Understanding the chaos of youth wrestling

Surely a couple future state wrestling champions were in action Friday night at Aurora’s youth wrestling tournament. 
Attending a wrestling event in general is unlike any other sporting event out there. Going to a youth event with PreK-aged tykes makes it that much more unique. 
It’s not the winning or losing that matters to most of these kids. It’s just being able to learn the sport at all. 
The first thing that hits you is the sound. 
Whether it’s the super-engaged coach, the dad-coach combo or the all-in mom, it becomes a vacuum of loud noises. 
Aurora coach Derek Keasling fit a couple of those categories, watching all of those wearing the black Aurora singlets while also paying close mind to his sons, Beckett and Carter.
I’m pretty sure Keasling shouted instructions to three different youngsters in three consecutive sentences. All three offering different advice, too. That’s impressive. 
It’s a never-ending shuffle matside with parents rotating in and out every few minutes, taking videos and offering copious amounts of support. Did I mention it’s sort of loud?
This part really only applies to the Pre-K and Kindergarten-aged kids, but the sights in some of these matches can provide A-plus entertainment. 
A great match between Briggs Timm of Aurora and Jaxson Meyers of Wood River resulted in both athletes having their hands raised. 
Timm was the big winner in the match with his shifty moves, but Meyers just couldn’t walk off the mat without raising his hand, too, garnering a big smile from official and new state champion Trevor Kluck. 
How about Aurora’s Gavin Heib and Clarks’ Brooke Thies in a boy-girl match that has become a lot more popular with girls wrestling really taking off. 
Heib was “low man wins” personified as the match began and was chomping at the bit for competition. Surely he’s seen Caden Svoboda in action with the knee down like that. 
Thies went on to win that match and there was no shame in Heib’s demeanor in losing to a girl wrestler. Respect shared and given, even at a young age. 
There were so many matches throughout the night that featured Aurora versus Aurora, but none were seemingly higher contested than Leo Johnson against Kannon Dillon. 
The way those two went at it, the vibe was every part as real as a state championship final. 
Back and forth, up and down, twist and shout. The match had it all and more as Johnson escaped with a decision victory. 
But how cool is it to see three Aurora seniors -- Kluck, Svoboda and Jeremy Oswald -- trade in their wrestling singlets for stripes and whistles, giving back to a program they’ve spent so much time in and coming back to where it all started for them so long ago. 
Listening to each of them over the course of the night calmly handing out pieces of advice during a chaotic time speaks to the entire program in general. 
And yet, handshakes all around at the end, with each other as competitors and over to the opposing coaches. Life lessons were being taught early as those youngsters began to learn many things, including respect. 
Hats off to all of those who made this event possible, given the current climate of the world we’re in right now. 
It’s amazing, when you think about it, that we’ve now nearly completed two full seasons through the fall and now winter of team athletics with what most will call limited issues. 
While this youth event looked a bit different than year’s past with matches going on in two different gyms, limited family in attendance and masks all around, those small sacrifices are just that -- small -- as those young athletes were given the opportunity to still compete. 
Some matches ended in cheers, tears, celebrations and even a few hugs. No matter how they ended, though, those youngsters dusted themselves off and got back out there for another match. 
That’s a lesson we could all use right about now. 
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.