Dana Bourassa had the reaction a high school wrestling coach of 30-plus years would be expected to have.
“Why take out the oldest sport in the world?” Bourassa said when he was first informed that the International Olympic Committee voted to drop wrestling.
The IOC announced Tuesday that, starting with the 2020 summer games, wrestling will no longer be an Olympic sport, which it has been since the first modern games, held in 1896.
The decision came as a shock to members of the high school wrestling community in Greater Nashua.
“It’s absurd,’’ Nashua North wrestling coach Jeff Arbogast said. “It’s one of the founding sports of the Olympics, going back to ancient times. It seems like every country has some form of wrestling.
“At the end of the day, I’d be surprised if they go through with it.’’
“It’s the pinnacle of a wrestling career,” Hollis Brookline wrestling coach Brian Bumpus said. “There’s no professional stage for wrestling.![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
↧