Published: Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Young wrestlers show heart, desire
For the 80 youngsters that wrestle for the USA Everett Wrestling Club, desire and commitment mean hours of practice, training and matches to be a greater grappler
EVERETT -- Being good in many sports means being big, strong and fast. But to be good in wrestling, perhaps more than anything, you just need heart.
Heart, as in desire, commitment and a willingness to work.
"I think that has a lot more to do with (wrestling success) than anything," said Todd Christensen, head coach of the USA Everett Wrestling club. "Even more than athleticism.
"In football, you can't teach 4.5 speed (in the 40-yard dash)," he said. "But in wrestling, there are all different body shapes, all different athletic abilities. Being really athletic helps, but the guy who works and works can also have a lot of success."
High school wrestling programs have been preaching this message for years, of course, but the same tenet is also taught at area wrestling clubs. Often, kids who might be mediocre in other sports can find a genuine niche in wrestling.
"The key is a desire to compete," Christensen said. "The kids who want to compete will do well. As little kids, it's a lot about aggressiveness. But by the time they get into junior high and beyond, it's much more about who's willing to work hard and who's willing to compete.
"The more you work at wrestling, the more you find your strengths. It's really about finding your strengths and then using your strengths to impose your will on the match. And because wrestling is one-on-one, you have all the control in the world. That's the great thing about it," he said.
Christensen has been the head coach of USA Everett Wrestling for four years. The program has about 80 kids from ages 4-18, though most of the club's high school athletes are currently with their school teams.
The squad is almost evenly divided between novice and advanced wrestlers. The club even has two girls, Christensen said, and "they are very welcome and have a lot of success."
USA Everett Wrestling has produced some of the top young wrestlers from Snohomish County in recent years. Among them, for example, Kelly Kubec, who won three state championships at Lake Stevens High School and is currently a standout with the Oregon State University wrestling team.
"We've seen a lot of success with the kids who've come out of our program," Christensen said.
Club members generally train and compete nine months a year and in the wrestling disciplines of folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman. Last year, USA Everett Wrestling had six All-Americans -- Kindu Adams, Ryan Christensen, Matthew Cuzzetto, Noah Cuzzetto, Mikey McFarland-Harvey and Jesse Peterson -- and 21 state champions in those three disciplines, and won the state team title in all three.
"We are," team president and assistant coach Michael Cuzzetto said, "the elite club in the state. We're a feared club. If you see the name of a USA Everett kid on a board, you know you're going to face some of the very best in the state of Washington."
Club members pay $125 for nine months of wrestling, which is usually four or five days of practice a week and frequent weekend tournaments. Experienced club members can belong to the traveling elite team, which often competes at out-of-state events (the athletes pay their own travel expenses).
Matt Cuzzetto, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Madrona Middle School in Edmonds and Michael's son, knows he benefits from the 10 or more hours he typically spends practicing and competing each week.
"When you do this nine months a year, you're so much farther ahead than anyone in middle school," he said. Against kids who might wrestle only two months a year, he added, "we just keep on winning and winning."
Sometimes, he said, "I get tired and think, 'Oh, I want to skip this practice.' But I know if I do I might get worse. Because every time I come to practice, I work on my moves. And that's what practice does. It's to work on your moves. And it gets you in shape."
Training several days a week "helps a lot," agreed Ryan Christensen, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Woodinville's Timbercrest Junior High School and Todd Christensen's son. "The more I come to practice, the better I get."
Practice time is important for wrestlers, Todd Christensen said, but so are competitions. And that's a big reason USA Everett Wrestling enters so many tournaments.
"Most high school coaches will tell you it's all about mat time," he explained. "That's time spent on the mat in tournaments. To give you an example, if a kid goes all the way through high school, he'll probably wrestle about 100 matches, give or take (a few). But these kids have wrestled between 400 and 500 matches already, and by the time they get to high school they'll be at around 600 or 700 matches.
"They'll have also wrestled all over the nation, so the thought of wrestling in a high school gym is not nearly as daunting."
And like most other sports, including basketball and soccer, the kids who get an early start are often the ones who excel later on.
