BY GLEN MASON
LANDSTOWN — The parking lot of the Virginia Beach Field House was packed when I visited on Sunday, Oct. 9.
My, wrestling has grown.
My sports marketing mentality kicked in when I saw all those people gathered at the Field House for the Interstate 64 Open and Duals.
This seemed an economic impact event.
Where do all these moms, dads, wrestlers, coaches and club teams eat and sleep? The sport is big in Hampton Roads, and some events can attract as many spectators as basketball games.
Longtime wrestling official Corey Beckner has really put together a first-class event. It brings in the type of athletes that “elevates” regional programs. It also has a K-5 “neophyte” division – even these kids are serious competitors.
For the uninitiated, this isn’t the old televised “wrasslin” of our fathers. WWF, what some folks think of as wrestling, has grown into an entertainment empire.
What I saw in Landstown was the true sport.
This is the wrestling that seems to become especially exciting whenever the Olympics near.
A style of Olympic or amateur wrestling is Greco-Roman, where a goal is to turn your opponent’s shoulders to the mat without using your legs. Techniques are mostly upper body.
Folkstyle is what we see in high school and college where you can use the legs, and you have to pin the shoulders to the mat for at least three seconds.
Freestyle, also an Olympic style, allows you to attack and defend using your legs.
Upon entering, I was met by the cacophony of everyone cheering on somebody on some team all at once. A big noise. Vendors barked and took orders for custom team apparel.
There were wrestling “clubs” from various high schools across the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. Hampton Roads wrestlers from First Colonial, Princess Anne, Bayside and teams like the Alchemy Wrestling Club and Great Neck wrestling clubs brought their A-game.
I marveled at the twelve-mat setup. There was action on each mat.
Awesome.
“Landstown report to Mat Six!” said the announcer in a commanding baritone.
Then it was on.
Wrestling in events such as the I-64 Duals, even upping your weight class as you develop, inevitably makes you a better wrestler, win or lose.
You pick yourself up and go at it again.
You learn perseverance.
High school wrestling doesn’t officially start until November. Serious wrestlers join clubs or amateur teams to perfect moves, work on weaknesses during the off season.
Every team’s uniform is worn as a badge of honor, but this also is an individual sport. You can’t complain about what another teammate did or did not do when you are on the mat.
Morrison Motley impressed me, all 4’8” of him.
“I have been wrestling for seven years,” said Motley, who started at three years old. “I’m wrestling 70 pounds today. My dad is a coach for the national team. I love wrestling because it is fun.”
Dawson Bowden told me he joined Alchemy Wrestling because its coach and instructor Caleb Richardson is a freestyle expert who lives in Virginia Beach, and a champion prodigy from the Granby School of Wrestling.
“Coach Caleb has given me many opportunities in the wrestling department,” said the 15-year old Bowden, who attends Princess Anne High School and wrestles for the Cavaliers. “Many more than I’ve ever had. …
“Tournaments, duals, and extra practice. These opportunities have elevated my wrestling to a level I didn’t think I could achieve. I am the best I have ever been thanks to him and his kindness.”
Shy, at first, he grew more confidant as he spoke.
“Coach Caleb has encouraged and motivated me to strive from the time I’ve been with him,” he said. “He has brought my love for the sport to a whole different level that I can’t even explain. Also, without the help of my dad, none of this would be happening right now.”
Another big event is on the way.
It’s the 21st Virginia Challenge National Holiday Duals on Dec. 9-10 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
Slap the mat!
The author is a writer and documentary filmmaker who grew up in Norfolk and lived in Virginia Beach for much of his life. He ran a production company, worked in college athletics and was curator at an art gallery in Virginia Beach for years.
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