[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by tedg04

I think it may also be a factor of sport prevalence in the geographic area. Here, in the Inland NW, the competitive wrestlers start at the age of 6. When I lived in TX, it was the same for football. Alternatively, no one played lacrosse - and I would expect a skilled athlete of any sort to likely make a varsity team in the area. With the OP being in the Bay Area, the odds of finding some under-appreciated sport are pretty slim.

I also don't see wrestling as something you can do for life. Maybe coach it, but not stay that competitively fit. Many of the competitive wrestlers I know are also severely undersized to this day. I think cutting weight for competition while in your formative growth years could prove to be very foolish.

I know the football coach of a large local high school, he didn't play football until 10th grade and ended up playing receiver at a D1 college and was on an NFL roster until injury cut his career short. Excellent coach as well, they just won state last year. That's pure natural talent.

I think wrestling appeals to small guys, because they will only be matched up to guys of similar stature. That's not the case for most sports. One of my son's best friend is an excellent wrestler, he is a tiny kid. His dad was an excellent wrestler through high school, also not a very big guy. Having weight classes is a great equalizer.