Summer wrestling camp helps grapplers get ready for the winter season

DOVER-FOXCROFT — For the 15th year wrestlers from near and far have the had the chance to learn new techniques and skills they can then use during their upcoming scholastic seasons at the Foxcroft Academy Competition Camp, which was held July 5-8.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

LIFT OFF — University of Southern Maine head wrestling coach Mike Morin demonstrates a technique on assistant coach Jonathan Deupree during the 15th annual Foxcroft Academy Competition Camp last week. The two coaches served as this year’s clinicians, instructing 40-plus wrestlers who will be entering grades 5-12.

“We have 41 kids, which is about average,” camp coordinator and Foxcroft Academy head wrestling coach Luis Ayala said. He said campers, comprised of wrestlers who will be entering grades 5-12, are from the the area as well as southern Maine communities such as Westbrook and Wells, and a few are from New Hampshire. Attendees can choose to stay on campus for the four days.

The camp features guest clinicians and this year’s instructors were University of Southern Maine (USM) head wrestling coach Mike Morin and assistant coach Jonathan Deupree. Both Morin and Deupree wrestled for the Huskies, with Morin finishing as the program’s career leader in victories at 133 (vs. just 21 losses) and the only USM wrestler to earn NCAA Div. III All-American honors — in both 2009 and 2010. Deupree, who like Morin was a two-time Husky wrestling captain, twice was an NCAA Div. III regional champion and national qualifier.

“If you want to wrestle at the next level these are the guys to talk to,” Ayala said, with Morin and Deupree leading the state’s only collegiate varsity program. “They’re young, they’re energetic,” he added, as the campers have responded well to the instruction.

During the lunch break on July 7, both Morin and Deupree said the Foxcroft Academy Competition Camp had been going well. Morin said the two clinicians are working on, “All kinds of stuff. The last two days we’ve covered mostly techniques with our feet. Today we started out with some top/bottom stuff but it’s all pretty basic stuff at this point, but it’s stuff we show at USM. It’s basic but it’s effective at higher levels as well.”

Morin said he and Deupree are working with wrestlers ranging in age from rising high school seniors to 10 and 11. “We have a wide range of skill levels and age levels, but we’re kind of mixing it up and keeping it interesting for them,” he said.

“We do a technique session for an hour and a half, two hours and then we split up — there’s four teams up there — so we each have a team and a couple of the other counselors have a team,” Morin said about the competition aspect of the four-day camp. “Yesterday we played dodgeball with them and if you win your team gets a certain amount of points. Today we actually had matches so two teams against each other in a dual meet-style. So everything is just geared towards competing and you’re with the same team all week so ultimately at the end of camp there’s going to be a champion.”

After the lunch break, the 40-plus campers gathered in the gym. Divided into the four teams the wrestlers ran through a warm-up relay race, from lightest to heaviest, by running down the length of the mat-covered court and back and then tagging the next grappler. The winning squad got to take a brief break while the other three teams went through a short exercise before instruction resumed.

The campers circled around Deupree who said, “Today we’ve gone over top/bottom so this afternoon I’m going to go over lifts. If you lift someone properly you should be able to return them all match.”

Deupree said the aim is to lift an opponent with as minimal effort as possible, while forcing them to expend more energy. He then demonstrated where to place gripped hands on Morin’s waist and told the campers to lift just a bit off the ground.

“This is one way to prevent an escape,” he said. “You’re lifting them and returning them to the mat.”

“The bottom guy, you’re going to work on landing properly,” Deupree said. He said after being hoisted off the mat, the wrestler should not fall flat but with knees to the chest so they are back in the bottom position.

“He’s ready to spring right back up,” Morin said, after a landing demonstration.

The wrestlers then paired off to try the techniques themselves as the clinicians and Ayala walked around the mats to point out when the methods were executed correctly and if an adjustment was needed. “A lot of you are lifting from behind, you have to get off to the side,” Deupree said.

The USM coaches demonstrated a way to get an opponent off his feet by pulling them over an outstretched leg. “The reason this works well is there’s no danger, he’s not falling on me,” Morin said, saying the technique also is low energy. The pair of clinicians also worked on grips, how to keep hands locked and how to break the hold.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

GETTING A GRIP — Jonathan Deupree, an assistant coach for the University of Southern Maine wrestling program, has Husky head coach Mike Morin locked up in a demonstration at last week’s Foxcroft Academy Competition Camp.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

UNDER THE COACH’S WATCH — Two wrestlers attending the Foxcroft Academy Competition Camp apply new knowledge on lifting and falling as University of Southern Maine head wrestling coach Mike Morin looks on. The 15th annual camp was held on July 5-8 in Dover-Foxcroft.