Sports

WHS grapplers go to camp

By Kyle Austin - Sports Editor
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Many athletes try to get an early edge by training in the offseason. For some sports, such as football, those workouts can mean the difference between a winning and losing season.

According to Wetumpka High School coach Jeff Glass, wrestling is no different.

“When I wrestled (at Wetumpka High), we weren’t encouraged to do any summer wrestling,” he said. “I’ve seen some schools like Tallassee focus on out-of-season training, and I can see how they’ve gotten better.”

Glass said he decided it was time for his wrestlers to start some offseason training, so he went to one of the experts.

“Eddie Crocker is a great coach and guy to learn from,” Glass said. “He is a former high school and collegiate All-American, and he’s probably forgotten more about wrestling than I ever knew.”

Crocker, who coaches the middle school wrestling program in Homewood, wrestled at Irwin in the Birmingham area before moving on to Clemson University. That was where he got the call to coach.

“One of my coaches called me when I was a freshman in college in 1984 and invited me to help in a clinic in Homewood,” Crocker said. “I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Glass said Crocker’s clinics, which he has been conducting for several years, are some of the best he’s seen.

“He runs top class clinics,” he said. “He brings in Olympians and other legends in the sport. On top of that, he’s a good Christian guy and coach.”

This marks the fifth clinic Crocker has taught this summer. His style of wrestling means he has to teach a lot of hands-on techniques, which he doesn’t mind at all.

“I teach my style of wrestling, which is very offensive and aggressive,” he said. “It’s all about keeping the pressure on and believing you can take your opponent down.”

Crocker said the first thing young wrestlers must do is get themselves in the right mind-set. After that, he can teach them the techniques they need to win.

“Once they buy in to it, I can teach them how,” he said. “I get them to understand that if he stands, they can score, and if they are standing, they can score.”

Glass said 27 wrestlers showed up to the camp this summer. Wetumpka’s wrestlers were required to attend, but he also had four wrestlers from Tallassee and four more from Holtville arrive Monday morning.

The improvement in the wrestlers was apparent after only one day of instruction, according to Glass.

“The most improvement I’ve seen is in the new guys,” he said. “They are learning the basics and some cool new moves, and even the experienced guys are learning some new attacks and ways to approach their opponents.”

Glass said it is important for wrestlers to learn the basics early on so they can get the most from camps like the one conducted by Crocker. That is why he is trying to organize a youth league.

“We’re doing all we can at the high school level; we need to get them started young so they can learn those basics and gain more experience.”

Anyone interested in helping to organize a youth wrestling program in Wetumpka can contact Glass by phone at (334) 303-1667 or by email: jeffery.glass@elmore.k12.al.us.

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