Part 1: Wrestling Looks for Firmer Toehold in North Shore

This is the first in a two-part series examining the status and growth of wrestling in the North Shore.

Alec McKenna didn’t immediately flourish in sports as a youngster. Although he possessed the necessary athleticism and coordination to run around a soccer field or dribble a basketball, Alec lacked the self-confidence needed to be assertive.

So at the advice of some family friends, his mother, Michelle, signed him up for a wrestling camp in third grade. After one week, Alec was hooked. He registered for the Trevian Wrestling Club (TWC) in 2005 and has stuck with it since.

Now an eighth-grade student at Washburne middle school, Alec is thriving in the sport. Competing in the 108-pound weight class, Alec advanced to the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation state tournament in March and took seventh place in the senior division. Looking beyond his impressive accomplishments on the mat, Alec has grown to love the sport.

“It’s really a sport where it’s you the whole time, and you’re not just waiting for something to happen--it’s constant,” Alec, 13, said. “You really have to work at it and you can’t really blame losing on someone else either.”

'Blue-collar sport' in Wilmette, Winnetka

Marc Tadelman took over New Trier’s high school and youth wrestling programs three years ago with the vision of creating a wrestling community. After a successful tenure as the head wrestling coach at Crystal Lake Central High School, Tadelman sought to duplicate his previous success.

While the sport certainly isn’t new to the North Shore, high school wrestling doesn’t carry the same cache as football or basketball.

In the North Shore, only a handful of youth wrestling programs exist. Including New Trier, only half of the Central Suburban League has feeder programs for its wrestling teams. Maine East, Glenbrook North, Niles West, Waukegan and Maine South also sponsor programs.

“A lot of the parents haven’t done wrestling in this community and they aren’t aware of the benefits,” Tadelman said.

New Trier’s athletic success in other sports doesn’t help. Without the presence of a strong youth program, wrestling hasn’t been the No. 1 choice for grade-school-aged children.

As a high school winter sport, wrestling’s biggest competition is hockey. This is especially true in wealthier communities where hockey’s expenses – such as ice time and private lessons -- aren’t as big of a deterrent. Even without IHSA sponsorship, New Trier fields three varsity hockey teams and a junior varsity squad annually, each with a roster of at least 20 players.

The Trevians’ wrestling team struggles to break 40 members total.

“If those kids weren’t playing hockey, half of them would be wrestling,” said Chuck Ryan, a former college wrestler whose 10-year-old son, Patrick, has been in the TWC for three years.

“Wrestling’s a blue-collar sport and that’s one of the reasons why it doesn’t take hold here,” he added.

Wrestling with image problem

Wrestling has an image problem among those who aren’t familiar with the sport. Lumped in with football, many parents are reluctant to start their young children in a sport they consider dangerous.

“I would say the first year was hard to see [Alec] be physical,” Michelle McKenna said. “But now I’ve learned more about it… I really like to watch them.”

One of the biggest misconceptions about wrestling is the potential for injuries, says Tadelman.

According to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, football has the highest injury rate (4.36 injuries per 1,000 practices or competitions) while wrestling (2.50) compares more favorably with other sports, like boys soccer (2.43).

In Patrick’s three years of wrestling, the worst injury that Ryan's son recalls is a sprained finger. Alec and his younger brother, Matt, echoed their teammate’s sentiments, noting the biggest injury either one has suffered was a cut lip or the occasional scratch.

Tadelman thinks part of the reason injuries aren’t as common is the presence of weight classes and age brackets, limiting physical mismatches.

“If your kid is in fifth grade and plays basketball, he could play against a kid that’s much taller and much heavier,” Tadelman said. “The chances of him getting hurt are greater because he could be very small for his age and he could be going against the biggest kids.”

Catch part 2 of our look-in at wrestling on Friday.