The sport of wrestling dates back to the times of Ancient Greece. It was one of the first Olympic events and has remained popular for thousands of years. The game has evolved, but the basic principles remain the same. In 1903, the first collegiate wrestling match took place, when Yale faced Columbia in what became one of America’s most popular sports. Two years later, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association held its first tournament, and wrestling was beginning to take the world by storm. Currently, there are 18 schools in the EIWA, including The Military Academy, Naval Academy, Harvard and Penn University.
These schools, however, are secondary to the NCAA wrestling teams. The NCAA Wrestling Tournament has been held since 1928. It has featured 11 different school champions, the most recent being Penn State. Despite this, they stand in the shadow of Oklahoma State’s 34 championships, most recently in 2006.
In 2013, there were 270,163 men participating in high school wrestling, to football’s 1.1 million participants. This is due to the lack of high schools that offer the age-old sport. Wrestling is not the only sport not to get enough love.
Water polo is considered to be an up-and-coming sport in the U.S. Water polo is sponsored by the NCAA in more than 80 Division I schools, including the University of Harvard, Florida, Stanford and Michigan.
Trinity Prep, however, does not offer these sports, among others, to our student body. Athletic Director Kathy Finnucan explains why this is the case.
“Wrestling is a winter sport for boys and would require a dedicated room to house the mats and for practice,” Finnucan said. “We have not had any boys express an interest in this sport.”
Headmaster Craig Maughan explains that the school has eight basketball teams and two gyms.
“During the season, we start practices at 3:30 and they go all the way to 7:30 at night. [Trinity] does not like to have practice start at 3:30 to begin with, but we must give you practice time.”  He goes on to explain that wrestling requires a large dedicated space, and he sees a possibility for such a space if the weight room were expanded.
“There could be room [outside the current weight room] for a multi-purpose room, which could be used for wrestling. It could also be used for a variety of other things like speed drills, dance, aerobics or access [for] the P.E. department.”
Other local schools like Lake Highland Prep and Winter Park High School gain interest from potential wrestling students because of their programs.
Another reason there is a lack of certain teams is because there is limited space on campus. Water polo requirements, as simple as they seem, are not able to be met by the Saints.
“Our pool, as big is it is, doesn’t have the depth that water polo requires in order to compete,” Maughan said. “[Competing in our pool] would be like playing basketball on a third of a court.” Maughan goes on to say that it is possible for the school to use off campus pools, but they are already occupied.
Other sports like crew are also left out of the Trinity sports mix for different reasons.
“As policy, we have always said that we are not going to offer a sport that is not sanctioned by FHSAA,” Maughan said. “Crew is not an FHSAA sanctioned sport, and I do not think it ever will be. [This is because] it is very, very expensive, more than any other sport.” He does, however, encourage students who row crew to join the local club teams.
Though it is not in the near future, sports like wrestling are not out of Trinity Prep’s reach. A perfect example is girl’s lacrosse. A few years ago, a poll was taken by students at the school. It was about potential sports for girls, including lacrosse, that could be introduced. Slowly, the athletic department has been putting together a team. Finally, in the 2011-12 school year, a Girls’ Junior Varsity Lacrosse team was introduced to grades 7-11. This will be the first year of a JV and varsity team, following the junior varsity’s 12-2 record.
Sports like wrestling, water polo and crew may be left out, but they are not forgotten. These sports all have a chance, eventually, be a school sponsored sport. One change in the FHSAA rules, one new gym, or one revision to the pool: this is all possible.