Bill Barger, founder of the Ironman, has died
MatScoutWillie broke the news, and Tony Rotundo replied asking where Reno fits alongside the Ironman.
Bill Barger, the founder of the Ironman, has died. MatScoutWillie (@matscouts1) shared the news Friday, calling Barger a big personality who "fundamentally changed high school wrestling as we knew it." No cause or other details have been made public.
Founder of Ironman. Fundamentally changed high school wrestling as we knew it.
I don't know that I'd be doing what I'm doing for a living if Coach Barger hadn't existed.
MatScoutWillie said he was wrestling in high school during the stretch when the sport "truly became 'national'" and tied his own career directly to Barger's tournament.
What people are saying
"I don't know that I'd be doing what I'm doing for a living if Coach Barger hadn't existed," MatScoutWillie wrote.
Tony Rotundo (@tony_rotundo) replied to MatScoutWillie asking whether the Reno event belongs in the same conversation as the Ironman, writing that "Reno was Ironman before Ironman became Ironman."
Reno was Ironman before Ironman became Ironman.
The Ironman remains the marquee in-season high school folkstyle tournament on the national calendar, and the reaction from inside the sport puts Barger at the center of how that national high school circuit came together.