American Wrestling

So i spend my first weekend watching the high school state championship wrestle tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.

This event amazed me on two levels:

First of all - and i might just be ignorant about my own culture - i did not think that wrestling is such an highly esteemed sport anywhere in the world, except for Greece and Turkey maybe. But Americans love, and i mean love, this sport and i need to say it is quite a sport.

See the only time i've ever seen wrstling before - exept for this show wresting atuff - was in Turkey when wwe were there with Young Life. And there it was two grown, hairy man in loin cloths covered with oil all over wrestling on a meadow.
So it was quite impressive for me to see Americans - which we Germans consider so prude - to be engaged in a sport where two men are in constant close contact with nothing but two singlets between them.

This is what comes to my mind when i hear the word wrestling:

The second thing that amazed me was that for a high school event this place was packed and highly organized. People paid $8 entrance fee for every day and - as you can see in the picture at the top - the location is a full blown stadium with the team's very own merchandise store. And all this for a high school sport team!!!