A Boksburg wrestler aims to win in Italy

Jesse van Baalen, a wrestler who defeated his opponents in the Greco-Roman fights at the African Wrestling Championships in Morocco, aims to conquer his opponents at the World Wrestling Championships.

The world championships will be held in Rome, Italy, from July 24 to 28, and Van Baalen is proud to represent his country. I have been training hard with my teammates at Boksburg Amateur Wrestling Club, so I am prepared for the tournament.

“I believe in myself and my coach, Marco Coetzee, and want to fight for honour. I aim to show young people at our club and in all walks of life that it is possible to pursue your dreams as a young person. My target is to be in the top five if I don’t win the tournament.

“My coach has been very supportive and is preparing me emotionally and physically.”

Van Baalen started fighting in the Greco-Roman style of wrestling three months ago at the qualifier stage and his track record has been improving. He said he is planning to keep it this way.

Coetzee started training van Baalen in December.

“I understand the dynamics of the World Wrestling Championships as I participated while I was at the Wrestling Olympic School in Budapest, Hungary. When you are going to fight in a tournament you must put in a lot of training time. Jesse has to be prepared mentally and physically to win. I am happy with his progress, although there is room for development,” said Coetzee.

“I feel positive about going to the world championships with Jesse, because I believe in him. I only hope he can also see his potential and faculty in competing. He is an intelligent wrestler.

“Even if he doesn’t reach our main target of winning the tournament I will still be proud of him. We are going to fight in honour of a former coach Nico Coetzee, who died recently.”

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