Head Coach of the Star Valley Wrestling team Eddie Clark came into the studio on Friday to discuss his busy schedule as Wrestling Coach in the Valley with the high school season over and his high school team taking 3rd at State, he transitions directly into little league wrestling. “It’s like you think high school season is over and you take a break but it’s like we hit the accelerator” Coach stated in regards to his winter schedule with the program.
Coach Clark opens by discussing the season his Braves just had going into State at the 4A level after wrestling 3A for the past several seasons and in a year where the team graduated most of it’s roster in senior experience from last season. The team was not expected to make a serious play at the state championship this year of all years and yet thanks in large part to some dominant performances during the year from some freshmen and sophomores the team had 3 state champions by the time the season had ended in Casper and had taken 3rd place in team scoring at State.
The Braves faced further adversity when the injury bug began to bite early on in the year with a number of wrestlers getting dinged up during the early portion of the year and several expected starters for the varsity lineup missing the beginning of the season because of injuries sustained during football season in an effort that did bring home a state title in the fall sport. The depth though shined through for the Braves as they got contributions all season long when they needed it from unexpected team members and led to a truly magically building season toward a promising future for the high school team.
Speaking of the future, the little league scene in Star Valley is as popular as it ever has been in an area where it always has been. Coach Clark mentions that Star Valley is a place where wrestling still matters and everyone around the area tends to have at least some experience with the sport at the little league level regardless of whether they stick with it to the high school level, the growth of the sport at the youth level is at an all time high.
The interview also dives into one of the big benefits of the sport for athletes that intend to play other sports in the future in regards to injury statistics, particularly in football, with concussion numbers for players with wrestling experience being significantly lower than players without the experience and the implications that leads us to. If you are considering signing your little ones up for football either now or in the future perhaps wrestling would be a great way to make sure that they keep themselves safe out there as the combination of knowing how to fall properly and core/neck strength that wrestling provides seems to have statistical backing that it will prevent concussions or at the very least reduce your risk of them.
On top of the injury aspect, little league wrestling also teach great hand work and body control which of course can be applied to elite level players at several other sports such as WR-DB or OL-DL hand fighting in football or boxing out in basketball. You can catch the full interview with Coach Clark right below
