Insider: Best Fans/Worst Fans
Insider: Best Fans/Worst Fans
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Best Fans/Worst Fans
Willie Saylor, Editor
When you travel across the country for a living, taking in wrestling, writing articles and results, and evaluating talent, the actions of the fans are usually only on the periphery of your consciousness. However, there are those rare times where you’re witness to memorable fan encounters: an incredible act of lunacy, a lucid discussion of a finer point of wrestling, a thrown chair, a gracious gesture.
Wrestling has some of the most passionate fans. From coast to coast they show their support. Sometimes this manifests in heartwarming kindness and the spirit of competition. Other times...complete disgrace.
Here I’ll count down some of the best and worst fans, in my experience, and give a couple notes why I feel that way.
Worst Fans
10. Ohio High School
The folks from Ohio aren’t actually bad fans at all. They’re quite knowledgable. They’re personable. They’re passionate. The one gripe I have about them is that they generally seem to think wrestling stops at its borders. Ohio HS fans aren’t much concerned about what occurs outside the state. They’re like Texans; they think they are their own (wrestling) Republic.
9. New Jersey High School
What can be said about Ohio fans, can be said of New Jersey. But Garden Staters take it to the next level. Not only are they only concerned and knowledgable about in-state activity, they’re arrogant and rude, and generally have little perspective or rationality when comparing their HS talents to the national scene.
8. Apple Valley, MN
Last year at banquet the night before The Clash and a meeting with #2-ranked St. Edward (OH), I overheard an Apple Valley assistant coach say, ‘We’re going to show them Ohio boys how to wrestle. They don’t know anything about Minnesota.’
Uh. Yeah. Ok.
St. Ed’s, of course, won the dual. But that’s not even the point. St. Edward and the Ohio tradition aren’t subject to questions of legitimacy; they’re well established. And any team that is represented by half a dozen states shouldn’t make the argument based on geopgraphy.
Thing is, it wasn’t just a coach being optimistic the night before a big dual. That sort of ‘center-of-the-universe’ mentality and air of superiority oozed from their entire fan base.
7. North Carolina HS
NC wrestling is growing in both participation and quality. Which is great for two reasons: 1) wrestling needs all the growth it can get, and 2) NC has more DI programs than all but Pennsylvania.
But with their growth comes more fans that lack national perspective. I get more hate mail regarding the rankings (or lack there of) of kids from North Carolina than anywhere but Jersey
6. Iowa/Penn State Message Board Posters
Hawkeye and Nittany Lion fans make up a contingent of the most prolific of message board posters. Both programs are extremely successful. Their posters are not.
Extremely irrational (both programs will get every top recruit, and both will see dramatic improvement next year), they poke and prod each other like 1st grade students on the playground.
5. Nazareth, Pa
It’s fitting that Nazareth’s nickname is the “Eagles”. They remind me a lot of Philly fans: fair weather. When they’re good, there’s no bigger, louder, more obnoxious crowd than Nazareth’s.
But they’re not knowledgable; they yell about calls where there’s nothing to yell about. In general, they don’t seem to appreciate or understand the sport. They just care about the kid in blue and white having more points.
Personal? Yeah, it’s personal. They once booed me so badly in Regional finals that I couldn’t wait to get off the mat. Beating that Nazareth kid was gratifying though.
And here’s one for ya: after a dual back in the mid-90’s when Nazareth and Northampton were both Top 5 nationally, a Nazareth fan was arrested after he literally hit a Northampton fan with a brick in the parking lot. True story.
4. California Colleges
Generally speaking, west coast college dual attendance is atrocious. So West Coast fans are partly to blame. But I take exception to the institutions’ policies themselves. The number of California college programs dying off has hit an epidemic rate. When pressed for answers, administrators take the easy way out and use ‘the economy’ as a crutch.
Problem is: that don’t hold water. The majority of DI-dropping institution were state schools. The economy was precisely the result of inefficient state government policy and politics.
3. Robin Ficker, ‘professional’ heckler.
There’s really nothing ‘professional’ about him. He dresses in wildly colored, wildly outdated attire, swings a Maryland flag, and roots for his Terps. He shouts the most ridiculous and offensive things at the opposing wrestlers. It’s not in the tradition of sportsmanship we like to preach. And it’s pretty evident he’s as interested in the attention he gets, for better or worse, than the action that’s on the mat. He’s a disgrace.
2. Long Branch, NJ
Middle fingers and F-bombs. And that’s just from the 8-year old on the bench.
