Andrews – Despite having just three wrestlers participate in the Smoky Mountain Conference Middle School Championships, Andrews still had an excellent showing Dec. 15.
Seventh-grader Chase Beasley won the 90-pound weight class, sixth-grader Ethan Davis finished second in the 83-pound weight class and seventh-grader Lorena Garcia finished fourth in the 170-pound weight class.
“It’s been really fun watching them,” Wildcats head coach Isaiah Chikalilee said. “They’ve gotten so much better since they started.”
Chikalilee, who is in his first year as the Wildcats’ head coach, grew up in Robbinsville but didn’t wrestle for the Black Knights. Instead, he found the sport through mixed martial arts, then fell in love with the wrestling aspect of it.
This is his first time ever coaching the sport. It has been challenging at times, but Chikalilee is just trying to teach his wrestlers the basics and make sure the kids enjoy it.
“Most of my wrestlers are pretty new to it,” Chikalilee said. “It’s been pretty simple stuff. I’m just trying to get them to enjoy the sport, and then maybe next year things will pick up a lot faster.”
Participation has been light at Andrews High School, with 14 kids coming out initially but only four sticking with it after the first week. Earlier this month, the Wildcats had to cancel their season because of a lack of participation.
Two Murphy teams
Murphy also has a new coach this year, with Mike Catuto leading the Bulldogs as well as the team at The Learning Center. Catuto started a wrestling youth program at the Murphy charter school in 2018 to get local kids more wrestling experience before high school, and he asked Bulldogs athletic director Ray Gutierrez throughout the fall if Murphy needed a wrestling coach.
His wife, Cheryl, suggested he coach both teams. After taking a weekend to think about it, Catuto decided he would coach at both schools.
The agreement has worked out well for both sides so far. The two teams practice at The Learning Center, as the charter school’s only sport is wrestling and it doesn’t have to worry about gym time. Murphy lent the school its wrestling mat, which is bigger than the one Catuto bought when he started the youth program.
There are 10 wrestlers for the Bulldogs and two for the Bears. Murphy lost 84-0 to Robbinsville in its first match of the season, but Catuto thought the score wasn’t reflective of how his team competed against one of the best 1A programs in the state.
Hard work pays off
With wrestling being mostly about the individual, Catuto is hoping to show kids how hard work pays off and that they can learn from every match.
“It’s them or their opponent out there,” Catuto said. “There’s no team they can rely on to either pass or not pass them the ball or make a play or whatever. It’s strictly their technique, their skill level and how they’ve trained or prepared.
“With that, it’s a very humbling sport because again you can’t place blame on anyone else. It’s strictly you out there, and I try to promote that. We either have wins or time that we learn.”
Both Catuto and Chikalilee also want to build up the youth programs in Cherokee County, as it could help grow more interest in the sport. With most kids in the area not stepping on the mat until middle school or high school, that could put them behind other programs in the state where kids start wrestling in elementary school.
The youth program at The Learning Center is open to county kids as young as first grade.
“There’s probably a lot of good talent out there that hasn’t come out yet,” Catuto said.
“We gotta find those athletes and work with them, and talk to them and get them out there.”