Jordan Burroughs fighting good fight for Olympic wrestling

WITH THE TITLE of Olympic gold medalist under his belt, it's safe to say 24-year-old Jordan Burroughs has reached the pinnacle of wrestling.

But, as freestyle wrestling is now on the Olympic chopping block, it's quite possible Burroughs might go down as one of the last wrestlers to ever reach that height. Although the sport will appear in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee executive board voted last month to eliminate wrestling for 2020.

A full session of the IOC will meet in September to make its final decision.

"If wrestling is actually taken out of the Olympics, there's going to be a major outcry from the sport of wrestling," said Burroughs, from Sicklerville, N.J. "There's nothing higher than being an Olympic gold medalist for a wrestler, so there will be a lot of dreams shattered in terms of competitors at a young age."

Wrestling, which is thought to date as far back as 3000 B.C., earning the name of the "oldest sport on earth," is acknowledged as an original Olympic sport in the ancient Greek Olympic Games. Since its modern Olympic debut in 1896, the United States has won 129 wrestling medals, fourth among all sports.

Burroughs, who won the gold medal at 74 kilograms last summer in London, is part of the effort to save wrestling as an Olympic sport.

"People are interested," said Burroughs, who won two NCAA titles at Nebraska. "It's all about keeping wrestling and this decision in the forefront. I get messages every day from kids, from parents that want me to continue doing what I do to help keep the sport of wrestling in the Olympic Games."

Burroughs, who won the 2011 world championships in Istanbul, Turkey, won another gold last month at the 2013 World Cup in Tehran.

"We met the Iranian president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]," Burroughs said. "He came to the event, which is rare. Wrestling is one of those sports that, even though we're competitors on the mat, we show great sportsmanship to each other."