NORWICH – Norwich’s junior wrestling program recently completed a 15-tournament season winning dozens of medals and trophies amongst its large group.
Led by Tim Scheer the past two seasons and assisted by Dan Jennings and Kevin Slater, 102 youths signed up for the team, and 55 kids ended up participating regularly. “To have that many kids is spectacular,” Scheer said. “It is one of the toughest sports for any kid, not to mention we are dealing with 5- through 12-year-olds. This year we had a lot of first-year wrestlers as well as many veteran wrestlers that went to many tourneys. Some fared well and some did not, but they did not get discouraged, which is the key to any program’s success.”
Scheer grew up in the Norwich area, and when he was a young boy, he did not have the opportunity to wrestle pee wee- or junior-level tournaments. These days, it is essential to have kids wrestle consistently from a young age. “People always ask me what is wrong with the Norwich wrestling team (the varsity and junior varsity),” Scheer said. “I have said many times that the kids are young and just give it a few years. We have a many young wrestlers with great potential on the pee wee level, and to now have a successful high school program, you need a successful feeder program in this sport, mainly because it takes many years of training and practicing to win a sectional championship, not to mention a state title.”
Scheer took the youth wrestling helm from Mark Muserallo, who remains a positive advocate for the program. Scheer’s mission was to run a longer season and recruit as many kids as possible. The program ran for two months and Scheer lost some kids to other programs who offered longer programs, while some others dropped out. Scheer recognizes that wrestling is not for everyone, but “it needs to be available so they can decide on their own if it’s for them,” he said. “I am hoping that all of the kids not moving up to modified next year will be back, as well as 50 additional kids.”
The Norwich pee wee team hosted its 29th annual tournament earlier this month, and with a few tweaks and adjustments from previous years, had an extremely successful tourney, in Scheer’s estimation. “We had 320 wrestlers come and enjoy a full day of wrestling, and I would say that it went very well,” he said.
Sponsors on board for the tournament included New York Central Insurance, Professional Teleconcepts, NBT Bank, Raymond Corporation, Norwich Beverage, Parker Wheel and Brake, Nina’s, Ontario Hotel, Byrne Dairy, Wal-mart, The Trophy Guy, The Sports Connection, Norwich Youth Bureau, and Chenango Custom Embroidering. Additionally, Scheer thanked the commitment and dedication of all the parents and their help at the tournament.
Scheer also thanked the kids who stuck it out and will continue on next season. “These kids are the future of Norwich wrestling,” Scheer said. “They should be proud to say they wrestle for Norwich, and I look forward to seeing them next year.”