Wrestling could be dropped from Olympic Summer Games - ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MI

(02/12/13) - One of the oldest Olympic sports could soon be cut from the worldwide competition. Wrestling could be dropped from the Summer Games beginning in 2020.

The decision strikes a chord in a Mid-Michigan community that is home to many standout wrestlers.

Davison High School is home to one of the most storied wrestling programs in Michigan. The community has produced dozens of individual and team state champs, several NCAA champions and two current Olympic hopefuls - Brent Metcalf and Jon Reader.

"Brent Probably has two cycles left, they're called a cycle every four years. He has the opportunity to get it done. And Johnny as well," said Roy Hall, Davison Wrestling Coach.

Tuesday, word from the International Olympic Committee that wrestling will likely be dropped from the games starting in 2020 sent shock waves through that community.

"It will effect youth wrestling because USA wrestling itself starts with kids at the grass roots, and if you don't have a USA governing body anymore, you will have that impact there," Hall said.

Hall, a long-time coach and former Olympic hopeful, has shared his story with countless young athletes, inspiring them dream big - Olympic big.

"I was on the 1988 Junior World Team and it was neat to be around 10 kids that had the same dream and I thought I was special. I thought 'wow, it's equally impressive that that's their dream,'" he said.

Hall coached Metcalf and Reader in 2005. The pair, high school seniors at the time, went on to have successful college careers and are currently competing internationally in hopes of making it to the 2016 Olympics.

"It's going to hit home with us. Jon Reader just won the Dave Schultz international meet. He's number three on the ladder, Brent is number one and he just got back from Russia. He took second in the toughest tournament in the world," Hall said.

Wrestling will now join seven other short-listed sports that will have to vie for inclusion in the 2020 Games.

Representatives from the sport will make their bid to an Olympic committee in May.