A week before the Journeymen Classic, over 80 wrestlers prepared at the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club (FLWC) in Ithaca at a two-day training camp featuring numerous New York State champions and placers as well as out of state standouts.
“The training camp we had in September was a huge success,” said FLWC’s Kris Harrington. “It was a great training situation for everyone and it was nice to see the kids have success afterwards at the Journeymen Classic. Now, it’s time to gear up for the Freak Show and the Super 32. We’re trying to make these training camps a monthly occurrence now.”
The next one, which will be held October 17-18, has already reached capacity. Attendance is set to include New York’s Yianni Diakomihalis, Theo Powers, Kelan McKenna, Evan Barczak and Jack Buell as well as nationally-ranked wrestlers from out of state such as Ohio’s Ben Darmstadt and David Carr as well as Pennsylvania’s Brian Courtney.
Members of the Big Red team will be there as counselors, while coaches like Kyle Dake, Enock Francois, Nate Carr Jr. and Kris Harrington will be among those leading the event.
And this time, there will be another addition in the mix. Team USA Assistant National Greco-Roman Coach and Iranian Olympian Ahad Javansalehi will be there to offer an international perspective and more high level training.
“I’m absolutely very, very excited to be coming up to Ithaca,” said Javansalehi, who will be making the move in December to establish a Greco Roman program. “I look forward to participating and to getting to know the area and meeting everyone.”
While the opportunity to work with these wrestlers and coaches in October is no longer available due to full registration, FLWC announced that a similar camp will be held on November 21 and 22.
“The October one sold out so fast, we are excited to be holding another one in November,” Harrington said. “There will be one session on Saturday (4-6 p.m.) and then two in the morning on Sunday. It’s a great opportunity right before the season starts to grind out some good practices with really tough guys."
It's one of many events taking place in Ithaca that weekend. At the youth level, there will be the FLWC Fall Kickoff, which already has 18 K-8 teams as well as four girls teams signed up, according to Harrington. In addition, Cornell will open the 2015-16 campaign with a dual against Drexel before all of the more than 20 New York State college programs descend upon Ithaca for the NYS Intercollegiate championships.
"There will be so much going on," Harrington said. "It'll be a great weekend of wrestling."