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Javier Fuertes
Ms. Bradley
ENC2135
February 4, 2016
Community: High school wrestling

The national High school wrestling community is a Community that at its

most basic form, is a group of individuals who come together because of their
common goal to make themselves be better athletes, give back to the community,
and their love for the sport. High school wrestling is a nationwide community that is
highly information driven. There is a constant need to stay updated with rankings,
tournament results, new moves and techniques, etc. In the High school wrestling
community, communication is vital to grow and maintain order for the sport of
wrestling. Through different genres of communication like print, digital, and
personal interaction the wrestling community works to stay informed in all aspects
of competition.
Wrestling in general is one of the oldest sports in the history of the world.
Wrestlings roots traces back to ancient Egyptians and Greek who sought after the
sport as a Science and divine art
(https://unitedworldwrestling.org/organization/history). It is easy to see to how far
back this community dates and how vast the community is, including wrestlers from
all different walks of life. Wrestling has always been one of the toughest combat
sports known to man involving two warriors that engage in the ultimate test of skill.
Although the sport of wrestling from the Greek ages to the modern era of wrestling

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(which is practiced in high school) has changed its community has stayed strong
and will always strive for the goal of progression of the sport and good competition.
Because of the nature of high school sports being at a national and also at a
state level there are often two organizations that govern the teams, one controls the
wrestling at a national scale during national competitions (ex: AAU, NHSCA), while
every other state has its own personal governing organizations to control the sport
and provide information to teams in their state boundaries. Connecting wrestlers
and coaches at each of the levels is very important for the development of the
sport. It allows for rules and regulations along with rankings to be put out for the
public to utilize. Because of how many different organizations and sub committees
there are in this vast community communication for each the state and national
level is different and will be shown.
The most widely used mode for accessing all types of information in the
wrestling world is through digital sources which in todays world can be accessed at
your fingertips. From personal experience teams often have many social media
accounts set up like Facebook, twitter, or just a regular website giving information
about the team. This kind of communication or genre is mostly informative for
team members or fans looking to keep up to date with the team. For Example a
teams twitter page or webpage is mostly used to schedule practice, schedule
matches, and even coordinate fundraisers. Here the Rhetorical situation used is
very logos and ethos heavy because it establishes credibility by being an official
team website and relays mostly important information. On the other hand
something like a Facebook group will be more about viewing videos and sharing
achievements with friends and family. A website like Facebook is more geared
towards pathos in these instances because when sharing pictures and videos with

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family it touches an emotional nerve. It is very important for a team to
communicate through these types of forums because it provides stability in team
structure. Also, it allows alumni to stay connected to their alma mater and help out
their sports team whenever possible.
The next digital form of media that is used in the local, or state high school
wrestling level is the use of online forums. Since most of the time states are so big
that it is almost impossible to have all the best kids wrestle each other, these
forums were created to be able to rank and seed wrestlers according to equal
ranking opponents and history of tournament wins. When on these sights, not only
will you find rankings but also local state news as too what is happening in the
community regarding specific wrestlers or coaches. Forums like this are also used to
stay informed with tournament dates and tournament results. This helps seeding for
any wrestler in at any given tournament. Seeding a tournament is when Coaches
get together and decide which wrestler should be placed higher on the bracket.
Depending on where you are or how well you are predicted to do it determines how
easy of a road you have to try and win. By the mere exchange of information that
primarily uses forums and online rankings it decides what road a competitor must
take in order to win that competition.
When talking about high school wrestling specifically in Florida one of the
biggest websites is www.scout.com. The main thread of this website is used to
place up to date rankings on which top 16 wrestlers will make the state tournament
coming out of 4 different regions. On these forums, a large amount of ethos is
shown. Coaches and parents discuss which wrestlers deserve to be where on the
rankings and use evidence to back up their statements to try and formulate a

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credible argument to what they are trying to accomplish. Many records, matchups,
and stats are thrown around too be able to construct these ladder rankings.
On a national scale communication digitally is even more vital. There are
fewer forums and in this case more and more traffic and people discussing things on
every page. The biggest website that hosts the most conversation on national
rankings is Flo wrestling. This website has very widely acceptable rankings but
what they are most known for is providing a large mode in which we communicate
information from which is video. On this site we are able to live stream high school
and college matches. This is good for the wrestling community because it not only
informs people what is happening by showing results at any specific tournament
across the nation but, it is also gives wrestlers and coaches a real time action shot
of the national level of competition.
This tool is great too have because it provides first-hand information on how
the best wrestlers in the nation wrestle through video. Also, since a big part of
wrestling is the technique websites like flo offer instructional videos on unique
moves to be shared with the rest of the wrestling community nationwide. This
Informative genre of video can help kids develop their skills and progress the sport
because at the end of the day all the communication in communities is done for the
progress of whatever community you are in.
Although most of the time wrestling is watched through the internet there
are times when it is put on television. At the state tournaments where High school
wrestling is highly sought after like the northeast and Midwest you are able to see it
on cable TV. For instance, in Pennsylvania they have some of the best wrestling
events in the whole United States, so when the state championship finals roll

