is it dangerous?

Question
I am a student at Stafford High School in Stafford Virginia doing a research paper on dangerous sports. Before begining work i thought that wrestling would be high on the list for deaths and injuries and was surprised that it wasnt even listed on any of my sources. as an expert of wrestling, do you think that this sport should be ranked higher on the "danger scale" and why?


Thank you so much for your time!


Answer
I am involved in amateur wrestling; high school, freestyle and greco roman which are the Olympic styles of wrestling.  Within those styles there are many rules to protect the athlete from injury.

Professional wrestling on the other hand is more dangerous because it is a freak show that seeks to thrill an arena full of people rather than pit two athletes against each other in an adjuticated contest.

While there are injuries, the most frequent being sprains and strains to ligaments or tendons, on occasion we will see a broken arm or a bruise if an athlete is landed on their head.

In answer to your first question, I would say "No" wrestling is not dangerous.  Because it is a physical battle between two unarmed combatants it has risk but that risk is minimized by the rules and sportsmanship of the competitors.

I could use wrestling holds and hurt someone very seriously if I wanted to do that or were threatened by an assailant but the sport as practiced in competition is more safe than football, baseball, snowboarding, skateboarding, bicycling and many others.

I hope that helps

Michael