Guerrero Looks To Bring Wrestling To Mississippi

Olympic wrestler looks to bring sport to Coast

Guerrero: Wrestling thrives in La.

By DOUG BARBER

THE SUN HERALD

GULFPORT – Oklahoma State University assistant wrestling coach Eric Guerrero came to the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Friday to promote the sport that is close to his heart.

Guerrero, who was on the 2004 U.S. Olympic wrestling team, spoke to the Gulfport Rotary Club about the virtues of wrestling, a sport not played at the high school level in Mississippi.

“Wrestling is big in many, many states, “Guerrero said. “It’s very big in Oklahoma. It is growing in the South. Texas is great. Louisiana is emerging. We have three players on our team from Tennessee. Georgia, Florida and South Carolina are emerging states in wrestling. I think it’s time for Mississippi to follow suit.”

Guerrero, 27, wrestled in the 126-pound class in college and the 132-pound class internationally. After being on the Olympic team in 2004, he gravitated to OSU and became an assistant under head coach John Smith.

“There are 14 weight classes in wrestling on the high school level, “Guerrero said, “and 10 in college and seven internationally. It allows all body types to participate. Wrestling provides an outlet for all our youth.”

The OSU wrestling team has 9.9 scholarships to give and OSU has 30 to 33 athletes on its team.

Guerrero spoke at several service clubs and two local wrestling clubs during his visit to South Mississippi.

“You will have to start with the youth here, and then build into the high schools, “Guerrero. “And then maybe get it back to the college level. It won’t happen overnight.

“LSU, Auburn and Alabama were all great wrestling universities, but had to drop the sport due to Title IX.”

Robert Kranz, a local enthusiast for wrestling, is hoping to see it grow.

“We have two clubs on the Coast, “Kranz said. “We have a young club at Ocean Springs. Most of the kids are 10 years old or younger. The program at Pass Christian is coached by Mark Morgan and he started the program about 10 years ago.

“What we are trying to do is spread it out along the Coast. Once it happens here, it will replicate itself up and down the state. You know Jackson is not going to let us have a program where we are the best. The same way will be with Southaven and Mount Olive.”