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around everyone in the community gears up to watch them. While at the high
school level TV programing of matches are rarer it is easier to find a match to watch
at the collegiate level. At the college level specific channels are dedicated to having
sport programming that includes wrestling like the Big 10 Network. Here they talk
about different wrestlers and other topics that are coming up that season. Once a
year wrestling even gets the national media coverage on ESPN during the NCAA
Championship Finals. Watching these TV broadcasted matches has a direct effect on
the high school wrestling community. When kids watch the best teams winning or
their favorite wrestlers from that specific school doing well allows high schoolers to
think about college options. Just due to the nature of sporting events the there is no
better way to become informed about what is going on in wrestling than just
watching it.
While not as readily used newspaper print which is a text based form of
communication is used quite often. Just like TV, in areas where high school wrestling
at the local level is more dominant newspapers print high school wrestling
tournament results in the papers more often. This is a more traditional way of
finding out what happened at the last meet or at this specific state tournament.
Papers provide commentary on all aspects and stimulate conversation on the
community. Before every season sports journals often come out with a Teams To
Watch kind of segment where they go and highlight teams that they think will be
successful. This adds to the conversation within the community and stimulates
healthy competition. Also, these same papers try and give prediction on specific
tournaments after the brackets are released. This makes a much more accurate
prediction than the message boards because it is usually later in the season and the
paper can look at specific matchups to predict what could happen.

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The most vital communication of all is the one that a wrestler or coach must
have with his team. Without this very personal, very vital type of communication
wrestling would not exist. The bond that is built with your team after hours of long
practice is something that can never replace a message board. During training
sessions and team bonding sessions and in a way it can be said that it is the
ultimate form of pathos.
Just the environment in general of being in a match and before any match is
very intense. There are multiple instances where face to face contact with opposing
teams will take place like a stare down at a weigh in or coin toss. When you are out
on that mat and all of the pressure is riding on that match and you have your whole
team backing you up. In times of victory the team rejoices and in times of defeat
you have a support system like no other. The whole environment is very pathos
driven as wrestling is a very emotional and mental game as much as it is physical.
Also a relationship with the coaching staff must be established in which the
wrestlers can learn what to do. During very important help sessions in which
sometimes film is watched a good communication and understanding with the
coach can greatly improve a wrestlers technique and prepare him better for the
next match. Also at tournaments wrestlers communicate from many different
teams. A wrestling tournament is very relaxed after the matches in terms of
communicating with the other athletes. After a match it is very common to converse
with friends from other teams on what goes on in matches. At many times a
wrestler can acquire information on upcoming opponents by going and getting
information from wrestlers on different teams. After a team match or tournament
inter team communication is also very important. This is the time where teams
reflect and grow on a personal level. The only way the team can grow is to learn

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from mistakes and to talk about how to correct these mistakes. While face to face
communication is most likely the most concentrated in terms of spread of a
message it is definitely the most important part of any wrestling organization.
The Wrestling community is one that extends through countless eras of
human development. The wrestling community is one that is ever changing. With
new technology and ways to communicate comes new ways to progress the sport
even further. Now a days wrestling is available to anyone who wishes to learn the
craft and it is making it better every day. With the use of online forums and
newspapers it allows the knowledge of wrestling to be spread to the general public.
But the most vital part of having this community has not changed much since the
community was first started. The main communication of any sports community is
done during competition and that is what is where the wrestling community. The
high school wrestling community is one that is tightly knit and communicates
effectively throughout the whole Nation.

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Works Cited

Braziller, Amy, and Elizabeth Kleinfeld. The Bedford Book of Genres: A Guide
& Reader. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print
"History of Wrestling." History of Wrestling. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016
"The Best Wrestling Videos on the Planet." The Best Wrestling Videos on the
Planet. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
"Wrestling - SunStateFootball.com Forums - Scout." Wrestling SunStateFootball.com Forums - Scout. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016