Olympic games cut wrestling from 2020 slate

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Local Wrestling Instructors felt the shock waves of Tuesday's announcement. Here is Chris Gordon. 

"It's like getting kicked in the gut to be honest with you, it is very dissapointing," said Bob Anderson, a member of the '96 Olympic Games.

THE I.O.C. decided to take wrestling off the mat. It wants to renovate the program and better focus on the 25 core sports. Gordon says the Olympic Commission has it all wrong. 

"The Olympics have never been about the money. Playing for your country against another country is the ultimate goal," he said.

Anderson has a hunch as to why the Olympics took down Wrestling. 

"The Olympics are all about profit and the politics, not the purity of the sport,"  he said.

While Wrestling may not rack in the ratings, it's niche is definitely vibrant in today's sports scene.

"You take a sport on the rise and say you don't need it anymore. Then what do you need?" Anderson said.

What does all of this mean for the next generation of wrestlers? Chris Gordon heads a youth wrestling department in Torrance that gives kids perspective. 

"I teach my kids that Wrestling is like life," he said.

Tuesday's news may have shut one door, but Gordon says it will not defeat their spirit.

"No matter what happens, we will still continue to wrestle," he said.

The wrestling community is organizing to protest the I.O.C. move even while they prepare for the wrestling competition at the 2016 games in Rio.

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