Youth wrestling club starts in Hills

Jamie Terry wants children in the Hills-Beaver Creek-Steen areas to experience wrestling this winter.
The Hills’ Aces Youth Wrestling Club will have an organizational meeting and practice from 6:30 to 7:30 (tonight) Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Game Plan 4 Hope Team E Fieldhouse in Hills.
Terry sees wrestling as another athletic option to the traditional girls’ and boys’ basketball programs.
“Hills-Beaver Creek (School District) has a great group of coaches and athletic opportunities already available, so we are not looking to pull kids from any one program to another,” she said.
“We see a lot of older kids year after year who are not engaged in the current offering of winter sports, most of which we see in other sports for different reasons.”
Wrestling has been a positive activity for her own four young boys.
“We stress to our boys that hard work, accountability, discipline and determination play a big part in everything you do in life,” Terry said.
“It is very rewarding to see all of their work pay off for them when they improve. We would love to see others who participate in the Hills’ Aces club grow and improve in the same ways.”
Terry’s children wrestled through the Luverne Area Youth Wrestling club, which is open to pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students.
“We have several H-BC students who love to wrestle and, as the current circumstances stand, they can only wrestle up to sixth grade as a club sport in Luverne,” Terry said.
“At that point, they either end their career or change schools, as there is no co-op agreement to allow them to continue beyond that point.”
Terry hopes in the coming years another co-operative agreement could be put into place to bring wrestling back to the high school level for H-BC students.
In the meantime, Hills’ Aces will be open to both girls and boys in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Participants can choose to wrestle at area youth tournaments with a possibility of competing at the Minnesota state youth wrestling tournament.
Parent volunteers will be this year’s Hills’ Aces coaches and wrestling instructors.
“Dalton Engelkes and Dusty Seachris, both former wrestlers, are slated to head up the coaching with several others volunteering to lend a hand and support them where needed at practices and meets,” she said.
For its inaugural year, no membership fees are charged.
“We would like to strongly encourage those who are able to please make any donation that you can to Game Plan 4 Hope in lieu of registration to the club,” Terry said.
For more information about Hills’ Aces Wrestling Club, contact Terry at 605-496-2353 or jamie.terry1107@gmail.com