CAMDEN, NY - On a Monday afternoon at Camden Elementary School, a familiar scene is unfolding. The wrestling mat rolls out onto the floor, and athletes begin stretching, drilling, and sparring. They jog in a circle in between drills to stay ready for what’s next.
It looks familiar, but for a group of ten student-athletes, it’s the start of what could be a life-changing journey.
The ten student-athletes are part of Camden’s new girls varsity wrestling program.
One of the fastest-growing sports in the state has caught hold in the Queen Village, and the pioneering student-athletes are working hard towards becoming “Queen of the Mat.”
The sport’s growth is evident around the area and state, and examples can be found right here in Oneida County. Alongside Camden, Holland Patent has also formed its own team for this season. In addition, college opportunities are spreading like wildfire across the nation and into our own backyard. Utica University is set to have a women’s wrestling squad next year.
These changes have swung open a world of opportunity, and created an access point for student-athletes who may or may not get the chance to wrestle on a bigger stage otherwise.
Take seventh grader Rylie Meagher, for example. Rylie has been wrestling from a young age. Her mother, Kara Norton, has been involved with wrestling in the Camden community for many years, and is in her first year an assistant coach for the Blue Devils. Norton played a huge role in gaining the momentum for this new program to hit the mat.
“These girls deserve it,” Norton said. “A lot of these girls might have wrestled, but would have had to be on the boys’ team to do it… They’ve made history.”
History began with multiple nights of open-mat opportunities. Interested girls could try out basic wrestling techniques and a sampling of drills to get an understanding of if the sport would be right for them. Approximately 20 prospective athletes from grades seven through twelve participated.
Then there was the matter of hiring a coach. Luckily, a highly qualified candidate was already in-house. Technology teacher Jeremy Calkins had assisted boys’ varsity wrestling coach Bill Sullivan for three years, but his achievements run much deeper than that in wrestling circles.
Before coming to Camden, Calkins spent 13 years building the wrestling program at Dolgeville from relative obscurity, into a program that can send athletes to the state championships.
He hopes to achieve the same trajectory with this new program, and says he’s seen plenty of indicators that this group has a will to win.
“It’s all new to them, and many are just learning the process of everything,” Calkins said. “It’s been amazing to see the great progress they’ve made in the short time we’ve been together. The girls make it easy. They want to be here. They work extra hard, they’re picking things up, and if you look around, everyone is here at practice. I didn’t have to track anyone down.”
That will to win has paid some dividends already, including a pair of individual wins in the team’s first-ever match, held at Fulton on Friday, December 2nd. Meagher, along with sophomore Abigail Douglas, recorded victories over their opponents on a historic night.
For Meagher, it’s the kind of accomplishment she’s aspired to for years since picking up the sport in youth programs.
“It was really good for me, especially for my first match and everything,” Meagher said.
Meanwhile, Douglas took a later route to find the sport of wrestling.
“I was looking for something to do this winter, I was originally going to do volleyball and I saw this pop up,” Douglas said. “My grandfather and father both did it, so it sounded like the sport for me. I enjoy a mentally tough sport.”
She had to shrug off nervousness about her relative inexperience in the sport to score a huge win for the program, and herself. She won by pinfall in the first quarter.
“It was amazing,” Douglas said. “Before the match I kept thinking ‘I’m gonna lose’, and then I went out there and gave it my all. You just feel so proud afterwards.”
Calkins believes the team effort, especially with a younger group, was very encouraging in the opening match.
“None of our girls gave up,” Calkins said. “They fought their way off their backs. They wrestled hard. We won two of our matches and obviously, we want to increase that number. But something I cannot teach them is how to fight through the hard stuff and keep trying. That’s something they bring to the table on their own. Now we just have to refine skill and technique and we’ll start seeing wins more often.”
The early success has allowed the program to chart its course towards high aspirations for the future. At last glance, Calkins was working to secure opportunities to compete outside the area to help his athletes see a wider variety of opponents. There will also be a state-wide invitational event held by NYSPHSAA at the end of the season, in hopes of attracting sufficient interest to elevate the sport to state championship status.
“I think it will give us more exposure and popularity so we can increase numbers in the programs, increase teams, and get us going,” Calkins said. “We have great potential to grow and I think this sport is going to explode in popularity in the next few years.”
While the short-term growth prospects are exciting, Calkins is also excited about the chance to create a lasting legacy that includes possibilities in wrestling for the next generation.
“It’s amazing to be able to show this to my daughter, who comes to our youth practices,” Calkins said. “It’s great to know that there can be an opportunity for her to come in later on and compete if she would like to.”
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