And the fastest growing sport is ...

This, that and another thing while cleaning out the inbox.

Getting random emails about the latest trends or “experts willing to talk about ...” are pretty common. Most go in the “deleted items” file. But a recent one caught my attention.

“America’s fastest-growing sports revealed” was the headline. I always chuckle at “fastest growing sports” claims. Many time, it’s a new sport or a new twist on an old sport that goes from zero participants to 1,000, thus making it the “fastest growing.”

But this one, from the “experts” at GameZinger, which appears to be an “iGaming” site (something else I seldom look at), noted wrestling was the fastest growing sport “across the U.S.”

Wrestling? A sport that has been labeled the “oldest sport” on the planet?

I was, and still remain, skeptical (it’s part of our business), but part of the email did make sense. Wrestling, it noted, had a growth score of 75.13 (of 100) — no, I don’t know what that means — because of an 87 percent increase in female participation.

Now that makes sense.

With the recent — in Iowa anyhow — advent of girls and women participating in the sport, wrestling has seen a boon. More and more girls are wrestling at the youth level and more high schools are offering the sport. Schools already with programs have seem growth every year, too.

This is a great trend — good for the sport in general and good for girls who never had this outlet before.

Now, we just need to see it grow at the top level of college sports. It’s time for the Penn States, Oklahoma States, Iowa States and UNIs for the wrestling world to get on board and offer this “fastest growing sport.”

On a side note, track and field ranked second on the GameZinger list and bowling, the report noted, is the “slowest growing sport in the United States.

***

Iowa City math teacher Matt Miller has pulled out of the Tour Divide, the 2,745-mile bike race from Banff in Alberta, Canada, to the United States/Mexico border in Antelope Wells, N.M.

Miller, featured in this space last week, came down with what he thinks is a reaction to medication he was prescribed.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said in a social media post.

He said he came down with “cold symptoms” and felt “pretty fatigued and pretty lethargic.” He said his body “wasn’t recovering like it usually does” after the first few long rides.

The event started Friday and he hoped to complete the “bikepacking” race in 20 days. He did it two years ago in 22 days and 10 hours.

“I’ve never scratched from an event except for a mechanical (reason), but here we are,” he wrote. “Something just isn’t right and my body is telling me it would be a very bad idea to continue.

“This is hard.”

***

Another update on a past column ...

Carmen Moser Payne — coach, part owner, instructor and choreographer — at the Moser School of Dance and Gymnastics clubs in northeast Iowa was honored last month at the 2025 USTA state championships with “The Harris Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The honor “goes to those who have given a lifetime commitment to athletes in the sport of tumbling both in and out of the gym,” her sister, Debbie Moer, wrote in an email.

“An unsurpassed willingness to help anyone at any time no matter the skill level. A person who goes above and beyond to help each learn to the best of their abilities. A person with a deep strong passion for the sport of tumbling but more importantly a heart full of caring, full of passion, a desire to see all kids, all coaches happy and successful. No matter the team or the organization, a unselfishness unmatched for a lifetime. To live for all others before themselves.

“This exemplifies who John Harris was and this award was given to Carmen for her dedication in teaching Dance and Gymnastics for 48 years and for being dedicated to the USTA for 40 years thus far.”

Earlier this month, the team finished second at the state tournament. Moser came home with 19 state titles and 122 Moser athletes qualified for nationals in Rapid City S.D., which are running this week.

Comments: (319) 398-5861; jr.ogden@thegazette.com