By Winston Ross
The Register-Guard
BANDON – His skin a patchwork of sand-burned crimson and flesh pink, 17-year-old Chris Light shook the grit out of his hair and caught his breath.
“That was fun, “the Cleveland High School student said. “But the sand is a big part of this. You don’t have as much traction.”
Welcome to beach wrestling, where sand is indeed a huge part of a newly sanctioned sport that’s likely to become an Olympic event. The Oregon Coast hosted the nation’s first USA Wrestling-sanctioned tournament Saturday, as grapplers from across the state converged at Bullard’s Beach State Park to see if they could adapt to an old sport with some entirely new ground rules – most importantly, no mats.
Recalling the age-old sport’s origin, the athletes who signed up to compete met in an arena defined only by a rope laid in a circle in the sand, the roaring Pacific Ocean for a backdrop.
“I thought, jeez, this beach wrestling could really catch on, and Oregon’s got a lot of beach, “said Marshfield wrestling coach Wayne Van Burger. “What a natural place to hold the first event.”
The idea for the Oregon meet was Van Burger’s. He learned that FILA, the international wrestling federation, decided at the end of last year’s Athens Olympics to create the new style to offer an option to countries that otherwise can’t afford the equipment and facilities to stage wrestling as well as to boost the sport’s prominence, much the way beach volleyball helped that sport gain recognition.
The first Beach Nationals tournament was scheduled for the day after the U.S. National Wrestling Championships, held last month in Las Vegas. But for lack of a venue or consensus on rules and format, the competition was postponed until next year.
That gave Van Burger, whom the Oregon Wrestling Association has appointed the state director of beach wrestling, a chance to make history.
“The old Olympians didn’t have mats; they wrestled on dirt and sand, whatever they had, “Van Burger said. “This is literally going back to the roots of wrestling.”
The 50 wrestlers who showed up Saturday quickly discovered the difference between locking arms in a musty gym and on the beach.
“You sink into the sand, “explained 14-year-old John Hedge of Westridge Middle School in Oakridge, who learned of the event from fliers posted at past tournaments.
Which is not to say it’s more comfortable than a mat. At first impact, the sand is harder when a wrestler is slammed into it, participants agreed.
Otherwise, beach wrestling is a cross between other, more well-known styles, such as Greco-Roman, sumo and freestyle.
The rules at Oregon’s tournament were simple: single-elimination, matches decided by two points in one three-minute round. To score, a wrestler had to either knock his opponent out of the circle or take him down.
Him or her, that is. Beach wrestling is open to females, as well – which drew Toni Borgogno of Coos Bay to Bullard’s Beach, her three kids in tow.
In Borgogno’s first match, she went up against her own 9-year-old, Raider.
“No mercy for you, son, “she laughed as the pair circled around each other. But it was Raider who (officially) won the match, wrapping his laughing mom in a headlock for the final take-down.
Asked who usually wins their bouts, Raider aimed a confident thumb at his own chest. Sixty pounds of prowess.
Winston Ross can be reached at (541) 902-9030 or [email protected].
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