The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Crestwood's rebooted wrestling program finding success after 15 years away

For 15 years, there was essentially one athletic option in the winter for student-athletes at Crestwood High School. If they weren't adept at bouncing a basketball, students were left to find other activities to occupy their time outside of the classroom. That changed this season, as the Knights brought wrestling back to The Castle, ending a decade-and-a-half drought in the sport.

Head coach Willie Martin and top assistant Gregory Jones spearheaded the campaign to bring the sport back to Crestwood, and the decision immediately paid off. The lecture hall in CHS has been filled with the sounds of thudding contact with mats every day after school unless the Knights are hitting the road for a match. Individually, the Knights have piled up wins, but it wasn't until Friday night that they finally took home their first team victory, toppling Lamar 48-30 to secure Crestwood's first win in 15 years.

GETTING STARTED

Of course, you can't build a wrestling program without wrestlers. When Willie met with Athletic Director Terrance Scriven about potentially bringing the program back to life, he was eager to jump on board. Willie was a two-time state qualifier during his high school days back in Georgia, so he had the knowledge to pass along. He brought in Gregory, who wrestled across town at Sumter High back in the day. So, the Knights went to work drumming up interest.

"It took a lot to get kids interested in wrestling because the kids didn't know a lot about it," Willie said. "So, we set up booths out here at lunch periods, and we had kids come sign up for wrestling. We had over 50 kids sign up, (but) we only had 25 or 28 come out. Out of that (number), we ended up keeping 16 girls, six girls and now we've added a couple more girls, a couple more boys. Now we're up to 26 kids on the wrestling team. It was a big task."

Once the students got on board, they had to actually teach the sport and erase any thoughts that athletes were stepping into the ring for a WWE match. The main problem was the timeline. Willie was still busy coaching football, so he trusted Gregory to get the ball rolling. They didn't have a ton of time to work with either, as their wrestling mat came in weeks before the start of the season.

"I think the anxiety kinda snuck in because (in) November we started wrestling, and we got the mat Nov. 1, so it was like, 'Hurry up, hurry up. Teach them as much as we can (with) the basics and get on the mat and wrestle,'" Willie said. "At first, I know a lot of kids were so nervous getting on the mat. Once they finally got out there and had a little bit of success, they fell in love with it, and now they're gravitating to it."

The excitement kept building with each passing day. Gregory saw the passion from his wrestlers as they learned the basics, so he was eager to help them learn.

"When I met the kids (Willie) brought in, our 126, Brayden (Suggs), that dude came in every day. He was like, 'Teach me something else, teach me something else,'" Gregory said. "We were just weightlifting, and so we just started talking wrestling, so that kept me engaged. I'm beating feet from work to come here like I need to be around these kids."

But where do you even start when your wrestlers don't know the basics and you don't have time to instruct every nuance of the sport? Gregory reached out to every coach in his Rolodex to find the answer.

"I literally hit up every coach that I knew. I hit up David Wright, who was my coach at Sumter High. He's been retired from coaching as far as wrestling goes. I was like, 'What's the first thing I need to teach them?'" the CHS assistant said. "I just needed any kind of advice. Getting out here, it was (just wondering) are they retaining it? Then we got to that first scrimmage, and Kenya (Green) got on the mat and I was just yelling stuff, 'Do this, do this.' And she was just like, 'OK.' The excitement from all of that, it was a wild time."

Kenya Green and Yachin Gamble are two of the top wrestlers on the team, but they were starting from scratch. Kenya said she wasn't even thinking during her first few matches, just reacting to what Gregory instructed and trying to go with the flow of the match. Yachin appreciated the opportunity to learn on the job to some degree.

"It was fun for me to actually learn during the match, not knowing what to do but having the coaches helping me through it and giving me moves to do," Yachin said. "It was actually pretty fun and a good learning experience for me."

LIVE COMPETITION

Crestwood's first competition was a scrimmage at Ridge View on Wednesday, Nov. 19. It came with a mix of excitement and nerves as the Knights put their first few weeks of instruction to use.

"In that first scrimmage, the one thing I remember was Coach Martin yelling something, and I said, 'Hey Coach, they didn't learn that one yet,'" Gregory remembered with a hearty laugh. "Being at Ridge View, their crowd really woke the kids up. They didn't know what to expect in wrestling, so that crowd and all the parents showed up. I still remember, in (Yachin's) first scrimmage, he did a double leg and he ended that match in like seven seconds, and all the kids were like, 'BOOM.' You hear that at every match, no matter what tournament, the kids are in it. It's exciting."

Kenya came out swinging and didn't need much time to claim a victory.

"It was very exciting. It was the best," Kenya said. "In my first match, I just did double leg and it was over."

Yachin was victorious as well, even if he was still working on executing the plan he drew up for himself.

"I didn't know what to do. I tried to do a single leg. It didn't work out like how it went in my mind but, overall, it worked out," Yachin said. "The coaches and the students were going crazy. The crowd was hyped, so I was really excited.

"My favorite moment was the scrimmage; the atmosphere was just crazy. Since I play football, I love when the crowd is hyped. I like how everyone is just jumping out of their seats. Even if somebody lost a match, the crowd for the other team is still going crazy, so that really gets me in the mood."

Ever since that scrimmage, the Knights have been able to find small victories all season long. Kenya and Yachin have both surpassed double-digit victories on the season alongside Alexia Benitez, Rickshon Young, Tate Haynes and most recently Terrione Lemon. Until Friday, they were still hunting for a team victory, but those smaller milestones kept the athletes engaged.

