March 29, 2024

Local club forms for offseason wrestling

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The official wrestling season may have ended in February, but a group of Creston/O-M competitors have extended their season.

Jeff Sand, first-year teacher and middle school wrestling coach in Creston, is coaching a new club of spring competitors.

FRECO is a freestyle/Greco-Roman wrestling program intended to promote offseason wrestling in southwest Iowa, and provide an affordable opportunity for wrestlers in grades 3-12 to get on the mat in additional tournaments after the school season.

Freestyle, closely aligned with the folkstyle wrestling seen in high school and college competition, is popular in amateur competition beyond college and in the Olympics.

Greco-Roman, also an Olympic sport, is a more specialized version. This style of wrestling forbids holds below the waist, which is the major difference from freestyle wrestling. This restriction results in an emphasis on throws because a wrestler cannot use trips to take an opponent to the ground, or avoid throws by hooking or grabbing the opponent’s leg.

Sand said he was approached by local wrestling enthusiasts who perceived interest in wrestling after the traditional school tournament season. Sand, a Simpson College wrestling teammate of former Panther Caleb Brus, wholeheartedly agreed. In some time volunteering with the youth Express Wrestling Club, he knew there was enthusiasm in the community.

“When I was in high school, the way I got better was to wrestle in the offseason,” said Sand, a graduate of Waukee High School. “Offseason wrestling makes winter champions, you know. I talked to some other people about how they did it. I told the people here, I’ve coached the middle school, coached the younger guys. I think we can pull it off. I’ve touched enough guys that we can get a cohesive group.”

Sand and Wade Bolinger, volunteer coach with the Express Club, are the primary coaches for Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon practices that have attracted about 25 kids on a regular basis since March 4.

“Dannie Stephens has been in there quite a bit, too, and Dennis Leith has kind of been my behind the scenes guy, contacting people about getting involved,” Sand said.

There are freestyle competitions throughout the spring. For instance, at the Bill Smith Freestyle Tournament in Council Bluffs earlier this month, Rylan Luther and Jared Hensley each placed first; Drew Venteicher placed second; Jacob Goodson and Dale Boyer were third; and Cam Leith and Trevor Marlin placed fourth.

Sand has planned a Sunday practice in Waukee with the Waukee freestyle club and their coaches, to gain additional experience.

“The state qualifier for junior level (mostly high school juniors and seniors) is the beginning of June, which kind of signals the end of the season,” Sand said. “If you qualify there, or the younger kids (Kids/Cadets) in Iowa City May 2-3, you can go to Fargo (N.D.) in the middle of the summer. There’s also schoolboy division for middle school and the Bantams, which I think is for those born in 2007-08. That’s mostly second and third graders.”

Creston wrestlers like Dylan and Andrew Long, Quin Leith, Trent Tucker, Jake Marlin and Chase Shiltz have all gone on to compete at the national level. Sand said this club will assist youths with those aspirations, but it’s not just for the elite level athletes.

“At first we thought about catering to kids trying to go from good to great,” Sand said. “But really, we thought it was best not to be exclusive. This is Creston, Iowa. We want to get kids in and open it up to whoever wants to get better.”

Club membership fee is $50, which covers coaching and administrative duties. Wrestlers also have to purchase a $35 USA Wrestling card to participate in tournaments. Sand also took orders for club T-shirts.

“It’s paid off,” Sand said. “We’ve had a good group of kids coming in and you can see how they’ve improved already. They’re getting skills that transfer over to the high school folkstyle season, through a different approach and additional training.”

Anyone interested in learning more about offseason wrestling can contact coach Sand at 515-229-4337 or by email at jsand@crestonschools.org.