I made the short trip down to Sanford last weekend for the New England Qualifier wrestling tournament and I was expecting a large crowd with more than 100 wrestlers battling for a spot in the New England Championships.

Unfortunately, for some reason, 40 wrestlers decided to skip the All-state tournament, which left most weight classes half full ”“ and the stands nowhere near capacity.

It was both surprising and disappointing to me.

Wrestling has always been one of my favorite sports to cover as a sports journalist and I spent most of my first 14 years in the newspaper business covering the sport in Pennsylvania, which is widely recognized as the high school wrestling capital.

So when I came to Maine, I was interested to see what the sport was like up here. I have seen some standout wrestlers in our coverage area ”“ Mike Curtis, Mike Risti, Dominick Day just to name a few ”“ and coaches that are dedicated and committed to taking the sport to the next level.

But, obviously, after witnessing the New England Qualifier last week, there is not enough dedication to the sport around the state.

I’m new to the area, so I’m not going to try to come up with an exact reason as to why some schools are not committed to the sport or why 40 kids would decide to skip a great tournament like the All-state meet.

I will say that the sport of wrestling needs to be supported on the same level as basketball and hockey in the winter. The Maine Principals’ Association needs to commit to building the sport ”“ and schools need to support their wrestling programs.

Wrestling will probably never be the top winter sport in Maine, but there is enough talent in the state to take the sport to the next level.

Looking for your input

Like I said, I am new to this area and I want input from our readers on what our sports section should look like. What kind of sports do you want to see covered in this newspaper on a daily basis?

We are always going to be focused on providing the best local, high school and community sports coverage as possible. However, we also have room for some college and professional stories and results in our section.

So, help us provide the best sports section by letting us know what you want to see in the paper.

Send your thoughts or suggestions to [email protected] or call me at 282-1535 ext. 322.