Wrestling Needs No-Holds-Barred Approach To P.R.

When folks find out Melvin Douglas is a wrestler, their response is predictable.

“The first thing people ask me is, ‘What’s your nickname?”’ Douglas said. “They always tie me in with the all-star wrestling.”

The make-believe TV wrestling (their word, not ours) is just one of many obstacles the legitimate sport faces in this country. Others: Inconsistent rules and styles from high school competition through international often confuse the public; lack of a media darling; heck, lack of media coverage, period.

That could change in the next two months, however, if the just-concluded U.S. Olympic freestyle trials at the Arena are of any measure.

Eight thousand appreciative souls watched an intense finals session Saturday night as the country’s best wrestlers determined their pecking order. Finding a disappointed ticket holder was nearly impossible.

With the Summer Games stateside in Atlanta, the world will not only be watching the usual favorites of gymnastics, track and swimming, but wrestling as well.

And wrestling has a golden opportunity to move into a spotlight that it deserves.

“If we do well (in Atlanta) and don’t take advantage of it …,” Olympic coach Joe Seay said. “Hopefully, that won’t be the case.”

Many who qualified for the team are star material.

The 198-pound Douglas is funny. Kenny Monday at 163 is principled, speaks his mind and backs it up.

Les Gutches, 23, has yet to take his senior year of final exams at Oregon State. He’s already a star, after twice dismantling ‘92 gold medalist Kevin Jackson at 180.5 and becoming a crowd favorite in the process.

Heavyweight Bruce Baumgartner is probably wrestling’s most recognizable face. He ventures to Atlanta as only the second U.S. wrestler to compete in four Olympics. Should he place in the top three, he would break famed Russian Alexander Medved’s precious metals haul of 12 world-level medals.

Baumgartner, Monday, Douglas, Gutches - all are candidates to capture the public’s fascination in a way that hasn’t happened since Dan Gable’s 1972 gold rush.

“I’ve thought about this lot,” Seay said. “I love wrestling people, but we’re not really promotion people as such. We have people at USA Wrestling doing that (promoting) now and we’re getting better at it.

“If anybody does well in Atlanta, think of the media coverage they’d probably get.”

Which could translate into endorsements, sponsorship, notoriety - many of the missing ingredients wrestling needs to get a headlock on.

Not that wrestling is made up of the money-starved athletes of yesteryear. USA Wrestling and independent sponsorship have afforded many the chance to prolong their careers.

Still, Douglas will be mixing paint for a couple weeks at Home Depot in Mesa, Ariz., before brushing up for Atlanta.

Monday, who operates a sub sandwich shop and coffee house in Oklahoma, has footed much of the bill for his Olympic bid. After watching this finely tuned athlete compete, that seems a shame.

“I’ll be the one taking up a collection at the door,” he joked at his post-match press conference. “I think I’m very marketable. Great smile. Cute daughter.”

The blame for some of what ails wrestling falls on wrestling itself. College wrestling is different than Olympic wrestling, which is different than U.S. high school wrestling. A college takedown is worth two points; a Trials takedown one. Let’s not forget Greco-Roman.

Surely even some hard-core followers are mystified, let alone fair-weather fans. Imagine if a 3-pointer in basketball were worth 4 in college and 5 in the NBA.

“It usually takes (U.S.) wrestlers two or three years before they start picking up freestyle coming out of college. We’re wrestling a different style than the rest of the world,” Douglas said.

Noted Tom Brands, Olympic rep at 136.5: “With all that stuff on TV - people like the loudmouths, you know, the trash-talking.”

Ah yes, the showmen in the squared circle on your Zenith every week. They get Slim Jim commercials and movie roles.

“I hate to say it, but people like to see blood and people get thrown on their head,” Douglas said. “Our sport is about technique. When it is on TV, the scoring and rules aren’t explained well enough. Or, we don’t have a stage name like ‘Thunderthighs’ or something.”

The gentlemanly Baumgartner hauled in the 1995 Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the nation. His endorsement appeal went up by a calculable amount. Zilch.

“People are waiting to see how we do at the Olympics and make (endorsement) decisions from there,” Baumgartner said.

The U.S. should do very well. Before The Trials, Coach Seay said his goal in Atlanta was 10 medalists in 10 weight classes.

If that happens, you can forget the nicknames. We’d be talking about household names.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo