Cael Sanderson - from his article "Why My Kids Will Wrestle."

1. Foundation sport  
Wrestling is the perfect foundation for all other sports. Wrestling is balance, agility, hand-eye coordination, flexibility, positioning, strength, speed, explosiveness, footwork, hustle, mental focus, mental toughness, core strength, concentration, competition, and endurance. Wrestling will make our youth better at all other sports.

2. Fun 
Wrestling is a game. It is the most basic and instinctual game. Toddlers wrestle. The sport of wrestling is the ultimate competition where two individuals take their strengths and match them up against each other. Wrestling is a battle of wits, technique, speed, agility, flexibility, and toughness. No two wrestlers are alike. Fun stuff!!

3. Exercise 
Wrestling is one of the world's most premier physical fitness sports. Wrestling develops strength and endurance. Poor health is a significant issue in our society today, and wrestling will help create a love of exercise and physical fitness in our youth.

4. Self-confidence 
Very little is accomplished without self-confidence. Wrestling teaches self-confidence like nothing else I know outside of religion and knowing that you are a child of God. Insecure people have the most difficult time learning from others and making progress even more difficult than it already is. Wrestling teaches hard work, self-improvement, a sense of accomplishment, the camaraderie of a team, one on one aspect, and self-defense, to name a few. These promote self-worth, respect, and confidence.

5. Self-defense.
Although wrestling is not commonly considered a "martial art," it is the #1 base discipline in the world of MMA. Wrestlers know how to defend themselves and neutralize threats quickly. Wrestling is controlling an opponent. If you want your kids to understand how to protect themselves, put them in wrestling.

6. Humility
Nothing teaches humility better than a 1-on-1 sport. Winning and losing in a 1-on-1 setting brings humility. There is nowhere to hide and no one to blame but yourself. All wrestlers will lose at some point, and doing so in these conditions teaches humility. Hard work and discipline are two keys to success in wrestling, and both teach humility.

7. Respect 
The challenges of being a wrestler teach you to respect yourself. After you learn to respect yourself, you will learn to respect others. You learn to respect your teammates as well as your opponents. You learn to listen to and respect your coach. After you learn to respect others, you can learn from them a life lesson.

8. Self-discipline 
Wrestling is discipline. Repetition of drills, hard work, weight management, and continually doing the best thing instead of the easiest thing is discipline. Wrestling requires postponing instant "wants" to gain something more valuable long term. It takes discipline and focus to reach goals.

9. Roadmap to success 
Wrestling is the perfect example of what it takes to be successful in life. Goal setting, hard work, determination, focus, love of challenges, love of competition, confidence, being coachable, mental toughness, discipline, creativity, teamwork, and accountability.

10. Toughness
 Wrestling is a physical, contact sport. You learn that sometimes you just get poked in the eye. Physical and mental toughness go hand in hand. You realize that a little pain or struggle is part of the process of doing great things.