A Case For Wrestling In Arkansas
Establishing Wrestling A Tug-O-War With Enthusiasts And Administrators
By Dustin Dearman
The Morning News
MARC F. HENNING , THE MORNING NEWS
SPRINGDALE — Wrestling in Oklahoma is akin to deer hunting in south Arkansas.
It’s a way of life.
Which begs the question: With Arkansas surrounded by highly competitive wrestling states, and with the Vatican of wrestling just next door to the west, why doesn’t Arkansas catch on and put on a singlet?
In northwest Arkansas, with all the out-of-state move-ins thanks to bustling corporations like Wal-Mart, Tyson and J.B. Hunt, wrestling is an underground swell needing just a crack to break through.
“There are several parents interested because of the area we live in, “said Bentonville athletic director Lauren West. “I’ve gotten calls every year about how to get wrestling started and trying to understand what is going on with the sport in the state.”
According to the National Federation of High Schools, the national administrative body concerning high school athletics, Arkansas is the only state in the U.S. that does not field high school wrestling teams. Arkansas and Mississippi are the only two states which do not offer a state championship in boys wrestling.
Voicing Concerns
Athletic directors in this area see issues with adding a physical sport such as wrestling to the athletics docket. They cite sanitation with practice and competition mats, the health of the athletes and Title IX as chief concerns on top of the general lack of people knocking down their doors to have wrestling at school.
“It is a sport that you have to make sure about the sanitation, “West said. “In the athletic publications that I receive, sanitation seems to be one of the biggest problems that they have with wrestling. “Jarrod Schaeffer, a wrestling coach with the newly formed Arkansas Youth Wrestling Club in Springdale, said those concerns are merely a smoke screen.
“I can’t believe that. It is as easy as disinfecting the mats before and after practices and meets, “said Schaeffer who wrestled at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Then there are the health issues.
Wrestling is a sport of discipline, nutrition and fitness. Stories have been told of high school and collegiate wrestlers wearing plastic trashbags under their clothes, running between classes and carrying a spit cup around all day so they could compete in a lower weight class.
It is called pulling weight.
“Those heath concerns now are not rare, they are obsolete, “Schaeffer said.
The NCAA has a uniform policy which protects wrestlers by calculating their body fat, hydration levels and weight to find a safe weight range for them to compete.
High schools are also beginning the procedure and legislation has been passed in neighboring Oklahoma to prevent wrestlers from pulling weight.
Then there are the Title IX issues, which stipulate that girls must have the same opportunities as boys in athletics.
Arkansas offers 13 different athletic sports, three of which are exclusively female sports (volleyball, softball and gymnastics) and two of which are exclusively male sports (football and baseball) — though some crossover is accepted.
Though some states offer girls’ wrestling, it is generally conceded that there is little to no interest in the girls’ version here in Arkansas.
But adding wrestling as a boys’ sport would actually even the number of sports by gender, a requirement to comply with Title IX. Boys currently have access to 10 athletic events while girls have 11.
Weighing The Costs
On the surface, wrestling in a relatively inexpensive sport. The cost of the mats, singlets or wrestling uniforms and other wrestling-specific attire are minimal compared to football and similar to the costs of track and field.
But there are also the underlying costs of starting a statewide program where, in Arkansas, there are few certified coaches and limited training at the university level.
According to Lance Taylor, deputy executive director with the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA), the cost of insurance, which covers all athletes to, from and at competition, has tripled over the last few years.
“It is going to be very hard to start a new sport right now. With the legislature tracking athletic expenditures, I think the schools are very cautious, “he said. “With insurance so high, some of that burden might have to be placed on the schools.”
Last year, the AAA added bowling as a sanctioned sport and also has recently recognized indoor track and field.
Growing Interest
Late last year, Arkansas Youth Wrestling founder Roger Ferguson started wrestling as a club sport at the All-Star Sports Arena in Springdale, located just behind the First Baptist Church and Shiloh Christian School off Johnson Road.
When the club first started, Ferguson expected just 15-20 sign up. After The Morning News published a small clip in the local sports calendar, his phone has been ringing almost non-stop with inquiries about the sport.
Now Arkansas Youth Wrestling has nearly 100 participants from all over northwest Arkansas with ages 3 to 18.
With the birth of Arkansas Youth Wrestling, which literally grew overnight, the interest is building, but is not large enough to justify the AAA to move forward.
Taylor said no schools have contacted his office with interest in starting the sport.
“You would have to have interest statewide to do that. We just added bowling this year and have 50 schools competing statewide. It would take something like that number. The interest can’t just be regional, “Taylor said.
At Fayetteville High, sophomore Payden Watson, who recently joined Arkansas Youth Wrestling and trains three times a week at the All-Star Sports Arena, said there is enough interest at his school to start a team.
“I know 20 kids right now that would love to wrestle. They can’t because it is too far to drive to Springdale every day, “Watson said. “I’d love to see a team at Fayetteville. I hear kids talk about it all the time.
“There is a big interest, but they have never tried. If they would set it up, there would be a ton of people wanting to wrestle.”
Watson spends four hours a day dedicated to wrestling from traveling to and from practice and including practice itself.
Dick Johnson, Fayetteville’s athletic director, said he gets about one phone call a year from a parent inquiring about wrestling at the school.
Fayetteville’s policy for beginning a sport in the district is to establish it as a club sport for one year to determine a baseline for a budget. Then, Johnson said, he would present it to the school board for a vote.
But because wrestling is not a AAA-sanctioned sport, it would be too expensive for the school to solely insure the athletes and provide transportation to Oklahoma or Missouri to compete.
Watson, who will travel to Nebraska with Bentonville wrestler Chad Kallstrom for a national wrestling meet over the first weekend in March (see related story), is insured through USA Wrestling in Colorado, a perk of joining Ferguson’s club.
“Anything that is reasonable, that is the will of the people, we would look into. If there are means and there is interest, we are for it, “Johnson said. “With us it starts with the AAA. We would like to have their blessing.”
Rogers athletic director and head football coach Ronnie Peacock said he has heard of some interest from his district, and said demand for wrestling would probably not be a problem in northwest Arkansas.
“When people move in they always ask if we have wrestling, “Peacock said. “It would be a good idea for us to take a survey, but it might not be a good time since we will be splitting high schools in 2008.
“The schools in northwest Arkansas are big enough that you could offer just about anything and kids would be interested.”
Springdale athletic director Gus Malzahn said he has heard of no interest in wrestling in his district.
Helping Football
It is no secret football is the end-all, be-all of sports in northwest Arkansas, but according to coaches in other states, wrestling has helped their football programs.
Recently retired Tom Noles, football coach at Moore High in Oklahoma City, Okla. said the techniques and toughness taught in wrestling have direct effects to football.
In his 11 years at Moore — the fourth largest school in Oklahoma — Noles won 102 games and advanced to the semifinals five of those years.
“I think a lot of the upfront people on the offensive and defensive lines can develop skills through wrestling. It helps with their technique and timing, “Noles said. “If anything, it teaches toughness. I don’t know anybody tougher than a wrestler.”
Baby Steps
From what wrestling enthusiasts have said, there needs to be an opportunity for people to gain interest in wrestling, while administrators say there needs to be interest before they present the money to fund the opportunity.
This leaves much of the muscle work left for unattached wrestling clubs, like Arkansas Youth Wrestling, to fit the bill and provide the opportunity in tournaments around the country.
At the end of the day, wrestling in Arkansas is in its infant stages, but there is an underground following and before too long Arkansas high schools will fall in line with the rest of the country.
Wrestling Gear
