Ready To Go

The Bullet Mat Slap has awakened and is ready to go for the 2013-2014 Season.

Bullet Wrestling has had a lot to celebrate since the last post on March 6, 2013. Three days later Bullet Wrestling had its second state champ, Peter Renda and Adam Mackie, having lost a close semi-final match, brought home 3rd. These achievements had both the school and community beaming with pride. Following up his 500th win earlier in the season, Coach Sam Lovello was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in April, 2013. Bullet Wrestling, having added several more entries to its fine history, appears to have no interest in living on its laurels. As we head toward the start of the 2013-14 season we look forward to the accomplishments of present and future Bullet wrestlers.

On September 8, 2013 the wrestling community celebrated the IOC’s vote to keep wrestling in the Olympics through 2024. It was a bitter sweet victory but there is a bigger lesson here that the Bullet Wrestling community should reflect upon.

Much has been written about the arrogance of FILA and how it may have led to the February decision to eliminate wrestling as a core sport. The new FILA president, Nenad Lalovic said, “I don't blame the IOC. The guilt is only ours.” The Serb said it became clear that FILA had failed to modernize the sport and had fallen out of touch with the IOC. "That was the best shock therapy,'' Lalovic said. “When you fall into such a crisis, you either die or you recover. We recovered.''

In the end, wrestling not only recovered but is stronger than before. FILA revamped its structure, giving women and athletes a role in decision making. It added two weight classes for women. It adopted rule changes to make the sport easier to understand and more fun to watch, and to reward more aggressive wrestling. During this campaign FILA made a monumental effort to promote their sport through social media (Save Olympic Wrestling and Take A Stance campaigns). Join 100,000 FILA facebook fans and follow the newly created World Wrestling Rankings. You’ll be beaming with USA pride when you see Jordan Borroughs at the top.

Today, with only 64 days until the first day of high school wrestling, it is hard to imagine the Bullet Wrestling tradition not continuing. I am sure FILA thought the same prior to February. In an age of dwindling high school funds, let’s not assume all is well. We need constant and increased support for our high school wrestlers. More fans and more funds are needed to sustain our storied history. Everyone can help. Mark this website as a favorite. Be a guest sports writer here to help define what makes wrestling different than other sports. Like the Bullet Wrestling fan page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Come to Bullet Wrestling matches. Tell our school board how wrestling has made a difference in your life. Most of all, when you see a Bullet Wrestler, whether young or old, welcome them into the Bullet Wrestling Community.