What country generally produces the best wrestlers??

[J-Luck]

Im not talking any submissions here, but the traditional greco-roman,freestyle, and folkstyle. Basically any pinning or positional based style.

I would think Russia and the United States... but thats just a wild guess.

[SamuraiGuy]

Probably united states, just because of the amount of opportunity for wrestling, people have enough money to take up sports like wrestling etc...

Iran is pretty high up there though, cant count out those Iranians.

[7r14ngL3Ch0k3]

Originally Posted by SamuraiGuy

Probably united states, just because of the amount of opportunity for wrestling, people have enough money to take up sports like wrestling etc...

Iran is pretty high up there though, cant count out those Iranians.

Pound for pound, its probably the US. But if you look at the olympic medalists theyre usually from Russia, China or eastern European countries, which makes sense because they have a much bigger population than we do.

And wrestling isnt expensive. You basically need a mat to practice and compete on. But then you need mops, a mat room, a scale, padding on the walls. Singlets and headgear dont cost too much. Other sports like football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, can require much more money.

[SamuraiGuy]

I wasnt really talking about the costs of wrestling.. I mean thee financial stability to wrestle.

If you have to pick beans all day just so you can eat, your not going to be wrestling, etc.... Thats a harsh example, but for alot of people, recreational sports, etc... arent a high priority because they dont have the financial stability to have the time to spend doing these things. BJJ for me is about 100 bucks a month, and I have to pay for university etc.... It's worth it to me, and I work a job I dont have too (as in I dont have to for paying for school/essentials, but I work so I can do BJJ.) I dont work that much but still, its a sacrifice to get the BJJ. Other people dont have money or time to spare for sports, etc...

There ya go.

And I did watch your video, not all of it, maybe like half.

[DickHardman]

wrestling is a very traditional discipline in many of the middle eastern countries. iran, india, pakistan, and turkey produce some awesome wrestlers for sure.

[DJColdfusion]

The USA had one guy medal in the Greco worlds last year. The money that goes to wrestling in the USA is F*CKin' rediculous and some of our best athletes leave the sport because they get ZERO support from our government and have to support themselves.

One of my training partners (Brandon Ruiz), took silver in the Greco PanAms last year, had to leave the USOTC and move back here so that he could support his family. Now he doesn't have the opportunity to train with world class wrestlers 4-6 hours a day like he did in Colorado.

The USA has some great wrestlers but they can't make it without outside sponsorship. All of the big Greco tournaments are international, who pays for these guys to go? Answer: they pay for themselves most of the time and occasionally they get lucky and get a sponsor to flip the bill.

Brandon is competing in Poland next month and we'll hopefully get him and his brother (the only American to medal at the Greco worlds last year) into our gym soon.

And in my opinion the best wrestling teams are Iran, Cuba, and then a few of the former Soviet block countries. The USA has the heart and the talent but not the support.

[sapatiero]

Many of the best wrestlers here in the UK are iranian

[Rebiu]

Iran! My main wrestling coach always talked about the quality of Iranian wrestlers. In fact he got a call from the FBI as a results of his communications with Iranians about wrestling over the internet at the public library.

[WildWest.]

Any country that puts the effort/money/time into any combat sport will reap the benefits. No one country or race could be deemed "the best", everyone has great fighters.

[SamuraiGuy]

Originally Posted by WildWest.

Any country that puts the effort/money/time into any combat sport will reap the benefits. No one country or race could be deemed "the best", everyone has great fighters.

*Cough* Ukraine... *Cough* Fedor....

Oh, I wonder about all the possibilities this could start...

[Mr. Miyagi]

Yeah, probably the USA.
But Russia has got to be mentioned too, even just out of awe for Karelin. He had a streak for a few years of winning every match/tournament he entered, without anyone even scoring a point on him! I know he eventually did lose a match, but his achievements are pretty ridiculous.
I can't remember which Olympics it was, but there was an American HW wrestler plowing through the competition. He had a 3 yr. old daughter that would be cheering for him in each match (which the tv crews loved to show), she was always smiling and really proud that noone could take her daddy. Until he ran into Karelin! Then he lost (and got a silver, not too shabby) but the daughter was bawling a river of tears on the sidelines during that match. Really cute.