Junior wrestlers enjoy international competition opportunity
Three wrestlers from Nelspruit Wrestling Club were afforded the experience of a lifetime last month when they toured to Germany to train with and compete against their contemporaries from other countries.
The tour was organised by Menlo Park Wrestling Club under the leadership of Fanie Vermaak, former wrestler, active coach and a man with a great passion for the sport and its development.
There is a tour organised every year, and Germany and South Africa as alternate as hosts.
This year wrestlers from u/11 and u/13 age groups were invited to attend.
Lourens Erasmus was one of the nominated as one of the touring wrestlers in the u/13 age group. His father, Louwtjie, went along as parent and coach. Basie Mathane, also u/13, joined the team. Triston Kleynhans made up the group of three.
Although he is still u/10, it was felt that he was emotionally, physically and technically fit to join the tour. His father, Arno, went along as an official.
The group trained in Berlin, Luckenwalde, Rabenberg and Leipzig before heading to Kleinostheim for a tournament which was attended by young wrestlers from six different nations. According to Arno, there were over 900 entries for the tournament. The South African team placed third overall.
Triston and Lourens claimed fourth place in their respective age groups and weight categories.
Basie was in a strong group of 39 wrestlers and although he was knocked out of the competition early on, Arno said “he wrestled his heart out” and gave his best effort.
Their final stop was at the national German training camp for wrestling, where the boys experienced intense coaching from world champions and Olympic medal winners. “This was definitely the highlight of the tour,” Arno said.
The trip was not all about wrestling as the group was able to visit several cultural and tourist sites. The parents of the three boys are grateful to all the sponsors who made the trip possible.
Arno Kleynhans, Triston’s father and tour official:
“It was awesome. Not only were our eyes opened to the high level of the wrestling sport we love so much and how much we were able to learn, but to the lifestyle and cultures of people in other other countries. That was just as fantastic.”
Vinette Mathane, Basie’s mother:
“According to Basie, the championships where Menlo Park came third overall, was the hardest and strongest competition he had ever participated in. He was also interested by how many female wrestlers there were across all the age groups.”
Louwtjie Erasmus, Lourens’ father:
“As Lourens would have described it; we trained hard, learned a lot of technique, met people from other countries and and learnt about different cultures. It was a great honour to learn from other wrestlers and more about the sport itself.”
