More wrestling teams should try daytime matches

As I walked out of Lutheran High School West’s gym on Dec. 10, a student shouted “I love wrestling now! I never knew it was like this!”

That student has good reason to say that.

Lutheran West and Rocky River engaged in an afternoon dual match in front of its entire student body, pep band and cheerleaders.

The atmosphere was something you never see at a typical wrestling dual match.

As the Longhorns entered the gym, the crowd went bananas.

And the crowd then roared with every take down, and the wrestlers fed off the emotions.

“It was cool, most people here had never seen wrestling before,” said 138-pounder Parker Watson, who is an Ohio State commit. “To put on a show for them was fun. When everyone gets loud, it encourages you to go harder.”

The Longhorns and Pirates scheduled a 2:15 p.m. match so its students and fans can see the beauty of wrestling.

Normally a 6 p.m. start doesn’t generate the student body to come out and attend; only family members.

But a day like this might prompt more fans to start attending.

Most of them saw how fun wrestling can be. And even though the match itself had a lot of forfeits — the ones who did wrestle enticed enthusiasm.

The trick — now — is to get those same students out to a 6 p.m. match. The idea between both schools was a brilliant one.

There is no downside to it.

“We got the kids exposed to wrestling who otherwise would not watch it,” Lutheran West coach Dave Ressler said.

I’d like to see more schools take a page out of Lutheran West’s book and try this.

Wrestling will never generate support the way football or basketball does—but if doing something like this can have more students like the one above come away saying how much they love the sport, it’s worth the shot.

Hopefully, the student body that attended that dual match can see what the sport has to offer, and swing by Lutheran West’s first night dual match of the season.

“To put on a show for them was fun. When everyone gets loud, it encourages you to go harder.”

— Lutheran West’s Parker Watson