"The bulk of the high placers (at the state high school tournament) wrestled in some program around the state as little kids," Todd Christensen said.
Heart, as in desire, commitment and a willingness to work.
"I think that has a lot more to do with (wrestling success) than anything," said Todd Christensen, head coach of the USA Everett Wrestling club. "Even more than athleticism.
"In football, you can't teach 4.5 speed (in the 40-yard dash)," he said. "But in wrestling, there are all different body shapes, all different athletic abilities. Being really athletic helps, but the guy who works and works can also have a lot of success."
High school wrestling programs have been preaching this message for years, of course, but the same tenet is also taught at area wrestling clubs. Often, kids who might be mediocre in other sports can find a genuine niche in wrestling.
"The key is a desire to compete," Christensen said. "The kids who want to compete will do well. As little kids, it's a lot about aggressiveness. But by the time they get into junior high and beyond, it's much more about who's willing to work hard and who's willing to compete.
"The more you work at wrestling, the more you find your strengths. It's really about finding your strengths and then using your strengths to impose your will on the match. And because wrestling is one-on-one, you have all the control in the world. That's the great thing about it," he said.
Christensen has been the head coach of USA Everett Wrestling for four years. The program has about 80 kids from ages 4-18, though most of the club's high school athletes are currently with their school teams.
The squad is almost evenly divided between novice and advanced wrestlers. The club even has two girls, Christensen said, and "they are very welcome and have a lot of success."
USA Everett Wrestling has produced some of the top young wrestlers from Snohomish County in recent years. Among them, for example, Kelly Kubec, who won three state championships at Lake Stevens High School and is currently a standout with the Oregon State University wrestling team.
"We've seen a lot of success with the kids who've come out of our program," Christensen said.
Club members generally train and compete nine months a year and in the wrestling disciplines of folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman. Last year, USA Everett Wrestling had six All-Americans -- Kindu Adams, Ryan Christensen, Matthew Cuzzetto, Noah Cuzzetto, Mikey McFarland-Harvey and Jesse Peterson -- and 21 state champions in those three disciplines, and won the state team title in all three.
"We are," team president and assistant coach Michael Cuzzetto said, "the elite club in the state. We're a feared club. If you see the name of a USA Everett kid on a board, you know you're going to face some of the very best in the state of Washington."
Club members pay $125 for nine months of wrestling, which is usually four or five days of practice a week and frequent weekend tournaments. Experienced club members can belong to the traveling elite team, which often competes at out-of-state events (the athletes pay their own travel expenses).
Matt Cuzzetto, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Madrona Middle School in Edmonds and Michael's son, knows he benefits from the 10 or more hours he typically spends practicing and competing each week.
"When you do this nine months a year, you're so much farther ahead than anyone in middle school," he said. Against kids who might wrestle only two months a year, he added, "we just keep on winning and winning."
Sometimes, he said, "I get tired and think, 'Oh, I want to skip this practice.' But I know if I do I might get worse. Because every time I come to practice, I work on my moves. And that's what practice does. It's to work on your moves. And it gets you in shape."
Training several days a week "helps a lot," agreed Ryan Christensen, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Woodinville's Timbercrest Junior High School and Todd Christensen's son. "The more I come to practice, the better I get."
Practice time is important for wrestlers, Todd Christensen said, but so are competitions. And that's a big reason USA Everett Wrestling enters so many tournaments.
"Most high school coaches will tell you it's all about mat time," he explained. "That's time spent on the mat in tournaments. To give you an example, if a kid goes all the way through high school, he'll probably wrestle about 100 matches, give or take (a few). But these kids have wrestled between 400 and 500 matches already, and by the time they get to high school they'll be at around 600 or 700 matches.
"They'll have also wrestled all over the nation, so the thought of wrestling in a high school gym is not nearly as daunting."
And like most other sports, including basketball and soccer, the kids who get an early start are often the ones who excel later on.
"The bulk of the high placers (at the state high school tournament) wrestled in some program around the state as little kids," Todd Christensen said.
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