To the mat

Published 4:25 am Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Enterprise wrestling coach Troy Farwell shares pointers with his wrestlers Monday.

Wallowa County grapplers gearing up for new season

By Steve Tool

Wallowa County Chieftain

With the arrival of winter chills, local wrestling teams are happy to take things inside with the start of another season of mat battles.

All three of the county’s high schools — Wallowa, Enterprise and Joseph — laid out their plans for the 2015-2016 season, which starts for all teams with the Enterprise High School Kickoff tournament Dec. 4.

The Cougars led by Mel Beyers, who has coached there for more than two decades. Beyers has five wrestlers in the program so far, which is about average for the program. He said the sport isn’t for everyone in that it needs a lot of dedication, and not everyone can stick it out.

“Kids aren’t as motivated as they used to be or work as hard as they used to,” Byers said.

On the other hand, he said he tells prospective kids the rewards are great for those with initiative.

“The kids who come out and go all-out get a lot of personal achievement and gain self-esteem from it,” he said. “I’ve taken kids who are shy and withdrawn, and wrestling really changes them and gives them self confidence.” He added that wrestling is not about sitting on the sidelines and that there’s a weight class for everyone and everyone gets a chance to wrestle.

Scheduled Home Meets

None as of press time.

Sixth-year Joseph Charter School coach Tim Kiesecker has seven wrestlers this season, two of them females — senior Jesse Woodhead at 126 lbs. and freshman Renee Seal at 152 lbs. Seal is the only one of the two with previous wrestling experience.

Kiesecker didn’t want to speculate on the team’s league chances.

“We’ll find out what we need to work on at the Kickoff tournament,” he said.

Encouraging inexperienced kids to wrestle is a priority for the coach.

“I tell them to give me a couple of weeks of their lives to see what they can do,” he said. “They’ll never know if they don’t try.

“We’ve been pretty busy because we’ve got some inexperienced wrestlers this year, but it’s going to be fun. We’re a little plugged up on the higher end (heavier weight classes). The numbers are there, we just need the talent to match up.”

Scheduled Home Meets

Joseph High Invitational

Jan. 1-2

Visitors: McLoughlin, Weston-McEwen, Griswold, Echo, Stanfield, Culver

Outlaws coach Troy Farwell, in his second year of a return to coaching at the school, is mentoring 10 wrestlers this year, twice last year’s total. Unfortunately, four of them are wrestling at 120 lbs.

“I’m hoping I can get them spread out between growing and shrinking, but time will tell,” Farwell said. He added that at larger tournaments all four will be allowed to wrestle in the same weight class, while for smaller tournaments, wrestlers can challenge each other to wrestle at their desired weight class.

Farwell is always looking for more wrestlers, but he doesn’t sugarcoat the rigors of the sport.

“I don’t tell them it’s an easy sport. I tell them it’s a lot of hard work and a long season, but it does build character and offers camaraderie other sports don’t.”

He said travel is another bonus, with the team visiting Washington twice, Madras once and journeys to the southeastern portion of the state as well.

Farwell didn’t speculate on the team’s season prospects, preferring to focus on the present.

“We’re a young team, but having 10 kids versus the five we had last year is a big step up.”

Scheduled Home Meets

Enterprise High School Kickoff

Dec. 4

Visitors: Wallowa, Joseph and others, TBD

Marketplace