ESPN article on cauliflower ear

[zzs006]

The love-hate relationship fighters have with cauliflower ear

Cauliflower ear is a collection of destroyed blood vessels and puss -- and every combat athlete wants one.

www.espn.com

Lots of quotes from Bo Nickal and a few from Askren and Chandler. Pretty good article

 

[orange nole]

You ever see the “cauliflower ear” segment from Pat Mcafee after the Oklahoma bar fight a few years back? Good stuff lol

 

[Phantom of the Palestra]

You ever see the “cauliflower ear” segment from Pat Mcafee after the Oklahoma bar fight a few years back? Good stuff

 

[Lyons212]

I always left my headgear on in practice, sweated more with it on...and every ounce of fluid coming out of my body mattered.

 

[lookleft goright]

I only have a small cauliflower ear, but every time someone notices it, I feel a burst of pride go through me.

 

[mhlarch]

I wrestled from middle school to HS and then Intramurals at PSU and almost always wore my headgear. Matches and practice. My HS coaches required us to wear headgear in practice. Might not have worn it with some summer workouts but did in summer tourneys as I recall. I was never any where close to great or elite and had no longtime future in wrestling so maybe that's why I can't understand why it's desirable or a badge of honor. I personally feel coaches should require it at all times, and always wondered why the UWW and Olympic rules don't require it. Glad to hear these guys are comfortable with this condition, and until I read this article I didn't realize it was a badge of honor.

Question, any greats come to mind that wrestled in college and internationally that don't have this condition?

 

[PSU Mike]

I wrestled from middle school to HS and then Intramurals at PSU and almost always wore my headgear. Matches and practice. My HS coaches required us to wear headgear in practice. Might not have worn it with some summer workouts but did in summer tourneys as I recall. I was never any where close to great or elite and had no longtime future in wrestling so maybe that's why I can't understand why it's desirable or a badge of honor. I personally feel coaches should require it at all times, and always wondered why the UWW and Olympic rules don't require it. Glad to hear these guys are comfortable with this condition, and until I read this article I didn't realize it was a badge of honor.

Question, any greats come to mind that wrestled in college and internationally that don't have this condition?

I always thought Ed Ruth’s ears were relatively clean.

 

[AgSurfer]

I always thought Ed Ruth’s ears were relatively clean.

Sure were. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Andy Matter but I think his ears look pretty normal. Same goes for Darrell Keller who was a 2X NCAA champion at Ok State.

 

[tullfan68]

I was pretty good in high school so I was the guy on top rubbing the other guys face and ears into the mat!My ears came out pretty good looking!

 

[AgSurfer]

I was pretty good in high school so I was the guy on top rubbing the other guys face and ears into the mat!My ears came out pretty good looking!

You’re just lucky that you never went toe to toe with Ironbird or Spyker! 😁

 

[BrockBronson]

You ever see the “cauliflower ear” segment from Pat Mcafee after the Oklahoma bar fight a few years back? Good stuff lol

This was good

 

[tullfan68]

You’re just lucky that you never went toe to toe with Ironbird or Spyker! 😁

LOL iowa wusses!!

 

[lookleft goright]

I wrestled from middle school to HS and then Intramurals at PSU and almost always wore my headgear. Matches and practice. My HS coaches required us to wear headgear in practice. Might not have worn it with some summer workouts but did in summer tourneys as I recall. I was never any where close to great or elite and had no longtime future in wrestling so maybe that's why I can't understand why it's desirable or a badge of honor. I personally feel coaches should require it at all times, and always wondered why the UWW and Olympic rules don't require it. Glad to hear these guys are comfortable with this condition, and until I read this article I didn't realize it was a badge of honor.

Question, any greats come to mind that wrestled in college and internationally that don't have this condition?

If you ever get in a situation where you have to fight someone and one of the guys has a cauliflower ear and the other doesn't - it is common knowledge that you pick the guy without the cauliflower ear.

