Dear IOC

For those of you who don't know the devastating news, the IOC has voted to recommend wrestling be removed from the 2020 Olympic Games. This means that there will be a set of meetings where the IOC will vote to remove one of the summer sports. Unfortunately wrestling is one of those to be voted on. As a fan of wrestling I have a tremendous problem with this. For me, wrestling isn't just a sport. It's my life. I've based my entire high school career around wrestling. I never did anything that interfered with the three month season and I've missed maybe 5 of the approximately 56 duals that our team has participated in. Wrestling saved my life and brought my "family" together at a time when we thought all hope was lost. That's the beautiful thing about wrestling, it's an individual sport, but it feels more like a team. Although I have never and never plan on wrestling, the sport has slowly turned into the most important thing in the world to me. I chose to attend Oklahoma State University because of the wrestling team, in fact, I never even thought about attending a school without a wrestling program. I would even be content to devout my entire life to wrestling. I practically do anyway. I can't even begin to list the opportunities that I've been given thanks to wrestling. I've met multiple Olympians, seen amazing matches, and experienced multiple wrestling programs. I guess the main part of that would be meeting Olympians. It's like meeting a god of your sport. Olympians are heroes to kids. That's the heartbreaking part of this. Many boys I know dream of being Olympians. The train all year long, switching from Greco-Roman, to Freestyle, to Folkstyle. They learn the rules and regulations of each different genre of wrestling, and they learn to excel in one or more. I can't even imagine what it would feel like to spend my entire life preparing to complete a goal only for it to be torn away from me. That's what the IOC is doing to these upcoming heroes. I can't even imagine what will happen to the sport of Greco-Roman or Freestyle wrestling if the IOC passes this. I honestly believe they will disappear from the United States. Sure there are still Worlds and other international competitions, but none have the glory of an Olympic title. I know that if wrestling is removed from the Olympics that I will never watch another game until it is returned. I also know that I am willing to do whatever it takes in order to keep wrestling in the games. I just don't understand how you can justify removing the one of the original games. It's completely sickening. I do have faith though. I have faith in a universal wrestling community that will come together to accomplish our goal. The wrestling world deserves recognition of the highest level, and that level is being a part of the Olympic Games. If you are interested in helping with the cause go visit and like the Keep Wrestling in the Olympics Facebook page. Sign every petition you can, email the members of the IOC, and keep spreading the word. Don't let this cause die out. Fight for the freshman in high school who might've been an Olympic Champion if he'd had someone stand up for his sport. Do whatever you can to overturn this decision. There's strength in numbers so join the fight. After all, there is no greater show of athleticism than a competition of raw strength between two human beings, and that show is the sport of wrestling. Take a gander at what OLYMPIC Gold Medalist and Head Coach of Oklahoma State John Smith has to say.

If you want to contact me about anything I've said or you have any other questions feel free to email me: megan.ball9@gmail.com
Remember: #SaveOlympicWrestling