Wrestlers young at Greece Olympia, Spencerport
John Boccacino · JBOCCACI@DemocratandChronicle.com
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Staff writer
January 18, 2009
Far removed from the cheering crowds and championship banners on display inside Greece Olympia's main gymnasium, 73 children take to the wrestling mats hoping to one day earn their way onto the school's established varsity wrestling team.
On a chilly Monday night, the Junior Spartans are crammed into Greece Olympia High School's auxiliary gym determined to become proficient in the art of double-leg takedowns, half nelsons and cradles.
Their focus isn't on making their school's teams, though that is the long-range goal for most of these young grapplers.
Even though many of the youths who enthusiastically wrestle for Greece Olympia's Junior Spartans' wrestling club won't get a whiff of varsity experience for almost another decade, by working with them as early as age 5, varsity coach Tony Russo and his staff said they hope to ignite the passion they have for their beloved sport.
Wrestling, unlike the other major American sports such as baseball, football, soccer, hockey and basketball, has no built-in youth leagues that aid in the sport's development. Instead, wrestling must rely more on the strength of youth programs to boost the number of children interested in the sport. And to that end, Russo and Justin Raines, the program director of the Spencerport Junior Rangers club, both get their children to attend varsity matches and work with their high school counterparts.
"Varsity programs need these youth programs to develop and stay strong to succeed," said Russo, 38, who wrestled under legendary Spencerport coach Bill Jacoutot.
"If each school had a strong youth program, we'd have more kids coming into the sport. The earlier you can get kids interested, the better off the school teams will be. We have them work with varsity wrestlers and learn the moves that the varsity kids perform so they feel connected to the program."
Even before he began wrestling six years ago, Jeff Hayden's loyalties to the sport ran deep. His father, Joe, was a collegiate wrestler at RIT and often spoke of his passion for wrestling to his four sons, including Jeff, who became captivated with wrestling. J.P., Jeff's older brother, wrestles at 119 pounds on Spencerport's varsity and has helped guide the Rangers to eight straight Section V titles.
Seeing the varsity's successes pushed Jeff to join the Junior Rangers, and he was in awe watching these accomplished and talented wrestlers execute difficult moves.
"Watching those practices inspired me to become a better wrestler. I can learn a lot of moves by watching these guys and I feel that I can become as good as those wrestlers with hard work and practice," said Jeff, 11, a sixth-grader at the Cosgrove Middle School.
"I see state champions like Paul Glover and Bryan Bourne and they make me want to get better and make the varsity."
In order for these youths to make that quantum leap to their school-aged teams, coaches such as Russo and Raines emphasize continuity in their programs, using similar practice techniques and drills that they do with their varsity wrestlers.
The vernacular in wrestling is important, and children who want to succeed must learn certain terms, said Raines, in his fifth year running the Junior Rangers. If a child never familiarizes himself with key terms such as "sprawl," "reversal," "takedown," and "stance," Raines argues they'll feel out of place by the time they reach the modified level.
Thirty percent of Spencerport's current varsity roster (15 of 50) came through the Junior Rangers program.
"They know what's expected of them by the time they get to the varsity," said Raines, 35, a Chili resident who wrestled for Spencerport.
"We have our kids learn the stances, the basics like the double-leg takedown and at least one move from the bottom, top and neutral stances, plus a pinning combination. You're going to go a long way if you know a few takedowns and moves from the bottom and top."
Sammy Baker has been wrestling for four years, and while the learning curve has been steep, wrestling has surpassed football as his favorite sport.
"It was real tough at first; I needed to face kids who were a lot better than me to improve," said Sammy, 9, a fourth-grader at Long Ridge Elementary School and Greece resident.
"I prefer the neutral position; you can get more points than being on the bottom. I prefer to attack; I'm always attacking, trying to get points."
Similar to a majority of the Junior Spartans, Mike Rivera-Thomas' interest in wrestling spiked because he viewed it as "a tough-guy sport." But besides a healthy dose of brawn, Mike said he relies on his brain to out-think the opponent.
"A good wrestler is someone who has speed and strength and knows what they're going to do before they do it," said Mike, 13, an eighth-grader at Greece Apollo Middle School.
"When I started thinking ahead and tapping into my strengths — being really fast and a quick thinker — I knew what I had to do during my matches. You don't have to be really smart to wrestle; you just need to always be thinking."
Raines estimates that there are 25 to 30 youth programs in the greater Rochester area. Most travel across the state and the eastern portion of the country in search of top-notch wrestling competition, and Rochester also hosts a number of youth tournaments on numerous weekends during the winter and spring.
"Wrestling is very intense; it's 1-on-1 and I like that," said Phillip Wicks, 11, a sixth-grader at Cosgrove whose two older brothers both wrestled with the Junior Rangers. "The sport is so popular in Spencerport, we all wrestle to become as good as the varsity wrestlers." |
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