The Front Row with MARK NELKE Feb. 17, 2013

Pat Whitcomb wrestled against the Russians several times.

The former North Idaho College wrestler competed in the 1992 Olympic Trials.

"That's something you'll remember forever as an athlete," said Whitcomb, now the wrestling coach at NIC.

Those memories could be a thing of the past with the International Olympic Committee's recommendation to drop wrestling - one of the Games' original sports - from the Olympics, beginning in 2020. For now it's only a "recommendation," but many feel it's a done deal.

"I feel that wrestling being dropped from the Olympics is an absolute travesty," Coeur d'Alene High wrestling coach Jeff Moffat said. "Wrestling, just like gymnastics, swimming, diving, etc., are sports that do not have a professional level. The ultimate goal for a wrestler is to wrestle in the Olympics and have a chance to represent our country, and maybe earn a gold medal. That is all taken away now ... what a terrible decision."

Post Falls High wrestling coach Pete Reardon competed at NIC, then at Central Washington University - which no longer has wrestling. He got a taste of "international" competition at a couple of tournaments in Canada.

"Taking wrestling from the Olympics to me is like saying that the NFL will no longer allow tackling and MLB will use a Whiffle ball instead of a hardball," Reardon said. "Wrestling, along with a few other key sports, is where the Olympics began. Without it - to me, it isn't the Olympics anymore. I would say the same if the Olympics no longer had track and field."

Sandpoint High coach Mike Randles was an assistant coach when the Bulldogs won three straight state titles, from 1994-96. He was head coach during Sandpoint's next three-peat, from 2001-03.

"At the younger ages I don't believe this decision - which I expect to be overturned - would have or will have much of an impact. I am convinced, though, that it will stunt and arrest the development of wrestlers and programs at the elite level."

I WAS fortunate enough to cover Sandpoint High wrestling during the Bulldogs’ first dominating run of three straight state titles. The first year, Sandpoint had enough points to win before the final day of competition even started.

Sandpoint duals were an event back then, with outstanding wrestlers from start to finish in the lineup.

I didn’t think it could get much better than that, but then Sandpoint pulled off another three-peat a few years later.

“As far as Sandpoint’s success goes, the 2001-2003 three-peat produced far more NCAA wrestlers (Rosholt, Rosholt, Hook, Feist, Feist, Foresman) than those of the 90s (Brett and Jared Lawrence), so that group probably would have been more impacted by such a decision,” Randles said. “But I don’t think that at the high school level much would have changed — what followed for those NCAA wrestlers, however, might have changed.”

Added Reardon:

“Wrestling on the local and state level is very healthy and I think it will continue to be that way due to all of the benefits of it and the great programs that grow it at the grassroots level. That said, I can tell you that there are many young wrestlers who are frustrated and hurt with this news — because no matter how lofty the goal, the Olympics was already something they aspired to.”

Said Moffat:

“I do think that it will eventually have a negative effect on the sport of wrestling at the high school and college level.”

COLLEGE WRESTLING, particularly at the four-year level, could be affected by the loss of wrestling from the Olympics, Whitcomb said.

“A lot of assistant coaches stick around and work for peanuts because they get to train and chase that Olympic dream,” Whitcomb said. “When that’s gone, that’s going to be tough on them.”

At NIC’s level, things might not change much, though the Cardinals send their fair share of wrestlers on to four-year schools.

Whitcomb said wrestling is a sport where athletes of any size can compete. And it remains a popular sport in several countries worldwide. Reardon noted the sport has helped the U.S. maintain goodwill with countries like Cuba, Iran and Russia.

Years ago, Olympic wrestling was easily findable on TV. Now ...

“If you’re not on the Internet and you want to watch wrestling, you better be up at 3:30 in the morning,” Whitcomb said.

By dropping sports like wrestling from the Games, the face of the Olympics is changing, Whitcomb said. TV viewers would rather watch pros — like the Dream Team, pros playing tennis and, in 2016, pros playing golf in the Olympics.

“I think there’s places for (those sports),” Whitcomb said. “But there’s also places for amateur sports every four years. It kinda loses its flavor as an Olympic experience when you put some of these professionals out there ... I would like to see it (the recommendation to drop wrestling) reversed, not because it’s my sport, but because it brings more of the Olympic spirit that I think we’ve lost a little bit.”

The future impact of the loss of wrestling in the Olympics — unless the IOC changes its mind — will be interesting to follow.

“At NIC you’re going to get the same kids; they’re going to have the same dreams,” Whitcomb said. “I think it’s going to affect kids, period, such as that 10-year-old wrestler. If they’re not watching it in the Olympics, then ... “

Then what?

Guess we’ll see.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.