Wrestling club holds local tourney

By Bill Mullaly

The annual Hudson Youth Wrestling Club tournament was held on Saturday at the local high school's jam-packed gymnasium and what a success it was! The mania involving the success of Hudson wrestling continues on just one week after the varsity team a great showing at the individual finals. The success at the high school level doesn't just begin there as it really starts down in the lower grades or should we say lower weights. This is when the young kids begin to wrestle for the first time. The Hudson youth wrestling club held its annual event and over 300 kids were on hand to participate. Hudson alone had 45 wrestlers but that didn't even get them the award for top team entry as our rivals to the north Addison brought 46 kids to take home the top participation award. "We had a great tournament again," said tournament organizer and club president Rod Weaver. "We had a great turnout of wrestlers, fans and helpers. This tournament brought anywhere from 1200-1500 people into the gymnasium and it was quite a sight to see all of the wrestlers and fans. Parents, grandparents, other family and friends all come out to watch this tournament and it is a special one-of-a-kind event. We hold a first-class tournament here in Hudson but we could not do it without all of the help from our volunteers. So many people make this such a great event and I can't thank them enough."

The annual event comes to Hudson

Last Saturday kids, both boys and girls, from all over the area were in town for the big 5th annual youth wrestling showcase and Hudson did quite well for themselves on the home mat. Twenty-four Hudson wrestlers won awards for finishing in the top three in their age and weight divisions. Despite not winning an award Hudson did have two young ladies participating as Baylie Parkhurst and Emily Lickley wrestled against the boys.

For the six and under kids taking first was Dylan Smith, younger brother of senior state runner-up Taylor. Noah Wollet was second, while Zach Edmonds, Gavin Brown and Kody Kirkland all were third. It should be noted that in each age group there are several weight classes and the participants are matched by age and weight both. In the seven-eight bracket it was Hunter Blaker, Tucker Scholl and Cody Eichler all getting first place for the little Tigers. Tyler Curtis was second and Noah Malarney was second also. Gavin Wagner was third and Jarrett Waters was third also.

In the nine and ten age group it was Tyler Roberts in first, while Chris Wollet was second and Kyle Eichler was third.

For the 11-12 year olds it Cole Weaver taking first and he wasn't alone. JD Waters and Dustin Mattison were also first as was Jacob Morgan. It should be noted all four of these young men were standouts on the undefeated Hudson Pop Warner football team this past fall. Then in the 13-14 division it was another bundle of wrestlers getting first as Brian Parkhurst, Devan Marry, James Herron and Luke Sparapani were all champions. Joel Varney was second.

"I was very happy with how we did as we have a few veteran wrestlers but we also have a lot of new and first-year wrestlers that did real well," said coach Weaver, who works as the Hudson wrestling club spokesperson and its chief public relations consultant. "This is the first big youth tournament in the area and we will be going to many others in the next two months. We like to think that our local tournament is as good as it gets and we take a lot of pride in putting on a great show. This tournament is good for the kids and for the community as it brings a lot of people into town. I can't say again, but I will, how fortunate we, as the wrestling club, are to have all of the help and support as this is our major fundraiser of the year. It helps with our expenses and it keeps these young kids wrestling. From the people working the concessions, to those selling 50-50 tickets, to the referees and workers and so on it is an enormous undertaking with a lot of people. The team won't even have time off for the upcoming Easter holiday weekend as they head to Hillsdale for a Good Friday night event and then on Saturday they head to Sand Creek. "This is a busy time of year but we love our wrestling," said Weaver, in an understatement if there ever was one.

On To Nationals

The Hudson youth wrestlers from the middle school age division that took second place two weeks ago at Battle Creek in the state tournament have qualified for the nationals at the Dells in Wisconsin. The Hudson team will be going as the number one seed as Shelby, which beat Hudson, can't attend. Hartland now takes Hudson's spot as the second place team. "We are getting the money around and we are going," said Weaver. The national tournament is a one-day affair on Friday, April 18th and Hudson will take its team to compete against wrestlers from Minnesota and perhaps other states. Weaver is still awaiting all the exact information but Hudson will be sending its wrestlers and coaches to this prestigious event. If those of you think wrestling is just a winter sport think again as it's in the spring that the young kids learn the skills, fundamentals, rules and techniques that will make them winners and champions now and in the years ahead. 
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