Amateur wrestling remains a lively force on the Taieri if the buzz from the crowd at the South Island Wrestling Championships in Mosgiel last weekend was anything to go by.
Taieri Amateur Wrestling Club organisers said 50 people competed in the championships on Saturday, participating in 66 bouts, well up on about 35 participants and 25 bouts at last year's event.
The numbers were swelled by strong participation from the South Canterbury Olympic Wrestling Club, based in Timaru, and wrestlers from Rangiora.
Competitors ranged in age from 7 to 40s.
More than 170 people swarmed into Taieri College's indoor training centre on Saturday, including a lively crowd of spectators and supporters, and plenty of passionate advice was offered from the sidelines.
This is the second year in a row the Taieri club has hosted the South Island championships and club manager Wayne Smith was "very impressed'' with the increased participation.
The latest event had generated "very positive'' feedback from participants and their families.
Amateur wrestling helped youngsters build self-confidence and make friendships. If they continued in the sport they could meet people from other parts of the country and also overseas, he said.
Mr Smith is also taking a keen interest in the progress of Greco-Roman wrestling specialist Craig Miller, a former Taieri club member, who now lives in Canberra and was selected for the New Zealand Olympic Games squad this month.
He will compete in the 66kg division at the Rio Olympic Games.
Miller grew up in Dunedin, and began competing in 2002 while a pupil at Kavanagh College.
Mr Smith said Miller was dedicated and had "done very well''. He had travelled extensively to advance his involvement in the sport.
New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union president Marlene Pouri-Lane, of Hamilton, who attended the championships, said amateur wrestling in this country was adversely affected by the exclusion of wrestling from the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
But wrestling was on its way back, and momentum was clearly growing, she said.
