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As noted previously on JonathonBraden.com, I covered the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Wrestling Duals on Saturday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. I loved receiving dollars to watch college wrestling, and then write about college wrestling. What a country!

Des Moines Register Harry Baumert photos

If you haven’t experienced wrestling before, you should attend a meet. For serious. It’s a great sport that teaches individuals about discipline, life and attitude, almost more than any other sport does. Just like in tennis, the athlete competes alone, forcing him or herself to act and win alone. Wrestlers, however, do have the advantage of in-match coaching, something tennis players of all ages have been deprived of since I can remember. But wrestling’s physical impact clearly outweighs the non-coaching that exists in tennis. Seven minutes of constantly tussling with someone else to show those in attendance who’s worked harder, who will outsmart each other and who’s the better competitor. That’s wrestling.

Besides the mental greatness of wrestling, the sport’s closeness and accessibility lend itself favorably to new fans. Unlike mainstream sports such as football and basketball, the community of wrestling remains very close. Referees that officiate the National Duals Championship will be officiating a local high school’s dual meet sometime this season. Everyone knows everyone. Refs know former wrestlers who’ve traded in their singlet for slacks and a polo to become coaches. Rival coaches chat it up with rival wrestlers, talking shop and exchanging jokes. More than any other sport I’ve witnessed, the wrestling community remains strong.

It’s accessibility is almost laughable compared to other sports. The best of the sport roam freely like any media member, fan or official. The wrestlers don’t possess the celebrity status as say an O.J. Mayo, a star basketball player for Southern California, so they can walk around like everyone else, climbing into the stands to talk to their parents without receiving the mob treatment. Despite the equal if not more hard work they perform, for some reason the mainstream fan and media still hasn’t meandered over to wrestling contests more often.

The sport’s old schoolesk is also fun to watch. Common Joes manage the clock, sometimes forgetting to stop and start the digits on time. The ref doesn’t panic, though. At one match I was near, the ref said to run 10 seconds off the clock and they’d go from there. Everything about the sport resonates a sense of community. From the common folks involved to brothers wrestling on the same team all over the nation, wrestling represents community in the form of a sport.

The meets only last about 90 minutes to two hours. You’ve got 90 minutes in a week to spare. In attending the next wrestling meet closest to you, what’s the worst that can happen? You won’t like it, and then you’ll know you won’t win best college wrestling fan of the year. That’s OK. So you won’t receive dollars for words, but that’s OK, too. Experiencing the great sport of wrestling and its uniqueness will be payment enough.