By Cody Goodwin
Des Moines Register
Wayne Boyd has long wanted to see wrestling on the same level as football and basketball in the United States. He was an NCAA Champion for Temple in 1969, and co-founded the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, which has supported some of the country’s best freestyle wrestlers.

Earlier this year, Boyd met with Andy Barth, Titan Mercury’s Executive Director and an Outstanding American inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012, and discussed the idea of a professional wrestling league. They both wanted to see wrestlers get paid for their efforts so they could make a living while still competing.

That conversation birthed the American Wrestling League, a professional league for amateur wrestling in the United States. Its debut event is on Friday at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. Action starts at 8 p.m.

Fans can watch the AWL event on Trackwrestling for $14.99. Click here to order.

“I sat down with Andy Barth, and said, ‘We’ve got to help these guys increase their income,’” Boyd told the Des Moines Register. “There are guys that are married, that own homes, and they’re still wrestling.

“They deserve to make a living at this sport.”

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