On April 7-8 I was at the wrestling World Cup where Team USA won their first World Cup since 2003. I went to the “mainstream” of wrestling in Iowa City, Iowa.

Most people know about the “W.W.E.” It is used for entertainment and it is like fake fighting. It is acting, as before they get in the ring they know who is going to win. They call it wrestling, but it is not international or collegiate wrestling. This upsets people in the “real” wrestling world. The real wrestling World Cup event is important because it brings the wrestling community together to watch wrestling as a form of art. Not just grinding and fighting, it is more than that. It involves strategy and technique, not just strength.

Team USA won the World Cup this year and they haven’t won it since 2003. They beat the fellow competitors, Azerbaijan, 6-4. Team USA won six matches and team Azerbaijan won four matches. Jordan Burroughs, a veteran for team USA, won by fall, which was huge in the victory over Azerbaijan. Everybody did their part for winning this prestigious event that only happens once a year.

As I was watching, I was lost with words by seeing all of the different countries compete and using different strategies. Everybody was being totally different in their own way. I say this because every team approached the competition differently, Japan was more patient and Azerbaijan was more aggressive, you could tell in their wrestlers. This is why I think wrestling is unique. For example, Japan would bow when they stepped on the mat and USA was more aggressive with complete diversity in all of their wrestlers.

Being able to see their mindset while competing was amazing for me because I am just a middle school wrestler. It was amazing for me to watch because not only was it a great experience to be there; But being able to see the competitors face adversity from being down in points and coming back to win the match. Believe it or not, most of the competitors were having fun out there.

I met important people; I met the Japan coach and Mongolia coach after the tournament. Japan’s coach’s name is Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, and he is a 2012 Olympic gold medalist. I also met junior world champions from Japan. They couldn’t understand us that well, but we used translators to communicate. I would ask them about the wrestlers that came before them and what they think of the sport. They didn’t say too much, but I think they got the gist of it. We talked about Jiichiro Date, who was an 1976 Olympic champion for Japan and they were fascinated about how we knew this. We gave them wrestling videos of him wrestling and you could tell that they were excited to watch them. So not only does this event provide wrestlers with an opportunity to improve as a wrestler, it also inspires people to think more globally.

Team USA would have had to compete against Japan, India, and Georgia-the country, not the state. After beating all of those teams, they were set for the finals. The four noticeable guys that led team USA to the championship were Kyle Dake, David Taylor, Kyle Snyder, and Jordan Burroughs. As the crowd was in awe, Kyle Dake hit a arch throw (an arch throw is when you arch your back when you throw an opponent and it is amazing to see) that was worth five points with a tech fall only being ten points over your opponent.

Winning the World Cup was huge for team USA as it was on home turf because the previous World Cups were in different countries. According to Flowrestling, Kyle Snyder thinks this is the “best team” USA has to offer. David Taylor outscored his opponents 45-5 in points. According to Trackwrestling, With Kyle Dake saying “This is the best team in the World.”

This was one of the experiences in my lifetime that I will never forget. I’ve learned so much from it and will implement it in my life and wrestling. This is what the world should know about, instead of “fake wrestling” that so many people know and talk about. I met so many great people during that time period. I hope I will go next year, and I also hope to see you there too.

Team USA included, Thomas Gilman, Kendric Maple, Logan Stieber, James Green, Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Dake, David Taylor, J’den Cox, Kyle Snyder, and Nick Gwiazdowski.