Just outside of Hollister, a group of children are flipping,
somersaulting, bear crawling and rolling around on blue mats hoping
to make themselves better wrestlers for one simple reason.
By Craig Meister Special to the Dispatch
Just outside of Hollister, a group of children are flipping, somersaulting, bear crawling and rolling around on blue mats hoping to make themselves better wrestlers for one simple reason.
“It’s fun,” 8-year-old Adam Mena said.
Mena was part of the Razorback Wrestling Club squad that won the 7- and 8-year-old division of the California Folkstyle Wrestling State Championship team title earlier this month for the first time ever.
The Gilroy native won a title at 65 pounds and was one of three teammates to win an individual championship. Hollister natives Izzak Olejnik and Tony Andrade won the 55- and 75-pound divisions, respectively.
David Reyes from San Jose took home third place and Joe Barnes from Morgan Hill finished in fifth.
Most of the participants have been wrestling for eight months each of the past couple of years at the Razorback Wrestling Club.
According to Matt Olejnik, the San Benito High coach who is a club instructor and Izaak Olejnik’s father, when the children first begin training at an early age, they just “flop around.” The children warm up each practice performing gymnastics moves in an effort to improve body control. Once the children are used to performing flips, cart wheels and other acrobatic moves, each wrestler starts to learn the proper wrestling techniques.
“When they’re upside down, they get rid of that fear and it’s a real self-esteem builder,” Matt Olejnik said. “Not a lot of people can do it.”
“We emphasize body control and by doing body rolls, cart wheels and crawls, you see their confidence growing,” instructor David Salcedo said. “It opens their mind up to do more and more things.”
Confidence is evidently increasing. Mena, who began wrestling as a 3-year-old, said he was really proud of his teammates and himself for winning the championship. He said his teammate’s competitive natures, along with his two instructors, have helped him learn new moves and become a better overall wrestler.
Izaak Olejnik agrees his teammates are great and don’t mess around much, and the results have showed. Olejnik has competed in tournaments throughout the United States. He has placed in nine different tournaments in New Mexico, Nevada, California, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The national exposure and experience has not only helped Izaak Olejnik but has attracted more and more wrestlers to the Razorbacks Wrestling Club.
Over the past two years, the boys and girls club has grown from 25 children to 57 with ages ranging up to 18-year-olds.
Mena said he plans to wrestle until he is out of high school and instructors Salcedo and Matt Olejnik are looking forward to watching them develop.
“I remember when Izaak was barely learning how to do a bridge and now he’s won numerous titles,” Salcedo said. “It’s great to see them grow in front of me.”
“You teach them a technique and then they go out and execute it,” Matt Olejnik said. “That’s exciting. You get to see the learning take place.”
Matt Olejnik said learning to become a better wrestler is only a small part of the whole experience. Choosing the sport of wrestling, he believes, will have a lasting effect on each child.
“Wrestling teaches discipline and hard work,” Matt Olejnik said. “There are no shortcuts. If you play basketball or other sports, you can hide. In wrestling, it’s one-on-one. If you don’t train or condition, it’s going to show. It’s up to you.”
