What Aaron was referring to was the CHANCE of making varsity for your school. I am not referring to whether basketball or wrestling is easier/harder. I am just simply saying that I agree that your chance of being a VARSITY wrestler is easier than your chance of being a varsity basketball player.
I don't know about basketball coaches everywhere else but the ones I do know like to stick to just the top 5 with maybe 2 or 3 substitute players for varsity. They don't play everyone. You DO have to beat out the other kids to earn a spot on varsity. If there are 5 kids who can play point guard, the coach will go with the one he/she feels is the best. If the coach feels like you are not the best for that position, you don't play. You can not challenge a varsity starter like you can in wrestling, you just have to practice harder each day and hope the coach will notice.
It is easier to earn a spot on varsity in wrestling simply because of numbers (more open spots-sometimes less kids to compete against). My son was very good at both wrestling and basketball. He was lucky enough to start A team in baskeball and was undefeated in wrestling in junior high. He was approached by the basketball coaches to stick with basketball in high school. However, he knows that if he would go out for basketball, he probably would not be playing any varsity until he was a junior or senior. As a freshman, he will be a varsity wrestler when he loses 5 pounds. He knows that he will have to take a lot of "hits" this year since he will probably be wrestling against seniors but he also knows that this will make him better in the long run than if he was wrestling junior varsity. Yes, if he is having a bad day, the coach can not substitute another kid or he can't depend on other kids helping him out like in basketball but those minutes on the mat wrestling against another varsity wrestler as a freshman are better than sitting on a bench and watching the game from the sidelines.