"I think every kid on our wrestling team has won a match this year," Willie said. "All of our kids have had success and know what it feels like to win a wrestling match, so I think that keeps the kids coming back for more."

These young athletes are learning how to push themselves on the mat. Kenya's favorite moment of the season thus far was a scrimmage at Sumter High when she had to wrestle consecutive matches and found the strength to pull out two victories.

"I didn't want to do it, but my coach told me to do it," Kenya said of wrestling back-to-back matches. "I wasn't expecting to win because I was so tired after that first match."

The Knights are also taking in important life lessons with each match.

"The biggest thing I've learned is sportsmanship," Yachin said. "Every time I take somebody down or the whistle blows, they help me up, I help them up. It's just like, we're together. I also learn techniques from them, as well."

Yachin isn't just improving on the mat with each match. As a standout linebacker for the Knights, he plans to use what he's learned during wrestling season to mold himself into a more well-rounded defensive player.

"I think it's going to help a lot because a lot of the moves I feel like (apply)," he said. "It helps with my hands, too, so I'll be able to get my hands away from people, keep them off of me and allow me to tackle better. I feel like this contributes to football 100 percent."

ENGAGEMENT

Wrestling is a sport built around community. It hasn't gained the popularity of sports like basketball in the winter, so the people who take part in the sport are passionate about helping the sport grow, whether it's within their program or their neighbor's.

"The community around Sumter County (has been great). When we go over to talk to the coaches over at Sumter High, Lakewood, it's like, 'Hey, what are y'all doing? What do you need?'" Gregory said. "It's been a good community here in Sumter, so I really love it. I see the kids gravitating to that. As we go to tournaments, you start seeing them talk to other wrestlers, they get friendly, and then it's game time and it's time to strap in. It's amazing."

The Crestwood parents have also bought into the program, which is an important step in establishing the groundwork for a healthy program.

"Every week we're getting better and better. A lot of kids are taking on coaching and learning new moves and pinning people. The biggest thing that I see that's really cool to see is the engagement of the parents," Willie said. "Every wrestling match, we have so many parents there. After the wrestling matches, the parents are in good spirits. They're really excited about wrestling because for a lot of them, it's their first time seeing it. To see their kid out there having success in wrestling; there are a lot of ups and downs in wrestling, but to see their kids out there trying hard, having a lot of success, it really feels good when the parents are backing you as well."

Now, it's all about making sure the rest of the Crestwood community buys in, too.

"I think this school and this community are really ready to see what Crestwood wrestling is about because over a 15-year layoff, a lot of the community forgot what wrestling is," Willie said. "(On Friday), we go to Sumter High, and we want the whole community to come out and support, just to see what it's like because we know that gym is going to be rocking. When we went to our first scrimmage, I don't think they expected the gym to be that packed and those fans to be that wild. Wrestling it super cool, it's crazy.

"When the other kids in the school see what wrestling is like, I think we're going to get so many kids coming out for wrestling; we're probably going to have to host tryouts."

TEAM VICTORY

While the individual wins have been sensational, there's something special about celebrating a team victory with the people you've spent the last three months throwing around on the mat in practice. That finally happened on Friday.

The Knights went to Hartsville for a tri-match with the Red Foxes and Lamar and finally earned their long-awaited victory. The individual wins during the match kept coming match after match. Brayden Suggs won with a pin, as did Jaden Weston. Lemon grinded into the third period before claiming his own pin. Tate Haynes and Marcarious Hogan added pins to help the Knights seal a 48-30 win. They suffered just one match loss on the day, as the rest of the points came from gaps in the opposing lineups leading to forfeits.

"We had several kids that showed up in a big way, showed a lot of grit and toughness and overcame adversity on the mat," Willie said. "They were very excited. They were happy and pleased that they had accomplished a team goal that they've been trying to tackle since we began the season."

BUILDING FOR THE LONG RUN

The victory was just the next step in building a sustainable program at Crestwood. The Knights have plenty of youth, though they do have a handful of seniors who decided to give the sport a try in their final year of high school athletics. With a large core of returning wrestlers, Crestwood should be able to expand their roster in Year 2.

"We've got the pleasure of this being a lot of underclassmen, so making them fall in love with the sport is how you're going to get the program to last," Gregory said. "If they fall in love with the sport, they're gonna say, 'Hey, the wrestling season is coming up.' Then the next thing you know, their friends, their cousins, they're going to be like, 'I want to do that.' I think that's how you really sustain the program. The parents are the most important thing; it's always going to come back down to the parents, and we've got some motivated parents. I love the group we have right now."

A strong program needs passionate athletes and coaches who are invested in helping them grow. Willie says the program will succeed because they have strong bonds with their athletes.

"I think it's showing the kids how much we care," Willie said on the key to building a sustained program. "These kids have really bought in because they know that Coach Jones and I, everything we do, we do it for the kids; everything we teach them, it's so they can be better on the mat. I think showing them that we care every day, no matter what, that's big with the kids, and it's big with the parents. I think that's why we get so much support because the kids and the parents know that we care about their well-being."

Crestwood's first victory showed Willie that the program has already made major strides, and they don't plan on slowing down any time soon.

"The future of Crestwood wrestling is really bright," he said. "We have a number of kids who are capable of placing in state and the region. The kids have accepted the coaching, accepted the challenge of wrestling; they know it's a tough sport, it's really hard, and they're doing a really good job of supporting each other and wrestling hard when they're on the mat."