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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Daniel Kennedy

Trump in the Circle: Wrestling and the battle for American masculinity

Donald Trump attended the NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships last month at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Donald Trump attended the NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships last month at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Every March, I tune in to the NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships, a ritual I associate with the arrival of spring. It also reminds me of my own athletic tenure. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and started wrestling when I was five, and went on to compete at the Division I level in college.

This year’s championships were compulsive viewing. Penn State’s Carter Starocci became the first five-time D-I national champion, and Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson stunned Olympic champion, Gable Steveson, in the heavyweight final. Oh. And Donald Trump was there. Joining him were Elon Musk, former wrestler turned Republican Ohio congressman Jim Jordan, and other political allies.

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