fatigue you are faced with in wrestling, it is too great to ask an individual to go much more on a consistent basis. In the case of overtime sometimes it is necessary, and then your heart will be called into play.

It was also stated by you Dingbat that a bout in boxing goes anywhere from 4 to 15 rounds. Actually a fight anymore will go no longer than twelve rounds, and that isn't done except at the elite level of boxing. It's interesting to think about, but if you took say Cael Sanderson, I think he could possibly wrestle 12 periods with a 1-minute break in between. It sounds crazy, but as one of the best-conditioned athletes in our sport along with some of the other wrestlers training for the summer games I think it could be done. Would they tire considerably in the late periods, yes, but it would be no different than a boxer digging down for the late rounds.

Or would it?

If you don't think it could be done, then it also would, to an extent, prove that in your mind the sport of wrestling must be more physically demanding.

What I'm saying is if they could do it (wrestle 12 periods) then it goes to show that a 1-minute break can be a huge factor for a world class conditioned athlete. If it is too much to ask for someone to wrestle at an intense high level for that long, then I think it proves which sport is more physically taxing on the body.

Lastly let me say, that this could be debated a lot, by many people, and for a long time. This is just my thoughts and opinion on the topic.

The best analogy I've heard comparing the two sports, and maybe you've heard the same, but a bout in boxing of 12 rounds should be compared to a marathon (extremely difficult to do…extremely), and a 7 minute wrestling match should be compared to the 400 meters (considered by many to be the toughest race in track, since it is basically a sprint around the track).

And the debate goes on...