This is a topic that has generated heated debate and considerable angst for as long as I’ve been involved in the sport, and I’m certain that it didn’t start then. USA Wrestling is the national governing body for wrestling in the United States, which makes it an imperative that USAW puts significant efforts into the training, promotion and development of the Olympic styles of wrestling. However, USAW has also declared that they want to be The organization for wrestling in the U.S., regardless of style.

In the years that I have represented Kansas as state chairman, this has been the source of many lengthy conversations between myself and the other state chairs and USAW staff. From my perspective, I acknowledge the need to focus on the international styles of wrestling, but as the state chair for Kansas, one of the largest membership states built primarily from our folkstyle membership, I felt that my principal role at the national level has been as an advocate of folkstyle/collegiate wrestling.

The staff at USA Wrestling is similarly conflicted, albeit from the other side of the fence. Working daily with our national and world teams, they see first-hand the needs that exist for our freestyle and Greco Roman teams, particularly in developing strong grass roots programs. They recognize that there is a strong base for folkstyle wrestling in the U.S., and would like to see that fervor bleed over into the international styles. While I truly believe that they are fans and supporters of folkstyle wrestling, I also have found that they find it difficult to avoid being biased towards the styles in which we will be competing against other nations.

Nearly everyone seems to embrace the concept of supporting all the different styles of wrestling, but there is a considerable difference of opinion on when each style should have its time at the forefront. Scheduling the folkstyle nationals the first weekend in April was originally accepted as a concession to Kansas, where we offered to host the fledgling event on the condition that it would not conflict with our strong, established state tournament series. However, we were not the only state which wanted the folkstyle championships on that weekend (Missouri and New Jersey come immediately to mind as states that also support this schedule).

Nearly ten years as state chairman (plus several years as District Director and Kids Executive Director) has given me ample opportunities to consider and discuss the impact of our schedule on the development of freestyle and Greco Roman in our state, as well as how that carries over to the rest of the nation. This has become perhaps even more of a problem as the rules of freestyle and Greco Roman have deviated significantly from those of folkstyle wrestling, making it even more important that those wishing to learn the international styles have sufficient time to learn how to compete in what have become sports very different than the folkstyle wrestling they’re used to.

My personal opinion is that our folkstyle season is probably too long, both in terms of burning out some of our youth as they grind out the lengthy season, and also in how it takes away the opportunity to learn and improve techniques in freestyle and Greco Roman for those who want to continue wrestling beyond the folkstyle season. Two very different constituent groups, but both of them are being adversely impacted. The Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association has taken a similar position, requesting that our Kids organization shorten the folkstyle season.

My personal feelings aside, I will continue to aggressively support the membership in Kansas in whichever direction they wish to take. Currently, I believe that this means that I push a strong folkstyle program culminating in a state tournament ending the last weekend in March, followed by a national folkstyle championships the following weekend, even if this is done to the detriment of our freestyle and Greco Roman programs. If this is not what you want for our state, the place to change this direction is at the State Body meeting in late October. In the meantime, utilizing this forum to debate and discuss topics like this is an excellent way to fully consider all of the relevant issues.