Long Branch fans (and wrestlers) are the most audacious bunch I’ve ever witnessed. They lose composure on the mat and off. Flipping off, and telling off, fans in the most blunt terms.
1. Non-Existent Fans
The worst ‘fans’ are the ones that don’t show up. Don’t complain about the reduction of programs or the state of the sport if you aren’t going out and showing your support. There’s nothing worse than empty seats. Get your butts in them.
Best Fans
10. Cornell
Burgeoning and bourgeois, the Big Red crowd keeps growing. They’re supportive of the program both in the stands and in the bank account. Although Cornell has just recently established itself as a national power, and the large crowds are a new phenomenon, Cornell folks are respectful and understand the sport.
9. Illinois HS
The fanfare for the traditional Illinois State tournament has been at a high level as long as I can remember. But with their recent dominance in the international styles, perhaps no fan base is as conscientious of the national scene on a full-time basis as the folks from Illinois. The result is a group of that understands the sport and can also put things in perspective. Great group.
8. Collins Hill, GA
Around bowl season, you’ll hear football analysts talking about teams that ‘travel well’ in relation to their bowl value. It’s a reference to how many fans they can get to go to non-home events. Collins Hill is has one of the biggest ‘traveling’ crowds in the wrestling universe.
What’s more is that the folks in Collins Hill are instrumental in growing wrestling in the south. They fund raise and volunteer at tournaments devoting their time and effort. A real service to the sport.
7. Easton, Pa and Phillipsburg, NJ
The nation’s longest rivalry and running dual meet, the cross-river rivals annually draw crowds in the 3k-4k range. What’s more is that it doesn’t matter if the squads are up or down, both fan bases follow their teams and show up at the dual as if it were for galactic supremacy and they were the favorites.
Both fans are knowledgable, supportive on the fund raising front, and travel to far-away competition. I wish everyone in the country had the opportunity to experience and Easton-P’Burg dual. There’s nothing like it.
6. St. Edward, OH
With 11 National Titles and 27 State Titles the Eagle Tradition is all up in your face. But their fans aren’t. They’re everything you want in a following: classy, knowledgable, humble, and loyal. The latter being a rarity in high school wrestling fandom. One thing the sport suffers from is transient fans that only come around when their son or grandson or nephew is competing. Not a problem for the Eagles. They have a tremendous and enduring fan base.
5.Oklahoma State
The home of the most NCAA titles, the Cowboy faithful is loud, proud, and super Orange.
Their long, proud tradition gives them a knowledgable and passionate fan base. With Jordan Oliver from my hometown, I had the opportunity to be amongst them at the last few NCAA tournaments. Such a good group. Having Hall of Fame running back, Thurman Thomas, there every year doesn’t hurt either.
4. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota has built a fence around their state. They keep almost all their studs at home and in the Gopher program.
It’s the result of a loyal fan base that has 8 year old wrestlers with a glimmer in their eye, dreaming of competing in maroon singlets.
And is there a better chant at NCAA’s than Minnesota’s?
3. Lehigh
Often the butt of jokes for being an ‘older’ crowd, the Mountainhawk fan base is a bit on the geriatric side. But 1) it’s vastly overblown, and 2) who cares?
Lehigh folks perhaps have a better grasp on wrestling history than any other fan base. Not just their own, but across the entire NCAA. They draw thousands routinely. And there’s nothing like a dual in Grace Hall.
2. PA High School
For as much flack as I give the PA college fans, their high school fans are second to none. The crowds in Hershey are composed of a constant lot, with most being 20+ year veterans of the state meet.
They pour over record books, drink beer, and talk PA wrestling history between every session. They set up state tournament fantasy leagues and make bold predictions. It’s really an annual social phenomenon.
1. Iowa
A no-brainer. The Hawkeye group is the biggest and baddest. They follow the sport with passion, know their history, and are ultra-loyal.
Perhaps nothing better can be said of the Iowa fans other than the undisputed fact that, for a long time, they carried the financial burden of major events. National Duals Big Ten’s, NCAA’s, all rely on Hawkeye fans to such an extent that they are often scheduled with them in consideration.
Honorable Mention: Canon-McMillan, Pa, Rutgers, Georgia HS, Oregon State, California HS, Iowa State Cyclones, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Virginia Tech Hokies, The McDonogh School (Md), Christiansburg (VA), Tulsa Union (OK), Ohio HS, Allen (TX), Clovis (CA), Kaukauna (WI).