Sports Illustrated has posted a fascinating article about the growth of high school wrestling and its connection to the popularity of mixed martial arts. I find the discussion very interesting because both sides do have a point. But if you want to understand the title of this post, you need to read to the end.

Part of me agrees with the wrestling purists who disdain the newer, more popular sport because it goes beyond what so many of us were taught were the honorable boundaries of the sport. I always had the philosophy that anyone can fight, but it takes a special person to succeed at wrestling.

But the MMA advocates – of which I am moving closer to philosophically – make perfect sense when they point out that the need for wrestling skills in the octagon has helped fuel the sport’s popularity for young MMA viewers.

As long as wrestling doesn’t start to move its rules anywhere near MMA, I don’t see the harm in high school programs benefiting from kids who want to learn wrestling for some other end. The reality is that they will never succeed if they don’t take it seriously and respect wrestling as its own discipline and not just a way to bide their time before they can fight.

But I had two important reasons to  highlight the article besides my poetic thoughts on the topic. First, the photo features a great shot of Jordan Conaway, who is a senior at New Oxford High School about 15 minutes from me. He won the PA state title this year at 112 and will attend Penn State to continue his career.

Jordan’s father Dave is his high school coach. I remember seeing Jordan run around the mat in the mid-1990s as I interviewed Dave during my days as a prep sports writer. It’s pretty cool to see that little kid grow up into such a good wrestler (and a great kid, I might add).

Secondly, the article discusses Beat the Streets, a program designed to stimulate interest in wrestling at inner-city schools. A New York City school qualified two kids for the state tournament this year.

This year Flanagan had his first two qualifiers for the individual state wrestling tournament: Ahmed Elsayed (135 pounds) and McZiggy Richards (189 pounds). With those championships, the pair qualified for the New York State Federation of Secondary Schools Wrestling Championships, which took place in February.

Is McZiggy just about the greatest first name ever or what? I don’t care whether it’s the Olympics or MMA, this kid needs to become a star.