Wrestling writers

[Jay Sherman]

Covered wrestling for the first time on Saturday, and it went pretty well, I think. However, I'm sure there are easy tricks to the trade that some of you grizzled veterans have picked up after writing wrestling for years.

I brought a notepad, wrote down the 14 weight classes and got the lineups for both teams at each weight, then wrote notes (poorly) during the matches as to how they were scoring points or anything else that I noticed. Any tips?

 

[Appgrad05]

Wrestling, to me, is like tennis and cross-country in that it is a series of individual matches for which a team score is eventually determined.
Because of that, I always tried to focus on a key match, or a trend (ton of forfeits and over-matched weight classes leave two real matches, for example).

 

[drakescoffeecake]

Find whoever is keeping score with the scorebook, and have he or she give you a 10-minute tutorial.

it's like keeping score in baseball, only even easier, and you've got your play-by-play:

then wrote notes (poorly) during the matches as to how they were scoring points

It's easy, and you can keep your own in your notebook: T2, E1, R2, NF3, Fall (time).

The strategy of forfeiting, matchups is key, too, as Appgrad said.

 

[Ace]

I would just get the results and do a feature on somebody. Who wants to read wrestling play-by-play?

 

[Jeremy Goodwin]

As Appgrad said, focus on a specific match or trend. There is no point in trying to write a match by match gamer. I covered a few meets last year and usually a strong theme emerged -- team X had pins in all their wins, the match was close until the light weights when team Y dominated and those three wins in a row gave them a big lead; kid A beats kid B for the first time since losing to kid B in the state championship last year, etc.

 

[SixToe]

Use the word 'grapplers' often and encourage its use in headlines.


There usually are a lot of storylines with wrestling teams or meets. Talk with coaches, parents and the wrestlers to see who is on a hot streak, rebounding from a loss, maybe has been sick, is a third-generation wrestler and so on.

 

[Brookerton]

I usually go with the biggest matchup as the lead and what the win means for the team.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

You mean this thread doesn't involve Whitlock and two tons of mud?

 

[BYH]

...have my deepest sympathies.

 

[Merlin]

I was in the same situation last year. Early on I asked the SID or whoever was keeping the score to go over scoring with me. It took no time to pick up on what was happening.

I went with a similar method, writing down each weight class on a line and keeping the score for each period (E1, T2, R2, etc.). During the match I would circle any key points and jot down a quick note nearby to reference later. As others have mentioned, a theme usually emerges during the dual. If one didn't, I would focus on the most interesting match/wrestler and just mention the others when reporting the score. I found that wrestling had some colorful characters.

 

[wicked]

In some states, they begin at 103. In other states, they begin at a preselected weight class; I forget how that weight class is chosen. I've been told that can greatly alter strategy.

 

[Beth Hudson]

Just my two cents as someone who's covered a ton of wrestling: If you're focusing on a specific bout, don't be afraid to ask the wrestlers for details about which moves they used for a pin or a key takedown. It's a bit daunting to cover the sport for the first time -- particularly if you didn't wrestle in high school (obviously, I didn't). The terminology is foreign to most outsiders. The more you stay around the sport, of course, the more you will pick up on your own.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

In some states, they begin at 103. In other states, they begin at a preselected weight class; I forget how that weight class is chosen. I've been told that can greatly alter strategy.

In my state, they went to random draw a couple of years ago, then move up from there. So if 130 was pulled, then it went 130-135-140 and so on. Poor heavyweights always either a) wrestled a meaningless match or b) wrestled with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

 

[mike311gd]

Covered wrestling for the first time on Saturday, and it went pretty well, I think. However, I'm sure there are easy tricks to the trade that some of you grizzled veterans have picked up after writing wrestling for years.

I brought a notepad, wrote down the 14 weight classes and got the lineups for both teams at each weight, then wrote notes (poorly) during the matches as to how they were scoring points or anything else that I noticed. Any tips?

That's pretty much the basis of what you've got to do. In addition to the teams' trends, try to find the patterns of the individual wrestlers. This is much easier if you've got only a couple teams to cover or you're reporting a tournament -- follow the winners and the underdogs. There are excellent stories in there just about every time.

When I'm covering a dual meet, I'll focus on one match, generally the turning point. Maybe it's the match-clincher -- when the pin puts the team up by 20 with three bouts to go; or it's a quick pin that generates two more; or it's brothers feeding off one another in the middle. Generally, there's one turning point unless, of course, it's 72-6 or something in which case, your story writes itself.

You certainly don't need to include information -- play-by-play, key moves -- on every match. I'd just highlight two or three, maybe a fourth or fifth if you really need it. Otherwise, it'll get too bogged down with detail, and before you know it, you've got 25 inches of the same stuff, more or less. If Cory "The Cory" Matthews and A.C. Slater clinch the win with back-to-back pins in the 12th and 13th matches, you don't need to mention anything other than "Drew Carey (103) and Bud Bundy (112) notched consecutive decisions to build a 6-0 lead. ..."

And it could have been strategy that led to the win. A lot of times, kids will bump up a weight class to defend against an easy pin to save some points, often swinging the win in the team's favor.

Just look for the story, Jay, and let it do the rest. You'll be fine.

 

[mike311gd]

In some states, they begin at 103. In other states, they begin at a preselected weight class; I forget how that weight class is chosen. I've been told that can greatly alter strategy.

In my state, they went to random draw a couple of years ago, then move up from there. So if 130 was pulled, then it went 130-135-140 and so on. Poor heavyweights always either a) wrestled a meaningless match or b) wrestled with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

It's been random everywhere I've been, too.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

In some states, they begin at 103. In other states, they begin at a preselected weight class; I forget how that weight class is chosen. I've been told that can greatly alter strategy.

In my state, they went to random draw a couple of years ago, then move up from there. So if 130 was pulled, then it went 130-135-140 and so on. Poor heavyweights always either a) wrestled a meaningless match or b) wrestled with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

It's been random everywhere I've been, too.

Ours is random, at least during the regular season.

When it comes to state finals, it goes straight through the classes starting at 103.

 

[MrWrite]

When I saw the thread title, I thought maybe Doyel had tracked down another SportsJournalists.com member in the press box.

 

[Mark2010]

Wrestling, to me, is like tennis and cross-country in that it is a series of individual matches for which a team score is eventually determined.
Because of that, I always tried to focus on a key match, or a trend (ton of forfeits and over-matched weight classes leave two real matches, for example).

Very true. I never understood the logic in breaking up individual sports into classifications. In wrestling, track, golf, tennis, etc., you can have a really good competitor from a small school just as easily as he/she can be from a large school.

Likewise, you can have a great performer even if the rest of the team stinks. It is really is an individual sport.

 

[lono]

Remember: Wrestling, above all else, is a manly sport.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Wrestling, to me, is like tennis and cross-country in that it is a series of individual matches for which a team score is eventually determined.
Because of that, I always tried to focus on a key match, or a trend (ton of forfeits and over-matched weight classes leave two real matches, for example).

Very true. I never understood the logic in breaking up individual sports into classifications. In wrestling, track, golf, tennis, etc., you can have a really good competitor from a small school just as easily as he/she can be from a large school.

Likewise, you can have a great performer even if the rest of the team stinks. It is really is an individual sport.

I did get taken to task by a reader once for focusing too much on one or two wrestlers (who were both sectional finalists and one a champion) in a story once.
It's a TEAM, you know.