The word wrestling conjures up an image of men in colored tights running around and bouncing off roped rings. Some have masks, some do not. Some enter in capes, some do not. But, all have a “flare” and a role to play out in front of audiences across the country.

And maybe Madison County citizens have seen signs promoting the starting of a wrestling club.

But, the entertainment-only form of “wraslin” is not what coach Gene Wolfe is promoting.

On the contrary, his wrestling consists of six minutes of physically tasking, sheer-will displays of two athletes on a mat of amateur wrestling.

Madison Central junior Jordan Shanks is a member of the football team, but this past November when Wolfe finally got the Madison County Wrestling Club going, he wanted to try that out, too.

“Training for wrestling is more endurance-wise. In football, in the second and third quarter you can be taken out for a break,” Shanks said. “You get in the second or third period in wrestling and you are still in. You’ve got to go through it. Football is short spurts. You’ve got to look at the long run in wrestling.”

Wolfe, who has coached wrestling at Franklin County High School, is not new to trying to start a wrestling program. Several years ago he started a high school team in North Carolina.

He then coached the FCHS Flyers before moving to Madison County. Wolfe first taught a class for several years at EKU, but having a mat was the key component holding back the start of a club team.

“Last year, I purchased this mat and we were able to get things started,” Wolfe said. “And the schools have been good to let us have our club.”




Building process




Workouts are generally conducted at Bellevue Education Center on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. This summer, attendance has been down some because of other sports and camps going on, but Wolfe said he had a good mix of high school and middle school kids from all over the county during the school year.

A team can have as many as 14 wrestlers in weight classes ranging from 103 to 285 pounds.

“This is a great opportunity for some of our smallest kids in the school building,” Wolfe said. “I’m looking for 103-pound juniors and seniors.”

However, it is not necessary to have every class filled in order to be a team.

And the team is not just a guy thing. Girls are welcome to come, train and compete. Various teams throughout the state have female wrestlers and the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg has an all-girls team.

The Lady Patriots have been successful at the collegiate and world levels. They also host an all-girls tournament every year to scout high school talent.

“I put out a note in one of my newsletters that said if any girl wanted to train and go to that tournament and compete, I’d be glad to instruct and prepare them,” Wolfe said.

The year was not only full of training, but the middle school athletes got a chance to compete as club teams are welcome at that level.




Ultimate goal




However, the ultimate goal is to create a Kentucky High School Athletic Association accredited team.

“We are pursuing, through the avenue of (Madison Central) Principal (Gina) Lakes and the site-based council, getting a team to compete next year,” Wolfe said.

He added that he is not sure if he needs to get one team started at Central and start another team at Madison Southern in the next coming years or if it is best to get both teams started at once.

“Whatever it takes, we’ll do,” the veteran coach said. “I do want to get more teams and I want to keep real good wrestling in the state of Kentucky. ... There is a lot of support out there from other coaches.”

One such coach has been former Woodford County High School coach Rusty Parks, who helped to guide the Yellow Jackets to eight state titles with 38 individual champs in his 27 years.

Along with Parks, Wolfe has heard from Region 7 representative and Lafayette High School coach Chris McCoy, who wants to help get things going.

Region 7, consisting of Bourbon County, Bryan Station, Franklin County, Harrison County, Henry Clay, Lafayette, Montgomery County, Paul Dunbar, Tates Creek, Western Hills and Woodford, is the most likely spot for any Madison County team.




Road blocks




One hindrance that may keep Central from being able to add a program is the cost.

“It’s not a cheap sport,” KHSAA assistant commissioner and director of wrestling Julian Tackett said. “The sport is growing, but it seems like everything here is growing. It is something that has a very passionate audience behind it. ... But its cost scares a lot of people away. You are looking at $7,500 for one competition mat.”

If Madison County should decide to add a team, Tackett says he can be notified as late as Nov. 1 for this year’s competition.

Tackett has been in contact with Wolfe, Lakes and Athletics Director Gary Fritz and sees an interest, but also noted that MCHS has a lot of “inside issues” that will need to be cleared up before Central can approve a wrestling team. But he said he did not know what the specific issues were.

Attempts to talk with Principal Lakes were not returned at deadline.

But, Wolfe, Shanks and all the other athletes are hopeful that soon Central will have a team.

“I just want to compete. I want to go up against some other people if the school will let us continue,” Shanks said. “My goal is to go to state, like on any team, you want to go the distance.”

Morgan Wolfe is Gene Wolfe’s son and one of his middle school athletes.

The young protégé has been living and breathing the sport since he was born.

“In our spare time we wrestle in the basement and work on technique whenever,” Morgan Wolfe said. “My goal is to be able to be a contender when I’m older in some kind of tournament and being able to go to the state tournament when I’m a junior or senior.”