Local wrestling coaches see sports future on mats during the early spring season

By Bill Pearson
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — From the final buzzer of basketball season to the first pitch of baseball seemingly leaves a major void in the athletic schedule. But for youth and middle school athletes, the period presents an opportunity that their high school counterparts don’t have. These youths are competing in wrestling  after many have already participated in basketball.

Observer photos/Bill Pearson

    YOUTH WRESTLING — Wrestlers as young as four-years old have taken to the mats to learn the basics of the sport which dates back to the Ancient Greeks. The youth and middle school wrestling season fills a void in the late winter early spring by bridging the gap between basketball and baseball seasons on the athletic calendar. The youth wrestling schedule gives young athletes a chance to participate in both basketball and wrestling before deciding on which one to pursue in high school.

    The youth and middle school wrestling season is underway with participants ranging from 4-15 years  old. Many of these wrestlers are still learning the basic fundamentals of the sport. The late winter/early spring activity also provides local high school coaches a better chance at being involved with their sports’ feeder program.
    Foxcroft Academy wrestling coach Luis Ayala is taking advantage of the youth wrestling schedule to keep an eye on the program. He monitors the youth program under the direction of youth coaches Greg Niland and Jarod Rideout. This provides Ayala the opportunity to introduce the elements of his successful program firsthand  to the next generation of Pony wrestlers.
    “There is so much enthusiasm in the community about wrestling. It has fueled our success in the past years because our program always has such strong numbers,” Ayala said. “Youth wrestling is a little different in that we try to make it fun, but our focus is to instill in our young wrestlers the basics.”
    The Foxcroft Youth and SeDoMoCha wrestling teams are the feeder program for the Foxcroft Academy high school team. Several local communities have a similar arrangement of youth and middle school teams which compete in a local league.
    While youth wrestling is based on the high school model there are some major differences. The length of a youth match is four minutes compared to a high school match’s six minutes. Another departure is there are no weight divisions in youth wrestling. During a meet, the teams will match up wrestlers, not of similar weight, but by comparable ability.
    “This promotes competition for our wrestlers,” Ayala said. “In high school, there are only 14 weight classes. In youth wrestling, this allows for more kids to compete. It promotes participation and fun for our program.”
    The youth wrestling season also allows Piscataquis Community High School coach Tom Cyr to participate in the middle school program. As a coach, Cyr is looking to train his youth wrestlers in the same manner he prepares his high school grapplers.
    “It is basically the same sport whether they are pee-wee or high school wrestler,” Cyr said. “The major difference is that there is less emphasis on conditioning. We focus on teaching them the techniques they need to learn in order to achieve success in the sport.”
    One of Cyr’s middle school wrestlers is Toby Gillespie. The eighth-grader is in the second year of the middle school wrestling program. He became a wrestler in order to spend more time with friends. Gillespie’s success also been inspired to continue with the sport next year in high school.
    “I started because it was a way to hang out with my friends,” Gillespie said. “This is my last year of middle school wrestling. I’ve learned a lot and look forward to wrestling in the 140-division next year in high school.”
    A major challenge in coaching youth wrestlers is that their first experience in the sport is from professional wrestling on television. Ayala indicated a major hurdle in instructing young wrestlers is to overcome their short attention span.
    “It’s pretty crazy when they start. The youth wrestlers want to do the tumbling and acrobatics like they see on television,” Ayala said. “It takes a while for them to start concentrating on the basics. It’s more difficult with the younger wrestlers because their attention isn’t a long as the older ones.”
    The Foxcroft Youth and SeDoMoCha wrestling programs continue to draw strong numbers. Ayala believes those squads may have the largest number in the state. Foxcroft Youth Wrestling has 48 participants and SeDoMoCha has 18 which down from 25 last year.
    Ayala believes the reduction in middle school wrestlers is due mainly to recent population reductions in the region, not for any waning enthusiasm for the sport.