House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future, I will be introducing a resolution urging the International Olympic Committee to reconsider its recommendation to drop wrestling as an Olympic sport beginning with the 2020 Summer Games. It is my sincere hope you will join me, USA Wrestling and wrestling enthusiasts across Pennsylvania in this effort.

Wrestling is one of the earliest sports known to man, tracing its roots back more than 5,000 years. For the early Greeks, wrestling was considered both a science and a divine art and represented the most important training for young men. The first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896 included Greco-Roman wrestling as an athletic competition with no categories based on weight. Twelve years later, competitions were organized for both Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling at the 1908 London Games.

Wrestling has a long history as part of the Olympic Games and the sport continues to be popular around the world and in high schools throughout the Commonwealth – teaching our young people self-confidence, discipline, sportsmanship, self-defense and physical fitness. Despite the worldwide popularity of wrestling and its role in the founding of the modern Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee recently recommended that wrestling be excluded from its list of core sports beginning in 2020. In light of this, my resolution will highlight the international popularity of the sport and the importance of wrestling to our young people and urge the International Olympic Committee to reconsider its recent decision to drop wrestling as an Olympic sport.

It is my hope that a resolution passed by the House will indicate to the International Olympic Committee that there is broad support in Pennsylvania to continue wrestling as an Olympic sport.