The future of Rochelle wrestling was on full display this past week, when local youth grapplers of all ages attended the annual Rochelle Township High School summer camp.
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ROCHELLE — The future of Rochelle wrestling was on full display this past week, when local youth grapplers of all ages attended the annual Rochelle Township High School summer camp.
The camp covered all areas of wrestling including takedowns, set-ups, finishing moves, top work, bottom work, pinning combinations, conditioning and mental preparation. Campers competed for four days (June 17-20) at RTHS, with coaches and current RTHS wrestling leading the way.
“It’s always nice for the younger kids to see me in a head coaching position, especially when you’re trying to establish yourself in the community,” head coach Alphonso Vruno said. “It’s been nice working with the kids and getting them familiar with my face. That way, we can begin turning the RTHS program over from coach [Rich] Harvey to myself.”
Wrestlers from kindergarten through 12th grade attended camp this past week, with many campers looking to sharpen skills learned through past summer camps, the Rochelle Wrestling Club and the RTHS program. Wrestlers worked on techniques Monday through Wednesday before transitioning to more live wrestling on Thursday. Camp sessions ran from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
“What’s nice about summer camp is that we don’t have a lot of people who wrestle year-round,” Vruno said. “We start with the basic movements of wrestling, so even kids who are more experienced can get back into the swing of things since they haven’t been on the mat in a while. The camp gives me a chance to work through drills that we work on during the season, which gives kids coming into the high school program a chance to get ahead.”
This past week was the second chance for Vruno to work with the RTHS summer camp as a coach after taking over for Harvey as the RTHS head coach this past season. Vruno and the Hubs will be looking to continue building the RTHS program back up through both summer camp and other offseason programs.
“I try and tell everybody that, even though you’re coming in twice a week or once a month, it’s important to get on the mat,” Vruno said. “It allows wrestlers to get their muscle memory back so they don’t forget everything they learned. It’s really important for these younger guys to come out so that, when November rolls around, everything is fresh in their minds.”
