Very interesting how this thread morphed from "What weight to wrestle?" to "Is wrestling a team or individual sport?". Just when you thought it was dead or wished it was dead, it rises from the ashes like the Phoenix.

I will say one of the great things about wrestling is that it is the ultimate individual/team sport. You get to experience the best of both worlds.

There have been a lot of great comments about this giving merit to both lines of thought. I am certainly not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone or any comments that have been made. But honestly, in my opinion which has been developed over almost 50 years in wrestling as a little league, high school and college wrestler and 20 years as a high school head coach in two different states at four very different school districts and thus programs as well as junior high and little league coach, and now as a father/coach exclusively, WRESTLING HAS BEEN, IS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE AN INDIVIDUAL SPORT. I really believe that this is the bottom line and in most cases we should do what is best for the individual first.

That doesn't mean I don't believe that a kid shouldn't make sacrifices for the team or be bumped from time to time when it is appropriate. In my experiences I have certainly done it more than once. Sometimes it worked out and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it produced a positive response and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it pissed the H.... out of a kid or a parent. Sometimes it made a kid feel good and sometimes it made a kid feel like crap. I did things early in my career that I would never do now. When I look back now and think about times when I compromised an individual�s well being for a dual victory, I realize I was just being selfish, being a selfish coach looking for another win and I was wrong. A kid did his job, earned his spot and made weight and shouldn't be rewarded by having to bump up and wrestle a bigger kid and maybe take a loss. With the difference in weight alone and perhaps weight cutting that he has experienced it is not a level playing field for him and that is certainly not wrestling. A coach can feel, or should be able to, when a kid is uncomfortable with a bump and should never make him suffer unnecessary anxiety and possible demoralization for another win on the coach�s record. I am not disagreeing with Alley at all, I certainly respect him, his philosophy and his accomplishments. I do agree that there are wonderful lessons to be learned by taking one for the team and sometimes the team can elevate the individuals, but that doesn't necessarily make it the right move always. If a kid is genuinely excited about this wonderful opportunity that a coach has provided him then go for it. A kid should never be made to feel bad though ever for not wanting that. I could see bumping as appropriate for a dual state tournament but not necessarily for just some dual or even some dual tournament or traditional tournament. Never would it be acceptable for regional and subsequently state unless that is really, really, really what the kid wants. I know some coaches that don't care about dual wins at all, they just care about state.

I like the comments about wrestling needs the team concept to survive. It makes sense at some levels. This certainly could apply to college, but does not apply at all to high school wrestling or lower. High school wrestling is doing well and is 6th in participation and 5th in spectator participation and I don't believe it will ever go away. I would be much more worried about gymnastics, tennis, golf, swimming, bowling, lacrosse, hockey, etc. Wrestling is Man's oldest sport. It is one of the original three Olympic sports and has been contested in every Olympic game. It is the first sport mentioned in the Bible and in literatures first piece, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Virtually every country on the planet has an Olympic team and most now have a women's team. It has been one of the staples for every military program and endeavor since the Dawn of Humanity. Thirteen different Presidents credit their success to wrestling. I could go on and on about Angels, Kings, Movie Stars, CEOs, Politicians, Professional FB players and of course MMA competitors.

As far as college, it is a little different I know. You are being "paid" in most instances by the school/team that you represent. But it is still an individual sport and mainly promoted that way. One of the keys to "saving" it or at least keeping the program numbers up in my mind is creating women's teams, not necessarily promoting a "we are a team sport" mentality. Every program that is catching heat over Title IX, etc. just needs to start a women's team, although I know that is easier said than done, and you will make everyone happy.

We must keep in mind that most kids gravitate to wrestling because of the individual aspects. They are tired of being on a team with individuals and variables that they cannot control. They are tired of losing because someone else didn't do their job. They are tired of being selected or not selected because of subjectivity. They are tired of not being recognized and not getting credit for their efforts. ALMOST ALL KIDS COME TO WRESTLING BECAUSE IT IS AN INDIVIDUAL SPORT, it always has been, since the Dawn of Humanity. Who are we to change that?

I remember way back to my first head coaching job and how excited I was that my Dad, a fifty year D1 recruiter starting with Roderick, was going to come to my practice and tell me what a great job I was doing. I had a great practice, it was awesome. I was going to get rave reviews, I couldn't wait to hear the great news and how proud my dad was. So I thought. Boy was I a rookie. He told me I was working hard, gave great effort and had good intent but my program was broken. He told me two things specifically, "you work out with the kids way too much when you should be coaching them" and "you focus way too much on the team concept and not enough on the individuals". I was sure he was wrong. I was sure that the "whole was indeed greater than the sum of the parts" I said, "Dad if the team does well, the individuals will succeed", I was sure I was right. He said "Son, if the individuals succeed, the team will take care of itself". "Now quit being selfish and take care of the individuals that have given their lives to you."

Yes, we as coaches heavily promote the team concept and want to win duals because when the team "wins", we "win". We are also told sometimes that is our job and it seems natural. As a side note, another reason we promote the whole team concept is because coaching a team is much easier, many can do that. Sometimes you do it and you don't even realize it. Like I said, it comes naturally. Coaching individuals is very difficult. It is easy to put together a game plan to elevate a team. It is much more difficult to put together individual game plans to elevate all the individuals. For me it was always much easier "coaching" a team. It was much more difficult "coaching" individuals. This is the test of a great high school coach. College coaches have solved the problem by having a bunch of different sized graduate assistants. We don't have that luxury in high school, at least at most schools. And the truth is we really do win when individuals win and the team doesn't but it just doesn't feel like it and it is certainly not perceived that way by the public. But remember, it is perceived that way by that kid and his parents.

Sounds good anyway.