My point with the most recent post was not to look at the number of entries, but to look at some of the nations that field more Greco... You made an assertion that Freestyle is more popular "in the really big countries.." Which, by the way is false, except for the USA and Canada... But, Canada is big by land mass, not by population or wrestling tradition... Look at those fielding more Greco, they aren't smaller countries with no pull or wrestling tradition. China, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany. Your "big" countries field full teams in both styles... Your assertions are based on your gut feeling and personal preference, and an assumption that what is more popular in America must be how it is world wide. Do you think Russia would let Greco go? Try taking that up with gangster extraordinaire, Greco World Champ, Greco Olympic Gold Medalist, and head of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili.
Brother, I'm not sure why you're having such a tough time here.
At no point did I ever dismiss your contention that Greco may be more popular worldwide. In fact, I said that I specifically WAS NOT DISMISSING your contention. Rather, I said that you can't look at numbers of world championship entrants and popularity in a few small countries (Scandinavian) as conclusive evidence that Greco is more popular worldwide.
You are now suggesting that some big countries had more Greco entrants than FS entrants. First of all, most of those discrepancies are 1-2 wrestlers, and second of all, THERE ARE MORE TOTAL WRESTLERS IN THE GRECO BRACKETS. The larger brackets for Greco is key because, since a country is capped at 8, it allows other countries to take more Greco wrestlers. I have no idea why there are more Greco entrants than FS entrants. It may be bc Greco is more popular world wide, but it may be for another reason. I have no idea.
I also have no idea whether Russia would let Greco go. I'm guessing they wouldn't. Heck, I've never wrestled a second of Greco and I'd want it to stay.
So again, after all your posts, we are still in the same spot. You are saying Greco is much more popular worldwide. I am saying, yes, that may be true, but you can't make that claim just off the fact that the world championships allowed ~7% more entrants for Greco, and because some smaller countries might prefer Greco. You'd need to look at something like participation numbers, which I'd bet every national federation has, and that would be pretty good evidence of popularity. You'd also probably have to look at revealed preferences among wrestlers. In the USA for example, there is certainly a freestyle bias, and a lot of our Greco wrestlers (relax, not all) would probably err towards freestyle if they were more successful at it, but they usually aren't and are better in Greco so they go that route. Again, not making a claim either way, but in Russia for example, I have no idea when kids will choose to focus on FS or Greco, and whether that decision process comes down to local historical preferences, coaching availability, the fact that they can't compete as well in their preferred style and must switch to a less preferred style, or some combination of reasons.
Also, keep in mind that Freestyle, and not Greco, was chosen as the preferred style for women's wrestling. That certainly says something, even if it's not conclusive evidence either.
So now, with all that said, you still keep saying Greco is much more popular worldwide. And again I ask, is there any hard evidence to back that up?
