Are you about to enter high school and wondering if wrestling is the right sport for you? We will explain why high school wrestling is a great activity to be involved in.
Should I Wrestle In High School?
You should wrestle in high school. Wrestling will teach you self-defense, give you an opportunity to make new friends, improve your overall athleticism which can help with sports like football and soccer, and increase your mental toughness and confidence.
High School Wrestlers Don’t Get Bullied
No one wants to get bullied. By learning wrestling you will learn how to defend yourself and physically prevent anyone from picking on you.
If you join the high school wrestling team you probably won’t even have to worry about getting into fights because only the most stupid bullies would pick a fight with a wrestler who knows hundreds of ways to throw attackers face-first into the ground.
By the grace of God if you do find a bully stupid enough to mess with a high school wrestler your hours of learning wrestling technique will give you all the weapons you need to quickly end the fight. All you need to do is shoot a double leg, pick your bully up and slam them to the ground.
If you want to reduce your chance of being bullied and learn some practical self defense skills then you should join your high school wrestling team.
High School Wrestling Is A Great Chance To Make New Friends
As wrestling is such an intense sport and you will be spending hours and hours on the mats training alongside your teammates you form deep bonds and friendships with your training partners.
These friendships are strengthened by the fact that you overcome the difficulties of wrestling together. Of course not as intense but it is similar to the friendships people form while in the military.
If you want to make some new friends then high school wrestling could be a great choice for you. You never know you might meet your new best friend on the first day of high school wrestling practice.
High School Wrestling Helps With Other Sports
High school wrestlers are known for being highly flexible, coordinated, explosive, strong, and have cardio for days. These athletic attributes can help improve your performance in a number of other sports including soccer and football.
It is no secret that many high school football coaches like poking their heads in the wrestling room to try and find some new talent.
If you are looking to become a better athlete in another sport, particularly football, high school wrestling could help.
High School Wrestling Will Make You Mentally Tougher And More Confident
In high school wrestling, you will develop a mental toughness that few other sports can develop.
When you are exhausted and you have your opponent trying to smash you, you can’t give up or rely on teammates to save you. You have to dig deep and find that extra energy to compete and win the match.
By routinely overcoming physical and mental barriers wrestling will turn you into a highly motivated individual who is capable of taking on any task no matter how big or small.
Wrestling will give you the confidence that through hard work and never giving up to go out and achieve your goals. The lessons learned during high school wrestling can have a positive impact on all areas of your life from career to family to hobbies.
What Are The Negatives Of Wrestling In High School?
The negatives of wrestling in high school include the risk of injury, having to follow a strict diet, and dehydrating yourself to make weight. High school wrestling can also negatively impact your grades due to the time commitment and the fatigue from the training intensity/length.
Before considering if high school wrestling is the right sport for you, you need to study the injury rates. Wrestling is the most dangerous high school sport with an injury rate of 13.1 per 1000 athlete exposures.
This is higher than high school football (9.2 per 1000 athlete exposures) and twice as high as the average injury rate for high school sport (6 per 1000 athlete exposures).
Even though wrestling is not the safest sport the majority of injuries are minor with only 6% of injuries requiring surgery. We believe the small injury risk of wrestling is far outweighed by the benefits of the sport.
Another negative of the sport is that many athletes need to maintain a strict diet to stay within their weight class. Some high school athletes make their wrestling experience unbearable by constantly cutting weight and dehydrating themselves.
We do not recommend high school wrestlers cut weight. Instead, they should focus on learning and enjoying the sport rather than worrying about weight. You can still be a successful high school wrestler by eating a flexible diet where you can enjoy treats and junk food.
Some high wrestlers struggle to balance their academic and sporting careers. This can lead to wrestlers having poor grades as they prioritize their mat performance over the classroom.
High school wrestlers can still achieve high grades and get into top colleges. They just need to be more disciplined with their time. We recommend high school wrestlers have a schedule so they always have time for their homework.
Conclusion
You absolutely should wrestle in high school. High school wrestling has so many benefits including teaching you self defense, making you bully proof, turning you into a better athlete, build mental toughness and make you new friends. While high school wrestling does have some negatives such as injuries these are only minor negatives and should not sway you from choosing to wrestle.
