Richard,

I look at our High Schoolers as ambassadors to the kids club in Manhattan. Our guys made a conscious choice even though it was heart wrenching one to wrestle and coach with the little guys that look up to them. It's not about State titles to 16yr olds they have had their season. I think this says a lot about the character of these young men that want to give back to the club that give them so much over the years.

I spoke to the powers to be month ago about an exemption to walk on an there was not much interest in doing this for the guys who had aspirations of doing both. It's a shame that these young men had to make a choice between their clubs and the national spot light.

I do believe that if this would have been an USA Wrestling sanctioned event, they would have been allowed to participate in both "politics".

Maybe next year something could be changed for the better.

Mark Miller
Manhattan Wrestling