NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Wade Schalles.

Besides being a two-time NCAA wrestling champion, a master pinner, and a 1991 inductee in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Wade Schalles is also presently training people in catch wrestling by serving as coach of Scientific Wrestling.

A lot of his attention of late has been aimed at chronicling the many problems facing the sport of wrestling in his multi-part series called "How Wrestling Wins", and offering solutions.

On the occasion of a major event such as the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which just took place March 19-21 in St. Louis, Missouri, it is important to find out his take on what it reveals about the state of wrestling today.

We spoke with Wade Schalles by phone Wednesday.

Speaking about the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, he said, "It's another wonderful event. It's our flagship event. I could either take this interview and make it all positive, which people tend to do in wrestling. I think it's smart to do the positive, talk about the greatness of the sport, and where we're headed, and the things it does for children."

He cautioned, however, "But I'm afraid we have very little time left to be positive."

The wrestling community, he said, "has to awaken to the problems we have. We only have maybe two-three years at most before bad things are going to happen to a lot of the non-revenue sports, not only wrestling."

Here he is referring to the effects of the O'Bannon decision, which mandates that colleges directly compensate many athletes in "revenue" sports like football and basketball, and where they will find the money to do so.

What must be done is, "Basically we have to get our costs in line. We have to increase our revenue potential. We have to spend wiser," he said.

"Every major institution in wrestling loses money."

We discussed why the current decision-makers in wrestling have not been making the "tough calls"; why the TV ratings for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were not really impressive; how there is "no one in charge" of the sport of wrestling as a whole; why the college wrestling season should be moved to the spring so as not to conflict with the widely televised NCAA basketball tournament; why everything in wrestling must become "spectator-centric"; why he is planning on leaving wrestling; the potential for the re-emerging sport of catch wrestling to be "spectator-based" and exciting; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: catch, college, crisis, Eddie Goldman, How Wrestling Wins, NCAA, No Holds Barred, scientific, Wade Schalles

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses some of the main lessons of the tumultuous year of 2013 for wrestling, where it was almost banished from the Olympics, and examines what international, real professional, and catch wrestling must do in order to resolve the problems holding back the sport. The need for professional leadership, being media-savvy, running the various wrestling organizations like real sports, and battling corruption are among the topics stressed.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

LenneHardt.com, the web site of the world's greatest ring announcer, Lenne Hardt. Need a unique and cool combat sports-related gift? At LenneHardt.com, you can order personalized messages, wedding calls, ringtones, phone answering messages, and more, all recorded by Lenne herself, in the style of your choice. For more information, go to LenneHardt.com.

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

GrappleGnostic, sponsored by Defense Soap. Where the will to win meets the power of knowledge. Features, interviews, analysis, health tips, and information on wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and all the grappling arts, written by some of the best writers and experts in the world. Check out their web site, a http://defensesoap.com/grapplegnostic.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at http://defensesoap.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: 2013, 2014, catch, corruption, crisis, Eddie Goldman, FILA, media, No Holds Barred, Olympics, real professional, wrestling