Notwithstanding the controversy revolving Vinesh Phogat that raised a storm in the selection trials for the Asian Games, wrestlers from Haryana made a powerful statement by capturing almost all the berths in the squad for the continental showpiece to be hosted by Japan in September-October. So much so, even most of the runners-up were from the state, apart from many others who fell in the earlier rounds.In the men’s freestyle section, the selected wrestlers are Aman Sehrawat (57kg) from Birohar village in Jhajjar district, Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) from Imlota village in Charkhi Dadri district, Sagar Jaglan (74kg) from Panipat district, Mukul Dahiya (86kg) from Fatehpur village in Sonepat district, Deepak Punia (97kg) from Chhara village of Jhajjar district and Rajat Ruhal (125kg) from Rohad village of Jhajjar district.Similarly, in the women’s category, Haryana wrestlers are set to represent the country in all six weight classes. Deepanshi (50kg) hails from Rohtak district, Antim Panghal (53kg) from Bhagana village of Hisar district, Manisha Bhanwala (57kg) from Panipat, Mansi Ahlawat (62kg) from Jind district, Nisha Dahiya (68kg) from Sonepat district and Priya Malik (72kg) from Jind district.In the Greco-Roman category, Sumit (60kg) is from Mandothi village of Jhajjar district, Aman (77kg) from Rohna village of Sonepat district, Jattvibeil Kumar (87kg) from Sonepat, Nitesh (97kg) from Jagsi village in Panipat district and Deepanshu (130kg) from Rohtak district. Deepak (67kg) belongs to a bordering village which falls in Delhi, though he too practises in an akhara in Bahadurgarh town of Haryana.Praveen Dahiya, a freestyle coach at Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi who belongs to Sonepat district, said that the youth in Haryana have had a craze for wrestling for a long time. “Parents have also been pushing their sons and daughters to take sports as a career. There are also facilities at the village and block levels, especially in Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonepat districts, which have maximum share of wrestling participants in the national events and also represent India at the international arena,” he said.He claimed that even district-level players from this pocket are capable of competing at the national level, adding that all six wrestlers selected in the freestyle category are in government jobs.Tejpal Dalal, a wrestling historian from Mandothi village of Jhajjar district, said that though Maharashtra and UP too used to have good wrestlers earlier, Haryana now completely dominates the Indian wrestling arena.“In the trials for the Asian Games, about 80 per cent of the total participants were from Haryana. In view of the prevailing scenario, not only the state government but the Centre too needs to take some steps to promote wrestling in a big way so that India can be a dominant force in the Olympics stage too,” he said.