By Jason Bryant, W.I.N. Columnist

I am betting you don’t know the real scale of what Jake Deitchler’s win at the 2008 Olympic Trials really did.

            Sure, we know the three-time Minnesota high school state champion from Anoka High becomes the first prep wrestler in 32 years to make the U.S. Olympic team, but what are the after effects of his win?

            Coverage. Lots and lots of coverage.

            I didn’t realize it initially. I was more in shock that Deitchler beat Harry Lester, the world’s most exciting Greco-Roman wrestler, at 145.5 pounds. Lester was a gold medal favorite. But Deitchler’s win at the Trials did something Lester winning wouldn’t accomplish.

            Make ESPN. Make USA Today. Make the New York Times. That’s right, the novelty of a recent high school wrestler making the Olympic team in a sport like wrestling is almost unheard of. The nation’s sports media picked up on it.

            ESPN had it on the ticker. My e-mail was filled with news stories from the Kansas City Star, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the St. Louis Dispatch, the San Francisco Chronicle, ESPN, The Sporting News … the list goes on.

            Sure, it was the same story written by the Associated Press, but rather than just get tossed to the side or skipped by some desk editor, it got in. It got press. Wrestling, by virtue of one 18-year-old’s remarkable day, was in every major paper in the country.

            When someone brings up wrestling, even casual sports fans will now ask “How about that high school kid?” or “Do you think he can medal?”

            It’s done wonders for the sport, but there’s one thing it didn’t need to do wonders for: Greco-Roman.

            Greco’s rise to the top of the world was well-documented last year with the team championship by the Americans in Baku, Azerbaijan.

            What American wrestling fans have really been missing out on is how much more exciting and fun the Greco-Roman discipline is compared to its freestyle counterpart. I surely don’t care for the rules, but while I don’t think it’s an improvement from the six minutes of push, pull, push, pull, clinch, they have made it more exciting.

            I also think there’s a humble and respected nature that the Greco-Roman wrestler carries. Almost a  reverence. Greco-Roman wrestlers seem more likely to leave their shoes on the mat than their freestyle brethren. Of the seven wrestlers who retired at the Trials, Stephen Abas was the only freestyler. In fact, I remember only one other time that I’ve physically seen a freestyle wrestler leave his shoes on the mat and that was in 2004 when Melvin Douglas retired.

            I’m not sure exactly why there seems to be a sense of pride with the Greco-Roman group, but it’s a group American wrestling fans largely overlook. Take message boards for example. There aren’t threads about battles between Spenser Mango and Sam Hazewinkel, rather there’s threads about Abas and Henry Cejudo. No one was asking if Timothy Taylor could knock off Dremiel Byers. Even fewer knew the two were actually training partners.

Lester and Hazewinkel might be the only two current Greco-Roman wrestlers that would easily roll off the tongues of the wrestling public.

            Perhaps one reason why Greco wrestlers appear to have a reverence for their style is they are in the military. Adherence to the most mundane and simple details are crucial in the armed forces and perhaps some wrestlers take this attitude to the mat. The Army’s World Class Athlete Program has produced a myriad of World and Olympic medalists. The Air Force and Marine Corps teams have also put out Team USA representatives.

            This goes back to the shoes … perhaps the ceremonial nature of retirement is what makes them do it. Then again, for some, it might be the only applause they will get in their careers as a wrestler toiling in the ranks of Greco-Roman wrestling, unwatched, unnoticed.

While our American collegiate style of wrestling is my personal favorite, Greco has jumped into second place.

            High drama, an appreciation for the sport, wrestlers who are overshadowed by others in a sport which is overshadowed itself. Greco gets no love. Until now.

            I’ve heard people explain why people move to Greco. Often times the reason is because “they aren’t good in freestyle.” The two styles are so vastly different now, I don’t think you could take a freestyle wrestler and switch them over to Greco and be as successful.

            That’s more of the “duh” statement, but there are so many differences, yet the athletes deserve the same respect. If Deitchler hadn’t won, Greco would have been the third rung of coverage, behind both men’s and women’s freestyle. The women had some great, media-friendly stories. Freestyle had the rivalries. Greco had a world champion no one seemed to have ever heard of, or at least, don’t talk about.

            Spenser Mango didn’t start wrestling until he was 14 as a freshman in high school. Of course we (now) know about Deitchler and one weight above is 37-year-old T.C. Dantzler, who is old enough to be Deitchler’s father. Brad Vering, a guy from Howells, Neb., a town of like 600 people, made his second Olympic team. People don’t talk about his Greco, they talk about him finishing seventh the year after he won the NCAA title.

            Do you know Adam Wheeler? I didn’t take notice until about two years ago. Dremiel Byers is a name you should know. 

            All of these guys are humble, down to earth, friendly and die-hard about the sport. They’ve got jokes too like Byers confusing me for Kevin James at last year’s World Championships. Don’t go against the grain, Dremiel.

            They’re accessible and great interviews. They’re good for the sport and they’re exciting to watch. You just have to give them the chance, because otherwise, you’re missing out. Even from a coaching standpoint, we’ve got some great personalities who don’t get the credit, respect or visibility they deserve. Even some media outlets ignore them completely.

            In freestyle, we know Kevin Jackson. We know Kerry McCoy. We know Terry Brands. In Greco-Roman, we might know Steve Fraser, but do we know Shon Lewis? Do we know Momir Petkovic? Rob Hermann? Jay Antonelli? Ivan Ivanov?

            We’re missing out on an exciting, diverse, talented and most importantly, dedicated group of wrestling heroes who ask for nothing. The least we can do is pay attention, because if you weren’t watching in Vegas, you missed the best part.

            (Jason Bryant is the lead writer/webmaster for InterMat and the 2007 W.I.N. Magazine Wrestling Journalist of the Year. The views expressed in his column are not necessarily the views of W.I.N. Magazine or Bryant’s parent company, the National Wrestling Coaches Association.)