Bentonville, Gentry ready to hit the mat
Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006
BENTONVILLE - Wrestling is about to take a step closer to being in the ring of high school sports.
Greg Hatcher, president of the newly-formed Arkansas Wrestling Association, will announce at a press conference today at Central Arkansas Christian that eight schools from across the state will start wrestling programs this winter.
Those schools, including Bentonville and Gentry, will offer wrestling as a trial - not a sanctioned - sport.
"We've got eight schools that are in and we've got two more that said they'll do it next year and I bet we've got 12 more that could join this year," Hatcher said.
"We'll still do it as a trial sport but I wouldn't be surprised if we have 16 (teams ) by the time wrestling season gets here."
That's the magic number, Hatcher says, for the Arkansas Activities Association to sanction wrestling as a recognized sport and hold a state championship. If that happens, Mississippi would be the only state in the country not offering the sport at the high school level, he said.
Hatcher, a former collegiate wrestler and the owner of Hatcher Insurance Agency in Little Rock, has been involved in the sports scene in Little Rock for years.
He helped start the Little Rock Marathon and the Shootout of the South 7 on 7 Football Tournament and is the chairman of the Broyles Award. He also developed the successful Mighty BlueBirds youth sports program in Little Rock.
Hatcher was a three-sport athlete in high school and Alma College in Michigan, lettering in soccer, wrestling, and baseball.
"From the day I moved here in 1984, I thought Arkansas needs wrestling," Hatcher said. "When Don (Schuler ) called me about it, I said it was on my to-do list so I'd be happy to do it. I've always been a sports nut. I love the opportunities for kids. I probably learned more participating in sports than I did anywhere else."
Schuler, now the vice president of the AWA, brought the push for high school wrestling from northwest Arkansas to Little Rock.
Schuler's son joined Bentonville's club wrestling team last year and Schuler got involved. He wanted to help Bentonville coach Bill Desler spread the sport around the state and, after lots of talking to people looking for support, met up with Hatcher.
The Arkansas School for the Blind, one of the teams to offer the sport this winter, has offered wrestling as an intramural sport for several years. Desler's team at Bentonville was one of the first club teams connected to a high school.
The Bentonville team was put together last year by Desler, who coached high school and junior high wrestling for nearly 12 years in Nebraska before moving to Bentonville. The Tigers had between 15 and 20 athletes and went to a handful of duel meets and tournaments last year.
Desler expects his team to grow to nearly 30 wrestlers this year.
Desler and the other wrestling coaches from around the state will meet in Little Rock next week to schedule duel and three-team matches for this season. Desler also expects the Arkansas teams will be able to attend out-of-state tournaments.
Wrestling practice at Bentonville won't begin until the Tigers get their brand new, collegiatesized mat in November, although athletics director Lauren West isn't sure where the team will practice.
"We don't have space for them at the high school," she said. "I hate to say it like that but with all of the basketball teams competing here and all but eighthgraders practicing up here, we're simply out of room unless we want to bring the wrestlers back at nights."
West said she is looking into having the wrestlers practice at one of the junior high gyms.
She does hope BHS will be able to host a match once it gets its new mat, which was bought with donations and fundraising.
"I would like to (host a match )," she said. "I think if we're going to really support them, then we need to try to host a match.
"It's a great sport and it complements football. It gives kids something to do in the winter if they aren't playing basketball or swimming. It's a great sport for winter."
Hatcher hopes today's press conference, which will show off some of CAC's wrestlers and the new mat that the AWA bought for the school, will get other schools involved in adding wrestling. He said the AWA will buy mats for the first 20 schools that add the sport and thinks wrestling will continue to grow across the state.
"I think there's always been an interest," he said. "It's just getting somebody to get it done. We have a lot of support from a lot of people. There's a lot of people that grew up with wrestling and so we're not having any problems getting coaches or officials."
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