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Sports

Hundreds of Youth Wrestlers Compete at High School

Ocean City's youth wrestling tournament is now in its third year.

While high school wrestlers were fighting their way to state championships on Sunday in Atlantic City, wrestlers from kindergarten through eighth grade from four different states were competing at Ocean City's annual tournament held at .

Blake Gorsky, a seventh-grader from Ocean City, has wrestled competitively since kindergarten. He fought his way into the championship match on Sunday, and ended up taking second place. He was dominating the match at first, leading 9-0, when he was finally pinned.

Gorsky, who at age 12 already plans to wrestle in high school and hopes to wrestle in college, has become a mentor for many of the younger wrestlers in Ocean City's program. He says that wrestling not only makes a person stronger, but helps build leadership skills and confidence.

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"My schedule fills up with more things to do, but it makes me focus more," he said, adding that he finds he is not only able to focus more on wrestling but also on school work.

During the wrestling season, he practices at least 12 hours per week. He also plays football in the fall and baseball in the spring and summer.

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Gorsky's mother, Angel, says that her son has learned a lot from athletics.

"There's nothing better than sports for dedication and discipline," she said. "And when you start something you have to finish it."

The Ocean City event for youth wrestlers is now in its third year. In the first year there were 166 entrants. Last year, the number jumped to 276. This year it has grown even more, and 428 wrestlers from New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware competed on Sunday.

"The talent here is phenomenal," said Tom Oves, an organizer for the event. "These are the best kids around...and it's great for the kids. It's independent, it's on them; if a kid gets caught, there's no one to point the finger at."

Jeff Spotts, who runs the youth program at Mainland Regional High School and who has a son, Luke, who also wrestles, says that wrestling makes one a better person.

"It's not for everyone," he said. "It's more independent...most sports are team oriented. It's almost like boot camp for a young kid and wrestlers respect each other for that reason. The challenge is attrition; kids can get burnt out."

Spotts estimated that approximately 25 to 30 percent of youth wrestlers end up competing at the high school level. Spotts also noted that parents of wrestlers are often very dedicated to the sport as well, and that wrestling could be described as a subculture.

Joe Schneider, an assistant coach for Ocean City, is another example of a parent who also coaches. His nine-year-old son, Jake, a third grader, placed second on Sunday for his weight class. Joe was not only coaching, but helping keep time for other matches. Most of the coaches were also acting as facilitators—keeping score, time, handing out trophies and keeping an eye on the children in between bouts.

Schneider says that wrestling is a great sport for an athlete to start with, because youth wrestlers not only learn discipline, but also how to leverage their bodies—a skill that can clearly be translated into other highly physical sports, especially football. He also said that at this level, wrestling is "very much a team sport."

"They learn how to support each other," he said. "Practice is more important at this age than competition...it's 90 percent mental and when a boy realizes what wrestling is all about it makes every other sport easier."

Schneider said that it is a misconception that these youth wrestlers are fighting each other.

"They get off the mat and hug," he said. "It's tough competition, but they are also friends off the mat."

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