There are many life lessons and lessons about one’s self that sports can teach kids. The Hingham wrestling team had a disappointing season last year winning fewer than half their matches. However, the wrestlers learned a great deal about themselves and about their teammates and why as a team they failed to have a winning season. As in life very often one learns more from one’s failures than from one’s successes and it is apparent these grapplers took away some very important growth experiences.
One of the glaring weaknesses of the team as a whole was their lack of strength when compared to their opponents. Part of this was related to the youngness of the squad. The wrestlers recognized this deficit and made a commitment to correct the problem.
Immediately after the season ended last February, fifteen wrestlers began a twelve week training program at “Absolutely Fit Personal Training “in Hingham. The athletes performed circuit training that involved 1-minute sets at 4 separate stations. Prior to the start of the conditioning session, the athletes performed as many push ups as possible. By the end of the program every wrestler had dramatically increased the number of pushups done. Most had nearly doubled their initial baseline. The greatest improvement was accomplished by Mike Riley who increased from 53 pushups in week one to 115 pushups at the end of the program.
The high school wrestlers included Jack Crowley, Scottie Sanborn, John Beal, Ray Micarelli, Greg Vaughn, Rob Barrett, Steve Morris, Mike Riley, and Sean Sullivan. The youth wrestlers included Steve Galambus, Garrett Lincoln, Jay Minassian, Zack Westelman, Greg MacGiver and Jeffery Blair.
Co-owner of Absolutely Fit, Matt Spaulding said, “the future of Hingham wrestling is very bright. The kids are dedicated hare working, and willing to sacrifice their personal time to work on their strength and conditioning. This will unquestionably pay off on the mat during the season.”
Andy Mansfield, also a co-owner, added, there are three kids in particular who should be recognized for not missing a week. They were John Beal, Ray Micarelli and Garrett Lincoln. With all the distractions of school, family and friends, these kids displayed their commitment by attending each week.
Personal trainer Mike Schneiderat said, ” Greg Vaughn and John Beal showed great leadership skills toward the youth wrestlers which was a positive demonstration for their veteran status.”
Matt Spaulding said, the youth wrestlers, especially Steve Galambos, Greg MacGiver and Jay Minassiasas, made significant strides in mastering some of the more complex exercises such as squats, lunges and push presses. Matt also noted, “support and encouragement for fellow team members was enthusiastically displayed by Jack Crowley and two of next year’s high school captains, Mike Riley and Scott Sandborn.”
When the 12 week program ended many of the wrestlers continued training at Absolutely Fit and will continue to do so through the summer.
In addition to the personal training sessions at Absolutely Fit, many of these wrestlers and other who could not make the training session due to time conflicts, worked out at the high school under the guidance of Coach Durham. Twice weekly at 6 a.m., Coach Durham before driving to Boston to teach, would open the weight room and supervise the wrestlers as they worked hard completing their strength train programs. It is a true credit to the coach and the wrestlers who would commit and sacrifice to work to better themselves at this early hour of the day. These wrestlers included: Jack Crowley, Scottie Sanborn, John Beal, Greg Vaughn, Chimnaye Panjape, Neal Nelson, Jason Nelson, Greg Vaughn and one other young wrestler with a great deal of potential is Chris Constantine. Although Chris could not attend either weight training program, he has been working extremely hard in the weight room and his efforts are apparent. His hard work will definitely help him on the mat and on the football field as well.
The lesson of commitment, dedication, sacrifice, setting goals and working hard to achieve those goals have all been well learned by these individual wrestlers and will no doubt make them better students, better athletes and better community citizens in the future. They should all be commended and their efforts will certainly enrich their lives.
Wrestling Gear
