Indiana’s State Freestyle/Greco Program Develops “Winter Champions”

For many years, the slogan “Summer Wrestlers Make Winter Champions” has been a common saying among wrestling circles. A perfect example of this simple truth is the state meet in Indiana.

Each year since 1997, the Indiana State Wrestling Association, the USA Wrestling’s state affiliate, has kept statistics from the state high school championships. After each year, the ISWA has tracked the performance of its members at the state meet, and the results are remarkable.

In 2001, of the 224 wrestlers who competed at the high school state meet, 194 participated in the ISWA Freestyle/Greco Roman program as well. Of the 112 wrestlers who placed in the top eight of each weight class, an amazing 104 were ISWA member wrestlers.

That included all 14 state champions, 13 runners-up and 13 third-place finishers. Only eight of the state place winners were not ISWA members.

These statistics have been consistent through all five years of the research. ISWA members won 95 state medals in 2000, 99 state medals in 1999, 94 state medals in 1998 and 105 state medals in 1997.

According to state membership director Sharon Dowden, for many years the ISWA used the “Summer Wrestlers Make Winter Champions” slogan in its literature. Now, the new ISWA saying is “Celebrating a Millennium of Champions.”

“We are much more than just a summer program, now that we start the program in February,” said Sharon Dowden.

The success of ISWA wrestlers in the state tournament is a testament to the efforts of the entire Indiana wrestling community, including the many volunteer leaders and coaches across the state. The Indiana association provides a winning system of strong club programs, quality competitions, regional training centers and access to regional and national events to its membership.

“It can’t start in high school,” said Sharon Dowden. “It works best if you start in middle school and below. The real benefit comes when they start as kids and go to the state, regional and national events. They build their confidence. They learn how to succeed.”

Not every high school in Indiana has a USA Wrestling club affiliated with it. There are 308 high schools in Indiana and 159 USA Wrestling clubs.

“There is peer pressure and coaching support to get involved,” said Mike Dowden, the ISWA State Chairperson. “Almost all of the top wrestlers come from ISWA clubs. You rarely see a successful high school team that does not have its athletes in our program.”

The ISWA does a good job promoting its program to the community. The ISWA champions are listed in the state publication, which goes to 13,000 members, coaches and supporters, as well as on the web page. Each of the coaches also receives the statistics about the success of ISWA athletes at the state meet. The ISWA also gives out a Triple Crown award to athletes who win the state high school meet plus the ISWA Junior freestyle and Greco-Roman title.

“There is tremendous competition in our tournaments,” said Mike Dowden. “It is important to them to become ISWA champions. They also take pride in becoming members of Team Indiana. They want to wear the shirts and the jackets.”

Success breeds success, and many of the athletes who were involved in the past are now passing on the torch.

“The kids who have gone through the program are now becoming coaches,” said Sharon Dowden. “One of the first things they do is form a USA Wrestling club. They know it helped them.”

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