 

[royboy]

I love wrestling for many reasons but cutting weight and cauliflower ears are features that limit it's popular appeal. I hope young wrestlers and their families can be careful in these areas.

 

[bourbon n blues]

I love wrestling for many reasons but cutting weight and cauliflower ears are features that limit it's popular appeal. I hope young wrestlers and their families can be careful in these areas.

Well said.

 

[BigFella235]

When I was in my freshman year of college, my teammates and I all actively tried to get cauliflower ear. I ended up with it on both ears much to the dismay of my mom. My left ear is like an upside down cauliflower ear because the fat, hardened part is on the ear canal end as opposed to the top. I blame it on my practice partner wearing Cliff Kean Tornado headgear. My right ear looked worse initially, but isn’t very noticeable now that it’s hardened.

As a coach now, I don’t require my wrestlers to wear headgear. I do warn them every year that everyone wants cauliflower ear, but no one wants the pain that comes with it. This past season I had two kids end up with it. One more noticeable than the other. The one with the noticeable cauliflower ear was an 8th grader in his second year of wrestling. He was thrilled lol. Though, he quickly figured out it hurts like hell when it’s still soft and swollen so he started to wear his headgear again. The other kid’s ear was deep purple for a week plus and only got a tiny bit of cauliflower.

 

[AgSurfer]

I remember reading somewhere that Channing Tatum got a cauliflower ear while practicing for Foxcatcher. He wasn't happy about it.

 

[zzs006]

It’s an absolute badge of honor. I was thrilled when I started getting mine and am still proud of it today. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifice. I understand people not wanting it as well but for me I wanted cauliflower ear as soon as I knew that wrestling was going to be my sport.

 

[mhlarch]

During the Trials coverage while Helen was wrestling they did a closeup and the top of her ear looked red and irritated but no cauliflower ear. After I noticed that I tried to observe if other women had cauliflower ear and didn't see any (maybe I just missed it). Wonder if the women try harder to protect their ears and wear headgear in practice?

Also, I don't watch much freestyle wrestling but was surprised how physical it is, especially with head contact and bumping heads. Seems like another good reason to require headgear. I think research is showing that the danger of concussions or at least danger to the brain is often not from one big blow, but repeated hitting of the head. E.g. lineman in football experience brain injury over time.

 

[baccafarmer]

During the Trials coverage while Helen was wrestling they did a closeup and the top of her ear looked red and irritated but no cauliflower ear. After I noticed that I tried to observe if other women had cauliflower ear and didn't see any (maybe I just missed it). Wonder if the women try harder to protect their ears and wear headgear in practice?

Also, I don't watch much freestyle wrestling but was surprised how physical it is, especially with head contact and bumping heads. Seems like another good reason to require headgear. I think research is showing that the danger of concussions or at least danger to the brain is often not from one big blow, but repeated hitting of the head. E.g. lineman in football experience brain injury over time.

I sat about 15 rows up above the side where upcoming wrestlers waited their turn. Using a small pair of nocs, I did notice cauliflower ears on several woman. Nothing like Bo, but, clear evidence of long term tissue damage. My wife said to me: “not every woman has hair that can hide that kind of deformity.” I asked why would you hide it. As an added note: I’d estimate that about 40-60% of women wrestlers wore headgear. I don’t recall any men wearing headgear, but, lots used black head wrap in the later rounds.

 

[BigFella235]

There was cauliflower ear galore around the arena. Seemed like somewhere around 30-40% of the people walking around this weekend had cauliflower ear to some degree.

I saw a Greco wrestler wearing headgear during his matches. I leaned over to my wife and said “wearing headgear in a Greco match is like paying a hooker for a hug”

 

[PD4thespawn]

There was cauliflower ear galore around the arena. Seemed like somewhere around 30-40% of the people walking around this weekend had cauliflower ear to some degree.

I saw a Greco wrestler wearing headgear during his matches. I leaned over to my wife and said “wearing headgear in a Greco match is like paying a hooker for a hug”

Surely not a good outcome...