Wrestling is undoubtedly one of the oldest sports in history and has been around for thousands of years. In fact, along with track and field, it was included in the very first Olympics. In order to succeed at the highest levels of wrestling, it requires a combination of physical power, speed, technical skill, and a level of mental toughness that makes it one of the toughest sports to partake in. The United States Olympic Committee even recognized this in 2012, when they ranked wrestling as the fifth most difficult sport out of sixty others. So, what makes wrestling as challenging as it is? Let’s take a look at some of the factors that make wrestling what it is.
Technique in wrestling can come off as a double-edged sword. In a sport such as gymnastics, a slight mishap can ruin your entire routine and significantly damage your score. In wrestling, however, you have the ability to bounce back from a mistake. The flip side to this is that wrestling technique is so unique that even though you can bounce back, one small error in footing or weight distribution can cause a match-altering point or even a pin that ends the match altogether. Wrestling is a sport where technique alone will not win you a match. You can be the most technical wrestler on the mat, but it won’t matter if your opponent can beat you on pure physicality. So, while it is important to spend time focusing on honing your craft and developing your skill, there are other aspects one must spend time on as well.
They say “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” This saying could not be any truer when it comes to wrestling. Football players can train their bodies to be able to do one or two basic things for their specific position. Wrestlers, however, do not have the luxury to be so one-dimensional. As mentioned earlier, technique alone will not help you succeed in this sport. The elite wrestlers must keep up with their cardiovascular and muscular endurance along with explosive speed and power. To succeed, especially at the highest levels of this sport, one must embody a balanced mix of each of these components along with a level of mental toughness that can take your training and performance to the next level.
Cutting weight is probably the one thing most people refer to when explaining why wrestling is as challenging as it is. As wrestlers grind to maintain tip-top shape, they must also keep in mind their weight and keeping that under control. Many times, wrestlers may have to cut a substantial amount of weight prior to a competition, and this can take a lot of them. Keeping up with rigorous strength and fitness levels while refraining from gaining too much mass shows a rare blend of both mental and physical fortitude that is unseen in most other sports. And because wrestlers never really have an “off-season” their weight watching never ends.
While every sport comes with injuries, wrestling injuries have shown to be extremely severe in both body function and cosmetic appearance. Many common injuries wrestlers face include shoulder injuries, knee injuries (ACL and MCL tears), and concussions both mild and severe. They can also experience major skin infections like staph due to all the skin-to-skin contact. Staph can even be fatal is it isn’t caught and dealt with in a timely fashion. Another common injury is cauliflower ear which has almost become synonymous with wrestling and this involves the swelling up of the ears. Cauliflower ear can be drained, however, the process can be quite painful and it is an injury that is never fully healed and can always return.
