The same schools dominate the Big 30 wrestling All-Star selections seemingly every year.
When star wrestlers graduate, new ones fill their spots. The area’s top programs seem to do this seamlessly, and that was the case again this year, as three local powers filled nine of the 13 All-Star spots.
Bolivar-Richburg, Port Allegany and Pioneer remained the class of the Big 30 in 2022-23. What do the three have in common?
They all have strong youth programs.
YOUTH WRESTLING serves two valuable purposes.
First, it introduces children to the sport.
Wrestling has always taken a back seat to basketball in the winter. The majority of student-athletes who choose the former in high school have already wrestled for years, the sport’s culture ingrained in them whether by family members or themselves.
A competition brutal in nature that continually struggles with participation numbers, youth programs are wrestling’s saving grace. The more youth wrestlers a community can recruit, the more likely it is to field a strong — or at least a full — varsity lineup.
Youth wrestling also prepares athletes for high-level competition by teaching basic moves and positions. Perhaps more than any other sport, a relationship of causation exists between experience and success in wrestling.
“A good youth program is what feeds a good varsity program,” Port Allegany coach Brad Greenman said. “If kids are learning good, solid fundamentals in youth, by the time they get to varsity, we can focus on just fine tuning instead of building from the ground up.”
THOSE THINGS being true, it’s no surprise that the programs which have bucked wrestling’s trend of decline start building at the youth level.
At B-R, that happens in the “Wolverine Den,” a building on Salt Rising Road in Bolivar dedicated to wrestling. It’s been the home of B-R’s current stars for years, cultivating Section 5 champions from a young age.
The Wolverine Den fueled the current B-R dynasty’s coming-of-age in the late 2010s and that pedigree has allowed the school to continually churn out elite wrestlers. Whether it be in a barn, a gymnasium or a school cafeteria, similar organizations exist at every successful wrestling school.
“It’s the introduction for the kids in our community to the sport of wrestling,” said Pioneer coach Chris Edwards. “Our program has four steps — youth, modified, junior varsity and varsity. The youth program is the beginning point for those steps to happen.”
Pioneer hasn’t lost an Erie County Interscholastic Conference dual meet since I was in 8th grade. Port Allegany has only lost one Allegheny Mountain League dual since 2019.
Both credit their feeder programs.
“The other big thing a youth program does for a small community like ours is it brings families together,” Greenman said. “When you wrestle with your best friends from the time you’re in elementary school until you’re in high school, you’ll do anything for them. The bond you get from wrestling is much closer than any other sport. You know how much work it takes so you always push each other because everyone wants success.”
At Pioneer, the youth program often pays varsity wrestlers’ way to camps and, in turn, varsity wrestlers often run youth practices and tournaments. The Panthers not only held their own youth night at a home dual this year, but their youth wrestled Olean’s youth before the Pioneer and Olean varsity teams squared off in a dual.
“They’re two separate groups, which allows us to be committed,” Edwards said of the relationship between youth and varsity coaching staffs. “We’re not really spread thin. We have a common goal and mission statement, and we’re trying to grow the sport of wrestling in our community. If they need something from us, we jump in, and the other way around.”
The Huskies have a budding youth program, one they hope will translate into a varsity powerhouse in coming years. Strong youth movements also exist in places like Bradford, which hopes to replenish its varsity program with talent before long.
Searching for the next local wrestling dynasty? Look no further than the state of each team’s youth program.
(Jeff Uveino, Bradford Publishing Company assistant group sports editor, can be reached at juveino@bradfordera.com)
