Wrestling supporters upset with sport being dropped from Olympics

A committee Tuesday voted to recommend removing wrestling from Olympic competition by 2020.

Wrestling supporters attending a WIAA wrestling sectional in Lodi Tuesday don't want to see this happen.

They were distributing international contact information to put pressure on decision makers.

For some, this sport is like a religion.

"It changed my whole life after high school,"  said former wrestling great Jack Reinwand.  He was a national champ for UW, and was ranked third in the world in 1977.

He would have wrestled in the 1980 Olympics, if it wasn't for a boycott. The news that his sport could soon be no more at the

Olympic level isn't sitting well.

"It's been my whole life, so it's really hard," said Reinwand.

"I think it's a shame.  It's been in the Olympics since the beginning of the Olympics," said Shirley Quincy of Dodgeville.

A final vote on dropping wrestling from the 2020 games will come in September.

At a local level, fans worry that it might change the sport here, and create less interest if athletes have no chance of competing in the Olympics.